Exploring Cooperating Smart Spaces for Efficient Collaboration in Disaster Management

This paper discusses the applicability of Cooperating Smart Spaces in the disaster management realm and their potential to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of rescue relief teams. The Cooperating Smart Space is a novel concept that combines and extends pervasive computing and social computing to support smart space management and community collaboration. Based on an analysis of current practice, we illustrate how the concept can be exploited in the assessment of a disaster scenario in order to improve information management, collaboration between expert teams and cooperation with online volunteers outside of the disaster zone. We present the results of an initial user evaluation by disaster management experts and conclude with important implications for the design of a Cooperating Smart Space platform.