Towards Shared Situational Awareness and Actionable Knowledge - An Enhanced, Human-Centered Paradigm for Public Health Information System Design

Technology has exerted an increasingly dominant influence on the ways and means that objectives of informatics projects are pursued and has extended the capabilities of informatics systems in general. However, literature examining the importance of human links between situational awareness-related processes and decision-making capabilities remains relatively sparse. Substantial knowledge gaps exist in information system implementation between technology and public health surveillance. The purpose of this article is to present an enhanced conceptual framework, built upon innovative perspectives of a human-centered paradigm of implementation, to enable and enhance human-centric decision-making. To clarify this concept, we employ a case of situational awareness in the setting of a recent command post exercise in order to illustrate core concepts and practices. We divide the framework into methods, tools, and goals to broaden the context of discussion, and conclude with lessons learned from this field operation exercise. The present study could be of value to military commanders, policy leaders, and analysts across multiple disciplines, such as in the public health, counterinsurgency, and bioterrorism surveillance communities.