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Interoperability of data and procedures in large-scale multinational
disaster response actions |
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Granted under the "Seventh Framework Programme" of the European
Commission
Research area: SEC-2010.4.2-1 Interoperability of data, systems, tools and
equipment
Project Reference: 261726 |
Overview |
IDIRA is a research project sponsored by the European Commission
running four years (2011-2015), which gathers eighteen partners
to focus on the interoperability of data and emergency
procedures in response to large-scale disasters. In order to
develop a new capability for more efficient multi-national and
multi-organisational disaster response actions, a technological
framework covering recommendations for operational procedures
and a set of fixed, deployable and mobile components including
data and voice communication assets will be developed and tested
in real-life scenario trainings within Europe. These
developments will be of value to on-scene commanders and those
overseeing the response to a disaster in the command and control
rooms as well as strategic and tactical civil protection staff.
The fixed IDIRA infrastructure will support them with relevant
information from manifold sources for the preparation and
response phase.
The deployable IDIRA
infrastructure will perform as information hub and on-scene
access point. It will be used during the response phase and will
provide basic communication means as well as a shared
information space for all involved forces integrating
information about needs, resources and on-site conditions thus
providing a shared operational picture enhanced by decision
support functionality. The mobile components of IDIRA will be
used by the commanding personnel on-scene for flexible
interaction with the information space. |
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Applications |
This
core result of IDIRA will take the form an architectural
framework and an exemplary implementation of a Mobile Integrated
Command and Control Structure (MICS) supporting co-ordinated
large-scale disaster management. It is foreseen to make the best
possible use of existing ideas, technology and standards,
integrating available solutions and complementing them with new
components where necessary. In actual operation, the components
based on IDIRA solutions will be building on and be integrated
with local command & control infrastructure and response
procedures. As part of this effort, FSEG will facilitate the
integration of the buildingEXODUS model into the MICS system.
This will enable procedural responses to specific emergency
scenarios to be examined in real-time; i.e. to examine the
impact of the people movement suggested by procedural measures.
This will provide additional evidence for responders and
emergency managers in the design and implementation of the
procedural measures in place. |
FSEG Objectives and
Contribution |
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A key UoG contribution to IDIRA requires the development of
urbanEXODUS (buildingEXODUS for large-scale incidents) in order
to inform the procedural response to specific disaster
scenarios. This requires both the enhancement of the EXODUS tool
and an understanding of the subject matter being addressed. In
order for the model to be suitably developed, an understanding
of the individual response is required (e.g. evacuee behaviour)
as well as the potential conditions that might be produced as
these individuals interact and are influenced by the conditions
around them (e.g. emergent crowd conditions). In addition, the
physical and situational space within which these actions and
conditions exist need to be considered to identify the factors
that influence them and to represent these behaviours within a
simulated environment. To address these considerations, the
following broad areas of development have been identified.
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[1] Low-Level: Agent Behaviour; [2] Factors that
might influence / constrain Agent Behaviour; [3] High-Level:
Potential Crowd Management Procedures; [4] Critical Conditions /
Model Output
These describe the manner in which an individual interacts
with the social and physical landscape, and then responds to it.
Critically, the IDIRA project requires the user to impose
procedural measures upon the population (or upon staff), who
then respond accordingly. As such, these procedural measures
provide the overall objectives of the simulated agents (e.g.
which routes they use and which locations to target), focusing
analysis on the identification of the high-level conditions that
emerge. For instance, the user might be interested in
establishing the consequences of a population being told to
evacuate a structure. urbanEXODUS would then simulate the
movement of the population as instructed, with agents following
routes dictated by the high-level (global) procedures; however,
individual agent decisions will influence local navigation and
performance (e.g. the speeds adopted, etc.).
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In order for the urbanEXODUS model to function in the IDIRA
scenarios of interest, a number of specific developments are
planned. |
Enhanced Performance (Speed and Scope) |
 
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Given the nature of the IDIRA, urbanEXODUS will need to address
large=scale incidents including large geometries and large
populations. This will require an increase in the capacity of
the model to represent the scale of the scenarios that are to be
represented. In addition, the model also needs to be able to
resolve the simulations in a relatively short period of time,
given the real-time requirements of the project. The model currently has two approaches to enhance scope and
speed: a parallel version of the model; and a hybrid approach
that allows the current fine nodal representation of the EXODUS
software to be combined with a coarse nodal approach, where
large areas of space can be represented in a simpler manner.
This allows the user to focus in on key areas of the
simulation process (e.g. a refuge, a building of interest)
representing this area using a fine node approach, while using a
coarse node approach for areas that are not as critical or that
cover extremely large areas.
A significant challenge to be addressed in IDIRA
is to enable these two developments to work in unison if needed;
i.e. to run the parallel and hybrid approaches simultaneously.
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Procedural
Representation |

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The urbanEXODUS model (and the user) may need to impose
procedures upon the responding population (i.e. staff or
evacuees). This will allow the user and other IDIRA
components to represent key
scenario elements such as the search patterns of staff, the managed movement of
evacuees, etc. In effect, instead of the agents moving directly
to a location, they will move via specified routes and perform
actions at required locations producing a range of different
emergent conditions (crowd flows, congestion, etc.). The model
currently has a method of representing procedural requirements
in the form of itineraries that can be associated with
individuals or populations. This capability will be enhanced in
two ways: it will be simplified to cope with the potential for
real-time requirements, and it will be made more flexible to
cope with the range of additional functionality required for the
scenarios of interest. |
Agent Response |

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The agent sensitivity to their surrounding conditions
will be enhanced. In essence, the agents may need to
respond to the procedural, situational and informational
conditions faced in order to better represent their
response and the scenario conditions that develop. The model currently has a sophisticated behavioural model
that enables the simulated agents to respond and react
to the conditions around them.
However, this is primarily designed to cope with building
evacuations. The behavioural model will be enhanced to
address large-scale crowd incidents. This is currently
being enhanced in order to accommodate more
sophisticated social / psychological / physical
processes in the decision-making process.
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Information Exchange
and Interoperability |

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IDIRA requires that the integrated version of urbanEXODUS will
receive information from other IDIRA components, and that the
model will then provide information to other IDIRA components.
The information may be provided in a number of formats,
be real-time or pre-existing and affect different aspects of the
model. A considerable challenge will therefore be ensuring
compatibility and real-time data exchange. EXODUS will be
configured in accordance with the information provided. This
process will either require some user intervention, or be
automatic. Once EXODUS has been configured and run, the output
generated will be feed through to other IDIRA components where
an operator may accept or reject the guidance provided. The data
will then need to be (a) in the correct format, (b) represent
the key indicators, (c) be in the appropriate degree of detail,
and (d) be provided at the appropriate time. The manner of this
information exchange, the configuration of the model and the
nature of the output produced requires significant development. |
User Access |
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Depending on the path that the IDIRA project adopts in WP1
and WP2, there may be a need to employ the urbanEXODUS model as
part of live response and/or as part of staff and responder
training. As a contingency, enhancements to user access and
interactively are currently being investigated outside of the
IDIRA project. In effect, developments will be made to allow the
user to modify the conditions faced by the simulated agents
and/or the actions performed by simulated agents. This will
enable specific procedural changes to be assessed and also allow
the consequences of agent (user) actions to be better
understood.
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Scenarios Examined |
FSEG will be involved in the design and implementation
of three training exercises. These will reflect three
representative applications of the MICS system in the field.
These scenarios may represent emergency responses to flood,
earthquake/fire and pandemic scenarios. Where the urbanEXODUS
simulation tool might be used as part of the response (i.e.
provide real-time information to the MICS system to help inform
responder decisions), comparable scenarios will also be
simulated in order to test the performance of the model. |
Partners |
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Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
(http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/.html) |
Germany |
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Salzburg Research Forschungsgesellschaft
M.B.H.
(http://www.salzburgresearch.at/) |
Austria |
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Frequentis
AG
(http://www.frequentis.com/en/uk/home/) |
Austria |
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Brimatech
Services GmbH
(http://www.brimatech.at/web/) |
Austria |
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National
and Kapodistrian
University
of Athens
(http://en.uoa.gr/) |
Greece |
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ORGANISMOS
ANTISEISMIKOU SXEDIASMOUKAI PROSTASIAS (OASP/ EPPO EARTHQUAKE
PLANNING AND PROTECTION ORGANIZATION)
(http://www.oasp.gr/) |
Greece
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Deutsches
Rotes Kreuz Landesverband Sachsen e.V.
(http://www.drk.de/) |
Germany |
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University of
Greenwich
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United Kingdom
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Intelligence for Environment and Security (IES Solutions)
(http://www.i4es.it/)
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Italy |
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Flexit
Sicherheitstechnik GmbH
(http://www.flexit.at/)
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Austria
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Österreichisches Rotes Kreuz
(http://www.roteskreuz.at/home/)
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Austria |
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Ministry of
National Defence
(http://www.mod.gr/)
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Greece
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Ministero
dell’interno
(http://www.interno.it/mininterno/export/sites/default/it/ |
Italy
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Satways
PROIONTA KAI YPIRESIES TILEMATIKIS DIKTYAKON KAI
TILEPIKINONIAKON EFARMOGON ETAIRIA PERIORISMENIS EFTHINIS
(http://www.satways.net/)
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Greece
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TLP, spol.
s.r.o.
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Czech
Republic
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WAPPMER -
World Agency of Planetary Monitoring and Earthquake Risk
Reduction ASBL
(http://www.wapmerr.org/)
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Switzerland |
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NEA -
NOMARCHIAKI EPICHEIRISI ANAPTYXIS OIKONOMIKI - KOINONIKI -
POLISTISTIKI ANAPTYXI NOMOU ACHAIAS
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Greece
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KEMEA -
Center for Security Studies
(http://www.kemea.gr/)
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Greece
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Further Information |
Prof. Ed Galea
Fire Safety
Engineering
Group
University of
Greenwich
Greenwich Maritime Campus
Old Royal Naval College
Queen Mary
Building
Greenwich SE10 9LS
UK
Tel:
+44 (020) 8331 8730
e-mail: E.R.Galea@gre.ac.uk
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The IDIRA project is funded by the European
Commission's 7th Framework Programme |