Emergency Response Information System Interoperability: Development of Chemical Incident Response Data Model

Rui Chen, State University of New York at Buffalo
Raj Sharman, State University of New York at Buffalo, USA
Nirupama Chakravarti, State University of New York at Buffalo
H. Raghav Rao, State University of New York at Buffalo, USA
Shambhu J. Upadhyaya, State University of New York at Buffalo, USA

Abstract

Emergency response requires an efficient information supply chain for the smooth operations of intra- and inter-organizational emergency management processes. However, the breakdown of this information supply chain due to the lack of consistent data standards presents a significant problem. In this paper, we adopt a theory- driven novel approach to develop an XML-based data model that prescribes a comprehensive set of data standards (semantics and internal structures) for emergency management to better address the challenges of information interoperability. Actual documents currently being used in mitigating chemical emergencies from a large number of incidents are used in the analysis stage. The data model development is guided by Activity Theory and is validated through a RFC-like process used in standards development. This paper applies the standards to the real case of a chemical incident scenario. Further, it complies with the national leading initiatives in emergency standards (National Information Exchange Model)

Recommended Citation

Chen, Rui; Sharman, Raj; Chakravarti, Nirupama; Rao, H. Raghav; and Upadhyaya, Shambhu J. (2008) "Emergency Response Information System Interoperability: Development of Chemical Incident Response Data Model," Journal of the Association for Information Systems: Vol. 9: Iss. 3, Article 2.
Available at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol9/iss3/2