Using web GIS for designing added-value training systems for crisis managers

Critical infrastructure systems constitute a major importance for modern societies. The increasing dependence on functioning infrastructures has increased the need for effective and coordinated decision-making by crisis managers. Technologies like Geographical Information Systems (GIS) play a crucial role in Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) with regard to decision-support by providing spatial data describing statuses of CIs, available resources, damaged areas, etc. What if analysis (WIA) is a method that enables operators to simulate and examine behaviors of sophisticated systems by incorporating crisis management scenarios. This thesis is based on the ongoing research project Critical Infrastructure Preparedness and Resilience Research Network (CIPRNet) and aims at identifying and applying best practices for the application of web-based GIS in complex crisis scenarios as well as developing a prototype application with WIA support, which enables operators to enhance their decision-making process for future crises. The system architecture, features and specifications of the application will be developed and illustrated on the basis of a crisis scenario. A usability evaluation is performed, which examines possible weak points in the human-machine-interaction and measures the satisfaction of using the system.