Rui Chen, PhD

Assistant ProfessorInformation Systems and Operations ManagementMiller College of BusinessBall State UniversityCo-authors: Dr Raj Sharman, Raghav H Rao, and Shambhu J Upadhyaya

Research motivationResponse information system interoperabilityStandard - data model

Research questionWhat is the data model design methodologyWhat are the key data elements to be contained in an emergency data model

Fire incident scenario$14.6 billion loss in 2007*

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CommunityData StandardsFocusObjectivesEmergency Medical ServiceEMS Data Dictionary (v. 2.2.1)Within-Domain InteroperabilityEnable the efficient sharing of EMS information on personnel, patients, situations, assessments, medical history, and medical devices.Health CareHL7 Messaging ProtocolWithin-Domain InteroperabilityEnable the efficient sharing of medical data among all healthcare systems.Public HealthPHIN Vocabulary Standards and SpecificationsWithin-Domain InteroperabilityEnable and foster the use and exchange of consistent information among public health partners.TransportationVehicular Emergency Incident Data Exchange Format StandardWithin-Domain InteroperabilityEnable the automatic distribution of vehicular emergency incident data between the Telematics Service Providers and emergency personnelTransportationIEEE Std. 1512 StandardsTraffic Management StandardWithin-Domain InteroperabilityEnable the sharing of traffic and incident information among agenciesPublic Safety Traffic Incident Management Message SetsEnable the sharing of transportation safety information among agencies and the public.JusticeGlobal Justice XML Data ModelWithin-Domain InteroperabilityEnable the sharing of criminal justice information among law enforcementHomeland Security and JusticeNational Information Exchange Model (NIEM)Mixture of Within- and Cross-Domain InteroperabilityEnable the nationwide sharing of information on justice, emergency management, geospatial and infrastructure protection, immigration etc.9-1-1 ServiceE9-1-1 StandardsStandards for Automatic Location Identification (ALI) & GIS MappingWithin-Domain InteroperabilityEnable the automatic sharing of ALI data between Service Providers and 9-1-1 Data BaseStandards for Local Exchange Carriers, ALI Service Providers & 9-1-1 JurisdictionsEnable the efficient sharing of number pooling, database communication, and general message exchanges among Service Providers and 9-1-1

Activity theoryPsychological meta-theory

Key tenetsSubject, object, tool, rule, community, division of labor

DevelopmentFirst, second, and third generation activity theory*

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Solid line: typical communication during the response statesDotted line: response cycle with reinforcing feedbacks for corrective actions*Inspired by Cybernetics Research

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Illustrative IssuePotential ContradictionNew Data TypeFire, Police, Emergency Medical Service, Hazardous Material TeamResponse agencies often compete for the incident commander position. Most of the time, the fulfillment of this position is determined by the incident type. For example, if there is a criminal aspect to an incident, law enforcement agencies are in charge of the scene; in all other fire related incidents, fire chief is in charge.Incident categoryEmergency ManagersInformation sharing in emergency management should be controlled to ensure that information is distributed among authorized personnel only. Information sensitivity level and personnel security clearance level

Semiotics literature

Signs for emergency managementSign-based languageNon-sign-based one

Symbol design foundationANSI Z535.2 and ISO3864-2002*

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Define, type, and structure identified components

Object-oriented structure

Model ValidationData Analysis*

Overview Diagram

Spreadsheet SpecificationData typeCode listSymbol collection

XML SchemaData typeData property

ASTESF approach:

Activity theory and semiotics augmented by timeline, environment, state, and feedback perspectives*

*The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Emergency Management Institute (EMI) -2007

PrincipleBrief ExplanationData Model SupportRisk OrientationResponders adopt sound risk management principles in assigning tasks and resourcesData elements capture the fire hazard and environment threatFlexibilityResponders use creative and innovative approaches in solving disaster challengesData elements capture the dynamic associations among individual, organization, and incident management IntegrationResponders ensure the unity of efforts among all levels of management under collaboration and coordinationData elements capture the structure and division of labor of incident management system that need to be integratedResilienceResponders strive for the success despite of the failures and constraints Data elements capture the reinforcing feedback and corrective actions in incident response operations

Contribution to theoryData model development - ASTESF approachUses multiple activity systems (i.e., mini- and many-second response); captures activities with the temporal sequence of development, connectivity between multiple states, and internal reinforcing feedbacks (within- and between-state), and endorses semiotic designs for better conveying notations.

Implication to practiceReduction of communication interoperability barrier

Extension of scopeNational standardsOther incidents such as flood*

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