OData – The Best Way to Develop Crisis Management Tools? A Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment

OData is an HTTP-based protocol that facilitates the implementation of queryable and interoperable RESTful APIs, making it a prominent choice in modern web application development. This research paper evaluates OData's functionalities and assesses its potential to support crisis management software. To address this question, the study employs a Fit-Gap analysis comparing crisis management requirements with OData's technical capabilities. Additionally, the Crisis Object Database, developed using OData standards, was evaluated for usability through a System Usability Scale test. Results were compared to a legacy system using a proprietary API to identify performance differences. Findings demonstrate that OData effectively supports the development of interoperable and user-friendly crisis management tools. The usability study reveals significant advantages of OData-based implementations over proprietary alternatives, highlighting OData’s ability to fulfill critical requirements while maintaining flexibility. The study concludes that OData can serve as a robust foundation for crisis management software, though specific use cases require careful consideration to maximize its potential.