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Synthetic Environments for Investigating Collaborative Information Seeking: An Application in Emergency Restoration of Critical Infrastructures

Author

Listed:
  • Mendonça David
  • Wallace William A.
  • Brooks James

    (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – Industrial and Systems Engineering, Troy, NY, USA)

  • Cutler Barbara

    (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – Computer Science, Troy, NY, USA)

Abstract

Large-scale disasters can produce profound disruptions in the fabric of interdependent critical infrastructure systems such as water, telecommunications and electric power. The work of post-disaster infrastructure restoration typically requires information sharing and close collaboration across these sectors; yet – due to a number of factors – the means to investigate decision making phenomena associated with these activities are limited. This paper motivates and describes the design and implementation of a computer-based synthetic environment for investigating collaborative information seeking in the performance of a (simulated) infrastructure restoration task. The main contributions of this work are twofold. First, it develops a set of theoretically grounded measures of collaborative information seeking processes and embeds them within a computer-based system. Second, it suggests how these data may be organized and modeled to yield insights into information seeking processes in the performance of a complex, collaborative task. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications of this work for practice and for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Mendonça David & Wallace William A. & Brooks James & Cutler Barbara, 2015. "Synthetic Environments for Investigating Collaborative Information Seeking: An Application in Emergency Restoration of Critical Infrastructures," Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 763-784, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:bpj:johsem:v:12:y:2015:i:3:p:763-784:n:11
    DOI: 10.1515/jhsem-2014-0083
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