Web-Based Solutions for Communication and Knowledge Management in Disaster Situations

Abstract

Natural disaster situations becoming more complex and require technology-based solutions for communication and knowledge management across the stakeholders involved. This includes inter-organizational as well as internal communication. Interoperability and standards are major requirements to achieve seamless communication. In this paper we present the system and web-based services developed during the EU Horizon 2020 HEIMDALL project with particular focus on information-exchange use cases based on a scenario data structure that captures the available knowledge. For inter-organizational communication a catalogue module connects users in a content-oriented federated architecture which allows sharing of information during all phases of emergency management and enables a secure aggregation of expert knowledge. For internal communication, a drone-based networked system via satellite or mobile networks is used for monitoring, and an alerting and information service is used to enable communication with first responders on their smartphone.