A Model to Support Information Exchange Between Organizations with Different Rhythms

open_access
Open Access
Author:
Mello Lage, Carla Patricia
Graduate Program:
Information Sciences and Technology
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
October 02, 2020
Committee Members:
Fred Fonseca, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Fred Fonseca, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Peter Kent Forster, Committee Member
Xiaolong Zhang, Committee Member
Ann Callistro Clements, Outside Member
Mary Beth Rosson, Program Head/Chair
Keywords:
Emergency Response
Polyrhythm
Information Exchange
Organizational Rhythm
Abstract:
Emergency response operations are complex and busy. Many times military organizations, along with civil agencies, work to rescue people and bring relief. In order to do that efficiently, command centers must receive and send information in a timely manner. However, the information exchange between command centers often does not run as smoothly as it should. Sometimes the information does not arrive. On other occasions, it does arrive but not when it is needed most. In other cases, it arrives too often, causing information overload. Some of these problems occur due to differences in the timing of each organization, what we call here different organizational rhythms. We are introducing a model, which borrows several basic concepts from music theory, for coordinating the information exchange process in emergency response operations. This research creates a model that can dictate critical times for exchanging information in these operations and, if needed, can also create a synchronization between two organizations. The findings from this research will support the creation of computerized agents to assist online information exchange between organizations with different rhythms.