Effective Disaster Management: An Interoperability Perspective

Natural and man-made catastrophic events appear be steadily increasing in intensity and frequency. Proper preparation, response and recovery are essential if mankind and its vital systems are to cope with and survive large-scale disasters. Unfortunately, on account of historical and geographical reasons, the organisations responsible for delivering emergency response services often under-perform (or even fail), typically due to a lack of proper interoperation and collaboration. This paper attempts to analyse interoperability issues specific to disaster management and propose a way forward based on the advances in interoperability research, using an enterprise integration and architecture perspective in order to ensure a holistic approach.