An Information System for Predicting the Influx of Spontaneous Volunteers at Operating Sites in Natural Disasters

The project IS2SaVe aims at the scientific investigation, implementation and evaluation of a Information system for crisis management for the coordination of spontaneous volunteers in flood disasters. Spontaneous volunteers are citizens who spontaneously and on-site support official emergency services in the mitigation of disaster scales, but who hardly have any specific training in disaster response. Crisis managers emphasize the important role of spontaneous volunteers in flood disasters, but complain about their poor coordination behavior, which in the past has led to overcrowded operating sites and to hampering response forces. While current research on spontaneous responders focuses mainly on their improved coordination, the study on decision support for crisis teams is underrepresented. Therefore, the project develops a design theory based on practical user experience using a wide range of methods: Design Science for the theory, qualitative interviews to identify problems, agent-based simulation for the artifact.

Duration: since 2017

Type: research project/doctoral thesis

Website: https://is2save.com