Effects of cyber domain in crisis management

Abstract

There is fundamental need in EU-level to develop common alarm procedures and emergency response models with preventive functions which work well from local to national level and from national to international level. European Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) services such as law enforcement, firefighting, emergency medical and disaster recovery services have recognized that lack of interoperability of technical systems limits cooperation between the PPDR authorities. Also, the military (MIL) and critical infrastructure protection (CIP) faces similar challenges. Recent major accidents have indicated that lack of human resources affects to disaster recovery. PPDR-actors cannot start operations, if there is a human factor preventing the flow of information. Preventing a domino effect after a disaster may be delayed. There is a need to understand how public safety authorities can act in a preventive manner so that a potential accident or offense can be prevented in advance. This paper´s goal is to find out main factors which affect to implementing of the next generation hybrid emergency response system for critical infrastructure protection. Early detection of any threat and rapid response to neutralize the threat may help to save human lives and vital functions before any disaster occurs. By comparing present emergency response processes to the next generation Smart hybrid emergency process model, it can be found effects and factors which prevent to implement this architecture. For example, legislation, organizational changes, lack of using cyber dimension and emergency procedures effects to combine different kind of PPDR-functions. Cyber dimension as a part of situational awareness raises its value for the continuity management. For traditional purposes, PPDR services are being seen as separate physical operational functions. This study proposes to solve the problems of development needs through technical, organizational and structural alternatives. The main issue regarding dividing reliable decision support information to decision-makers is related to at which point in chain-reaction a human action is more harmful than useful. It has been seen in earlier empirical studies that human activities may prevent to manage functions of essential emergency response procedures during a disaster. It´s necessary to create emergency response model, that will be functionally capable and modern combining cyber and physical elements in a right proportion.