Engineering the Unexpected: Sociotechnical Issues in the Design of Management Systems for Biohazardous Emergencies

一个由人类学家、计算机科学家、医生和技术专家组成的跨学科团队提议创建一个用于灾害管理的信息系统的社会技术模型。该模型将从访谈、第一人称观察、公开报告和其他来源的数据中构建，这些数据来自过去五年来底特律/温莎国际大都市区的实际紧急情况。该模型将侧重于美国和加拿大的公共和私人机构用来协调其准备和反应的信息系统。该模型将用于(a)评估有关将社会技术问题有效整合到灾害管理系统设计中的具体假设，以及(b)为有效设计和使用应急管理信息技术提供指导。提出的模型将是功能模型和基于代理的模型的混合：在灾难的准备、响应和后果管理中，功能命令和自组织动态发挥不同的作用。该模型将纳入不同群体、公共当局、医疗专业人员、急救人员、家庭、社区甚至媒体的文化，因为这些文化差异会对沟通和信息的使用产生影响。这里提出的研究建立在韦恩州立大学多学科和能力之间的独特合作基础上，并与警察、消防、EMS和其他从业人员建立了国际伙伴关系。这种伙伴关系确定了我国应对未来威胁的能力中的一个关键问题：在司法复杂的环境中协调多个机构，并发展适合这种复杂性的系统。

Engineering the Unexpected: Socio-technical Issues in the Design of Management Systems for Biohazardous Emergencies An interdisciplinary team of anthropologists, computer scientists, medical doctors, and technology specialists proposes to create a socio-technical model of information systems used in disaster management. This model will be constructed from interviews, first-person observations, public reports, and other sources of data on actual emergencies in the Detroit/Windsor international metropolitan area over the past five years. The model will focus on the information systems that public and private agencies in the United States and Canada use to coordinate their preparation and response. The model will be used (a) to evaluate specific hypotheses regarding the effective integration of socio-technical issues into the design of disaster management systems, and (b) to provide guidance for the effective design and use of emergency management IT. The proposed model will be a hybrid of functional and agent-based models: In preparation for, response to, and consequence management of disasters, functional imperatives and self-organizing dynamics play differing roles. The model will incorporate representations of the cultures of the different groups, public authorities, medical professionals, first responders, families, communities, and even the media, insofar as these cultural differences have consequences for communication and the use of information. The research proposed here builds on a unique collaboration among multiple disciplines and capabilities at Wayne State University, and an international partnership with the Police, Fire, EMS, and other practitioners. This partnership has identified a critical issue in our Nations ability to respond to future threats: the coordination of multiple agencies in a jurisdictionally complex environment, and the development of systems appropriate to that complexity.