Integrated collaborative knowledge work in emergency response to natural disasters

Observed increases in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters raise the question of how enterprises can protect themselves effectively and affordably. This creates a demand for emergency response systems that enable knowledge creation and sharing as well as a well-coordinated initiation of protective actions. In emergency response, different types of collaborative knowledge work can be distinguished. Because of close relationships between these types, it is necessary to support them together in an integrated collaboration environment. Based upon three scenarios of industrial accidents caused by natural disasters, the paper describes various types of collaborative knowledge work and demonstrates the necessity of their integrated support. Based on this, the concept and the implement ation of a platform for collaborative mastering of potentially dangerous situations caused by natural disasters that supports the interaction in groups of various types are described.