Decision Support in Emergency Management: Confronting Complexity and Uncertainty

1. Decision Support in Emergency Management: ConfrontingComplexity and Uncertainty Tina Comes Centre for Integrated Emergency Management University of Agder tina.comes@uia.no

2. ISCRAM Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management

3. ISCRAM conference, Vancouver, B.C. ISCRAMis dedicated to fostering research and facilitating the international exchange of knowledge. We build foundations for the deployment of information systems and support the development of fresh approaches to the management and analysis of emergencies and disasters.

4. Beginning in 2004 with the inaugural workshop in Brussels, ISCRAM has grown to encompass worldwide participation among researchers, community leaders, academic institutions, and global policymakers. The ISCRAM Community was co-founded by Bartel Van de Walle at Tilberg University, Benny Carlé (The SCK-CEN Nuclear Research Center in Belgium), and Murray Turoff at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

5. ISCRAM's non-profit assemblies, conferences, and events will continue to grow in the future. Annual programs have already been held in Baden, Beijing, Brussels, Delft, Gothenburg, Harbin, Lisbon, Newark, Seattle, Tilberg, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C. .

6. “Too often a disaster is compounded with no coordinated alert and recovery structures, and few well-tested management systems in place. Systems must be easily understandable and yet expandable for the future.”

7. ISCRAM: who & what? Controlling Process (eg NGO HQ in Europe) • EMIS / C2 instructions • Citizen • Communication IS observations • Citizen Self-help IS Process Under Control (eg NGO employees / contractors) outputs inputs Environment (eg victims / volunteers / other citizens)

8. President: Bartel van de Walle Email: bvdwalle@gmail.com Vice-President: Julie Dugdale Email: Julie.Dugdale@imag.fr

9. 7th ISCRAM Summer School Serious Games for Crisis Management August 13 – 22, 2014 Tilburg, The Netherlands Campus Vesta, Ranst, Belgium If you are into crisis management and open for new ideas, other perspectives and curious what others do, you definitely should join the summer school. The talks are one aspect but more important is your story. And all the other stories from other participants. What are they doing? And why? It forces you to think in a different way. And at the end of every day a fantastic dinner and Belgium/Dutch beer waits.

10. ISCRAM Events Getting Ready for The Unexpected May 24-27 2015: Kristiansand, Norway Doctoral Colloquium on May 24 More information: iscram2015.org

11. ISCRAM Partners United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Joint Research Center, (a Directorates-General) of the European Commission

12. Swedish Defence Research Agency, Totalförsvarets forskningsinstitut (FOI) Prolog Development Center, DenmarkLeading provider of resource and optimization planning for various industries such as aviation, healthcare, retail & global industries. Thales, France. Globally providing world-class technologies and services in aerospace, security, defense, and ground transportation. Vetenskapsrådet(Swedish Research Council) Based in Stockholm, Sweden, this government agency is responsible for supporting and developing scientific research.

13. Join us as a member, partner, institution. Help build our future.

14. Jointhecommunity Join ISCRAM 2015 Tina Comes - Decision Support for Emergency Management

15. An Era of Change crisis and emergency management Tina Comes - Decision Support for Emergency Management

16. Centre for Integrated Emergency ManagementOur Mission • Release the potential of the powerful evolving technologies for integrated preparedness and management of emergencies • Multidisciplinary research centre • Research on • networks and mobile devices, • human-centered sensing, • social media, sense-making, visualization • decision support and collective intelligence • social context and technology adaption Tina Comes - Decision Support for Emergency Management

17. The University Tina Comes - Decision Support for Emergency Management

18. KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON? Smartphones areeverywhere!  Importanceofparticipation In crisissituations • Alerts & reporting • EnableSelf-organisation Tina Comes - Decision Support for Emergency Management Tina Comes: Decision Support in Emergency Management - AMCIS2013 16/06/2014

19. … and thechallenges Tina Comes - Decision Support for Emergency Management

20. What is the difference? Tina Comes - Decision Support for Emergency Management

21. Keys to decision-making in complex environments Tina Comes - Decision Support for Emergency Management Understand the context as dynamically evolving complex system • focus on relations and developments (not on individual variables and states) • identify key drivers of systems’ change • understand key weaknesses and tipping points Risk management as continuous processes • listen to and work with the system to determine where and how to intervene (feed forward) • learn from the new information about the system (feedback)

22. Challenging standard paradigms The conceptof risk Tina Comes - Decision Support for Emergency Management

23. Risk management strategies • Change the factors that cause the riske.g., try to avoid or limit climate change • Raise the risk tolerance level: focus on the risk absorbing system and increase its robustnesse.g., build a levee • Improve the resilience of the system; prepared for shocks or unexpected surprisese.g., organise emergency management teams • Establish monitoring and early warning systemse.g., measuring rain falls All depend on compliance and cooperation  Need for a pro-active risk communication strategy Tina Comes - Decision Support for Emergency Management

24. A protocol for preventingthat a crisis turns into a disaster Risk Communication Tina Comes - Decision Support for Emergency Management

25. Assessing Risk: Focussing on the decision-makers’ needs Tina Comes - Decision Support for Emergency Management

26. Societalaims – what do youwant? Tina Comes - Decision Support for Emergency Management