Disasters cause complex scenarios which require coordinated actions of various organisations to reduce damages and to support victims efficiently. Due to the involvement of multiple actors in the relief process, where each differ in their missions and goals, coordination; however, is difficult and time-consuming to achieve. As the velocity of decision-making is crucial in such scenarios, a close cooperation between private and public organisations is necessary. In combination with the usage of decision-support tools to simulate and analyse the current situation and expected developments, these factors have a large impact on the overall quality of the response to disasters.
Due to damaged infrastructures and limited resources, last-mile distribution is especially challenging. Basic goods, such as food, have to be transported to the location of the disasters by private and public organisations. Within the scope of this project, a common terminology has to be defined to enable better coordinated processes. By development of a cloud-based simulation and operations research toolkit which is integrated in the control information systems for tactical planning support, optimized transhipment points and real-time schedules of relief shipments can be identified. This leads to a faster and more efficient disaster relief. Furthermore, decisions-makers are supported by a meaningful processing of data and a detailed overview of the current situation. This is not only provided in a classic two-dimensional way, but three-dimensional, based on topographic features and additional external factors. Additionally, different scenarios can be simulated by an integrated agent-based simulation. By having better knowledge about potential developments, counter-measurements can be initiated and relief process altered. By providing real-time information of all available resources and their current state in a common database to various actors, closer cooperation and more efficient mechanisms are furthermore facilitated.
As a result, decision-makers are provided with a powerful and integrated toolkit to react to disasters in a fast and efficient manner. Coordination between various actors is supported and various scenarios are considered. Moreover, the usage of the toolkit in training helps to identify crucial skills and can lead to a better understanding of disaster scenarios, their developments and efficient measurements to improve the quality of disaster relief in Austria.
Publication:
Berariu, R., Berariu, R., Fikar, C., Gronalt, M., & Hirsch, P. (2015). Understanding the impact of cascade effects of natural disasters on disaster relief operations. International journal of disaster risk reduction, 12, 350-356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2015.03.005
Project leader:
Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, Institut für Produktionswirtschaft und Logistik (DE)
Project partner:
BMLVS/WFE Landesverteidigungsakademie Wien/ZentDok
Universität Wien - Fakultät für Informatik
Universität Wien - Cognitive Science Research Platform
Universität für Bodenkultur, Wien - Institut für Meteorologie
ingentus decision support KG
BMI, Abteilung IV/2 IT-Sicherheit
Contact:
Univ.Prof. Mag. Dr. Manfred Gronalt
Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, Institut für Produktionswirtschaft und Logistik
Feistmantelstraße 4
A-1180 Wien
Tel.: (43)0 1/47654-4411
manfred.gronalt@boku.ac.at
www.wiso.boku.ac.at/pwl.html
