Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Defining Common Information Requirements for Supporting Multiagency Emergency Operations

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Disaster Management and Information Technology

Part of the book series: Public Administration and Information Technology ((PAIT,volume 40))

Abstract

Effective response in complex emergency events requires establishing shared situational awareness among the agencies involved, through sharing relevant information and building a common operational picture (COP). However, despite its acknowledged importance, developing effective practices for such information sharing proves to be challenging. A basis for this is identifying what information is critical to share and also defining a well-functioning structure for this.

Based on interviews with Norwegian emergency management stakeholders, this study investigates common information requirements for emergency management services and presents an example of a framework for structuring the sharing of critical information and building a COP. The study identified eight common information requirement categories for managing extreme weather scenarios. The focus on common information needs and a process for structured information sharing contributes to a more holistic perspective on cross-sectoral operations than in current practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ben Lazreg, M., Chakraborty, N. R., Stieglitz, S., Potthoff, T., Ross, B., & Majchrzak, T. A. (2018). Social media analysis in crisis situations: Can social media be a reliable information source for emergency management services? In Proceedings of the 27th international conference on information systems development (ISD 2018), Sweden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berggren, P., & Johansson, B. J. (2010). Developing an instrument for measuring shared understanding. In Proceedings of the 7th international conference on information systems for crisis response and management, (ISCRAM 2010), USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berlin, J. M., & Carlström, E. D. (2014). Collaboration exercises - the lack of collaborative benefits. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 5(3), 192–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bharosa, N., Lee, J., & Janssen, M. (2010). Challenges and obstacles in sharing and coordinating information during multi-agency disaster response: Propositions from field exercises. Information Systems Frontiers, 12(1), 49–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borglund, E. A. (2017). The role of artefacts in creating a common operational picture during large crises. In Proceedings of the 14th international conference on information systems for crisis response and management (ISCRAM 2017), France.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bunker, D., Levine, L., & Woody, C. (2015). Repertoires of collaboration for common operating pictures of disasters and extreme events. Information Systems Frontiers, 17(1), 51–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cak, S., Say, B., & Misirlisoy, M. (2019). Effects of working memory, attention, and expertise on pilots’ situation awareness. Cognition, Technology & Work, 22, 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Civil Protection Act. (2010). The Act on Municipal Emergency Preparedness, Civil Protection Measures and the Civil Defense, LOV-2010-06-25-45. Retrieved from https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/2010-06-25-45#KAPITTEL_5.

  • Comfort, L. (2007). Crisis management in hindsight: Cognition, communication, coordination, and control. Public Administration Review, 67, 189–197.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dilo, A., & Zlatanova, S. (2011). A data model for operational and situational information in emergency response. Applied Geomatics, 3(4), 207–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dreyer, K. (2019). Innføring av Felles trippelvarslingsrutiner (Implementation of triple alert routines). Retrieved from https://kokom.no/innforing-av-felles-trippelvarslingsrutiner/

  • Endsley, M. R. (1995a). Toward a theory of situation awareness in dynamic systems. Human Factors, 37(1), 32–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Endsley, M. R. (1995b). A taxonomy of situation awareness errors. Human Factors in Aviation Operations, 3(2), 287–292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Falkland, E. C., & Wiggins, M. W. (2019). Cross-task cue utilisation and situational awareness in simulated air traffic control. Applied Ergonomics, 74, 24–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredheim, H. (2017). A new model for crisis management, OPSAM (Operation center for collaboration and preparedness). Final report from project on Concept for Holistic Crisis Management. Oslo police, Oslo Municipality, Bærum Municipality, Asker Municipality and Oslo University Hospital.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johansson, B. J., Hellgren, C., Oskarsson, P.-A., & Svensson, J. (2013). Supporting situation awareness on the move- the role of technology for spatial orientation in the field. In Proceedings of the 10th international conference on information systems for crisis response and management (ISCRAM 2013), Germany.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kapucu, N. (2008). Collaborative emergency management: Better community organising, better public preparedness and response. Disasters, 32(2), 239–262.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karagiannis, G. M., & Synolakis, C. E. (2016). Collaborative incident planning and the common operational picture. In Proceedings of the international conference on dynamics of disasters (pp. 91–112). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laakso, K., & Palomäki, J. (2013). The importance of a common understanding in emergency management. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 80(9), 1703–1713.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lauria, M. J., Ghobrial, M. K., & Hicks, C. M. (2019). Force of habit: Developing situation awareness in critical care transport. Air Medical Journal, 38(1), 45–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, N., Yang, Z., Ghahramani, A., Becerik-Gerber, B., & Soibelman, L. (2014). Situational awareness for supporting building fire emergency response: Information needs, information sources, and implementation requirements. Fire Safety Journal, 63, 17–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liang, S., & Gao, Y. (2010). Real-time notification and improved situational awareness in fire emergencies using geospatial-based publish/subscribe. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation Geoinformation, 12(6), 431–438.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luokkala, P., Nikander, J., Korpi, J., Virrantaus, K., & Torkki, P. (2017). Developing a concept of a context-aware common operational picture. Safety Science, 93, 277–295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munkvold, B. E., Radianti, J., Rød, J. K., Opach, T., Snaprud, M., Pilemalm, S., & Bunker, D. (2019). Sharing incident and threat information for common situational understanding. In Proceedings of the 16th international conference on information systems for crisis response and management (ISCRAM 2019), Spain.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norri-Sederholm, T., Joensuu, M., & Huhtinen, A.-M. (2017). Ensuring information flow and the situation picture in Public Safety Organisations’ Situation Centres. In Proceedings of the 16th European conference on cyber warfare and security (ECCWS 2017), Ireland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Opach, T., Rød, J. K., Munkvold, B. E., Radianti, J., Steen-Tveit, K., & Grottenberg, L. O. (2020). Map-based interfaces for common operational picture. In Proceedings of the 17th international conference on information systems for crisis response and management (ISCRAM 2020), USA (pp. 276–294).

    Google Scholar 

  • Perla, P., Markowitz, M., Nofi, A., Weuve, C., Loughran, J., & Stahl, M. (2000). Gaming and shared situation awareness. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA. Retrieved from: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA390137.pdf.

  • QSR International. What is NVivo. Retrieved from https://www.qsrinternational.com/nvivo/what-is-nvivo

  • Regulation on municipal emergency duty. (2011). Regulation on municipal emergency duty, FOR-2011-08-22-894. Retrieved from https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2011-08-22-894.

  • Schroeder, J. M., Manz, D. O., Amaya, J. P., McMakin, A. H., & Bays, R. M. (2018). Understanding past, current and future communication and situational awareness technologies for first responders. In Proceedings of the fifth cybersecurity symposium, ID, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seppänen, H., Mäkelä, J., Luokkala, P., & Virrantaus, K. (2013). Developing shared situational awareness for emergency management. Safety Science, 55, 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • She, M., Li, Z., & Ma, L. (2019). User-defined information sharing for team situation awareness and teamwork. Ergonomics, 62, 1–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solberg, S., Halvorsen, J., Urdal, A., Sørsdal, L., Aasgaard, M., Parnemann, O. P. and Eggertsson, Y. (2018) Handbook for search and rescue: System descriptions, principles and values, level 1,.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorensen, L. J., & Stanton, N. A. (2016). Keeping it together: The role of transactional situation awareness in team performance. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 53, 267–273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steen-Tveit, K., & Munkvold, B. E. (2021). From common operational picture to common situational understanding: An analysis based on practitioner perspectives. Safety Science, 142, Article 105381.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steigenberger, N. (2016). Organizing for the Big One: A review of case studies and a research agenda for multi‐agency disaster response. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 24(2), 60–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stott, P. (2016). How climate change affects extreme weather events. Science, 352(6293), 1517–1518.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van den Homberg, M., Monné, R., & Spruit, M. (2018). Bridging the information gap of disaster responders by optimizing data selection using cost and quality. Computers & Geosciences, 120, 60–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolbers, J., & Boersma, K. (2013). The common operational picture as collective sensemaking. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 21(4), 186–199.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was made possible through the engaged participation of several emergency management stakeholders in Norway. The authors would like to thank all the informants for their time and assistance. The findings, arguments, and conclusions in this chapter are the result of the authors’ understanding. The study was partly funded by a grant from the Research Council of Norway (the INSITU project, grant # 295848).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Integrated Emergency Management (CIEM), Department of Information Systems, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway

    Kristine Steen-Tveit & Bjørn Erik Munkvold

Authors
  1. Kristine Steen-Tveit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bjørn Erik Munkvold
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristine Steen-Tveit .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Information School, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Hans Jochen Scholl

  2. Eric Holdeman Associates, Puyallup, WA, USA

    Eric E. Holdeman

  3. Department of Organization Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    F. Kees Boersma

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Steen-Tveit, K., Munkvold, B.E. (2023). Defining Common Information Requirements for Supporting Multiagency Emergency Operations. In: Scholl, H.J., Holdeman, E.E., Boersma, F.K. (eds) Disaster Management and Information Technology. Public Administration and Information Technology, vol 40. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20939-0_14

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation