Search

The Covid19 crisis has highlighted once more that socio-economic inequalities are a main driver of vulnerability. Especially in densely populated urban areas, however, these inequalities can drastically change even within neighbourhoods. To better prepare for urban crises, more granular techniques are needed to assess these vulnerabilities, and identify the main drivers that exacerbate inequality. Machine learning techniques enable us to extract this information from spatially geo-located datasets. In this paper, we present a prototypical study on how Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to analyse the distribution of labour and residential characteristics in the urban area of Helsinki, Finland. The main goals are twofold: 1) identify patterns of socio-economic activities, and 2) study spatial inequalities. Our analyses use a grid of 250x250 meters that covers the whole city of Helsinki, thereby providing a higher granularity than the neighbourhood-scale. The study yields four main findings. First, the descriptive statistical analysis detects inequalities in the labour and residential distributions. Second, relationships between the socio-economic variables exist in the geographic space. Third, the first two Principal Components (PCs) can extract most of the information about the socio-economic dataset. Fourth, the spatial analyses of the PCs identify differences between the Eastern and Western areas of Helsinki, which persist since the 1990s. Future studies will include further datasets related to the distribution of urban services and socio-technical indicators., Transport and Logistics, System Engineering

Information and supporting information systems is a key element in an effective emergency response. From creating situational awareness to informed decision making, information enables responders to optimize their decisions and operations. Today, with the increased availability of information technology around the globe, a new active player in the field of information management is emerging as communities are becoming increasingly active in the field of information gathering, analyzing and sharing. However, communities may have specific requirements and approaches to using information systems in crisis situations. Moreover, connecting information systems between communities and responder pose specific challenges due to the different information needs, capacities and incentives to use them. In this paper we build on the DERMIS premises and explore through a case study if and how these principles apply to inclusive information systems. We present the initial findings of this work of designing information systems involving both communities and formal responders., Policy Analysis, System Engineering, Transport and Logistics

Evaluation and testing are major steps in the development of any information system, particularly if it is to be used in high-risk contexts such as conflicts. While thus far there are various approaches for testing against technology requirements; usability or usefulness, there is a lack of a comprehensive evaluation framework that combines the three elements. The lack of such a framework and commonly agreed standards constitutes a barrier for innovation, and at the same time imposes risks to responders if the technology is introduced without proper testing. This paper aims to close this gap. Based on a reviewing of evaluation methods and measurement metrics, we design a comprehensive evaluation framework including common code quality testing metrics, usability testing methods, subjective usefulness questionnaires, and performance indicators. We demonstrate our approach by using the example of an integrated system for the safety and security of humanitarian missions, and we highlight how our approach allows measuring the system’s quality and usefulness., Transport and Logistics

The profusion of information technology has created new possibilities for local communities to self-organize and respond to disruptive events. Along with the opportunities, there is also a series of challenges that need to be addressed in order to improve societal resilience. One of these challenges is to make sense of the continuous stream of information to create a coherent understanding and improve coordination. The research presented in this paper focuses on the socio-technical requirements of IT platforms that support sensemaking and coordination. Using a comprehensive evaluation exercise based on real data from the 2017 Kenyan elections, we examine the development, workflows and use of this shared situational awareness in a group decision making process. In this manner, we identify requirements for resilience platforms and identify further research directions., System Engineering, Policy Analysis

This paper describes the IsITethical? Exchange, a European knowledge and service hub we are developing with and for diverse parties involved in crisis and disaster risk management. Their commitment to European values and fundamental rights underpins the rationale of the initiative, which is to support European societies’ need for high quality innovation to balance the benefits of IT with fundamental human rights and values, especially privacy and data protection. The initiative is led by researchers at Lancaster University and builds on many years of collaborative design research with a wide range of international practitioners, academics, and commercial IT designers., System Engineering

The Humanitarian Supply Chain (HSC) is key to successful relief operations. Today, HSC managers faces many challenges: (1) the increasing gap between funding and appeals; (2) donors ask for more transparency and accountability; (3) the growing pressure to switch to sustainable development. To maintain a competitive position (order winner) in the near future, considering sustainability becomes a fundamental addition to the established effectiveness and efficiency measures. In literature, the lack of Decision Support Systems for planning and achieving of sustainability objectives is described as barrier to sustainable humanitarian operations. We propose a sustainability maturity assessment method to improve the sustainability of HSC operations. Using the information gathered from field research with the IFRC as well as from the literature a proof of concept is presented to demonstrate the relevance of the proposal., System Engineering