Network Interdiction Modeling for Emergency Communication Networks
Police, fire, and emergency personnel rely on wireless networks to serve the public. Whether it is during a natural disaster, or just an ordinary calendar day, wireless nodes of varying types form the infrastructure that local, regional, and even national scale agencies use to communicate while keeping the population served safe and secure. We present a network interdiction modeling approach that can be utilized for analyzing vulnerabilities in public service wireless networks subject to hacking, terrorism, or destruction from natural disasters. We develop a case study for the wireless network utilized by the sheriff’s department of Miami-Dade County in Florida in the United States. Our modeling approach, given theoretical budgets for the “hardening” of wireless network nodes and for would-be destroyers of such nodes, highlights parts of the network where further investment may prevent damage and loss of capacity.
IOSuite
IOSUITE is an internal research project led by Prof. Frédérick Bénaben at the Industrial Engineering Center at Mines Albi, France. It intends to provide a suite of tools to facilitate the cross-organizational collaborations between organizations (the main application domain concerns the responders during crisis situation). For that, a knowledge-based system is used to generate, run and adapt cross-organizational processes which come as a support for decision makers.
Population–Infrastructure Nexus: A Heterogeneous Flow–based Approach for Responding to Disruptions in Interdependent Infrastructure Systems
Reducing the instability and vulnerability of the critical and complex population–infrastructure system is essential for a more efficient, resilient, and vital society. Recent catastrophic events, such as the Northeast Blackout of 2003 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012, shut down or interrupted essential and interdependent components of our national infrastructure, such as electric networks, fuel supplies, and transportation systems. This vulnerability is heightened by changing population dynamics that impose serious challenges to our infrastructure system in efficiently responding to both moderate disturbances and extreme events.
The primary goal of this interdisciplinary research project, says Chi, is to increase the resilience of our interdependent population–infrastructure system during disturbances of various magnitudes, ranging from operational uncertainties to major disruptions. He adds that the research will contribute to the development of “smart communities/cities” where multiple stakeholders can work together to achieve common goals. Another goal of this research is to develop innovative educational and training modules to provide a vision of efficient, resilient, and socially vital communities and built environments as well as the means to achieve them.
TribalNet: Expanding Internet Accessibility and Participation on Native American Reservations
Tribal communities represent the final frontiers of Internet access in the U.S., with fast (broadband) Internet access available to fewer than 10% of Native Americans on tribal reservation lands. The lack of broadband access is caused by a collection of challenges, including remote terrain, inadequate funding, and complex telecommunication policies. Yet Native Americans need reliable avenues for participation and contribution to Internet content to strengthen their communities. This project investigates technologies that will increase Internet availability on reservation lands. Further, it will develop new methodologies of disseminating Internet content to reservation residents, prioritizing content by relevance during periods of limited connectivity. Ethnographic methods and interviews of Native Americans residing on the reservations will be incorporated to ensure usability and utility of the proposed solutions. Through the trial of the solutions within Southern California tribal communities, the work has the potential to reach over 2,700 homes and 60 community anchor institutions. Within the three participating institutions, the PIs will include in courses results from the research that demonstrate the positive humanitarian impact of computer science in order to increase the appeal of computer science to female and minority groups.
Collaborative Analytics and Data Driven Humanitarian Aid Operations
Big data science has the potential to improve responses to crises, such as the Ebola outbreak, across several dimensions. In contact tracing, individuals having contact with known patients are identified, located, notified, and potentially monitored. Near real-time spatio-temporal monitoring of outbreaks (cases of positive diagnosis) can help identify spatial vectors of spread, and in turn support containment (e.g. limiting access to areas) as well as resource distribution. Coupled with data on populations, health care resources, and transportation patterns, outbreak monitoring can in turn form the basis for spatial assessments to help assess vulnerabilities, locate strengths and potentially predict the pattern of disease spread both spatially and temporally. In a third dimension, big data analyses can optimize healthcare resource logistics, ensuring facilities and materials are located where and when they are needed. In the Ebola outbreak, healthcare resources have been shown to be critical to improving survival rates. Modeling various resource distribution options based on near real-time as well as established data sets may help decision making and outcomes.
Quantifying the Uncertainty of Social Media During CBRNE Emergencies
Citizen-led movements producing scientific environmental information are increasingly common during hazards. After the Japanese earthquake-triggered tsunami in 2011, the governments of the United States and Japan collaborated to produce airborne remote sensing data of the radiation levels after the Fukushima nuclear crisis. Advances in technology enabled citizens to monitor on-ground levels of radiation by innovative mobile devices built from off-the-shelf components.
Integrative Risk Management
Risk management, including risk analysis and risk control, is core to the concepts of the College if IST, as well as the world we now live in. The guiding question for Integrative Risk Management research is “what should decision-makers do about risk?” The answer, of course, depends on how great the likelihood and impact of the risk to the organization might be, and the value of the exposed assets. The background for this work is the belief that risk management can be improved. The four basic ISO/IEC (2009) or NIST (2012) steps in risk analysis are so straightforward they can also create a false sense of security. Often times, despite best efforts, luck and probability is mistaken for preparation and defense.
ICT-based Community Building with Syrian Refugees in Jordan
Our initial work in Za’atari Syrian refugee camp on mobile and Internet access and use led to a study of the potential for refugees to collect and analyze data on their own capacities and assets as a component of an Asset Based Community Development approach. Community-led development is a focus for UNHCR and developing tools and processes for mapping assets and capacities, whether on physical or online cartographic maps or through other information products, will help provide a critical tool in community development and recovery. Through training on asset mapping with ODK collect and Kobo UNHCR, we collectively created an asset inventory together with Syrian refugees and aid agencies. The initial findings through surveys and focus groups show an increased level of participation and sense of community among refugees.