Improving Collaborative Situation Awareness with Transmedial Infrastructure

Abstract

When attacks or natural disasters occur, emergency response organizations rely on Tactical Operations Center for situation awareness. Currently, there is a lack of connectivity and real-time data management across all agencies. Without a technology to support the harvesting and dissemination of real-time data relevant to each agent's roles and responsibilities, inter-agency communication can often be difficult and chaotic. Whether at the TOC or on-site, the combined use of fixed and mobile devices to access a common relevant picture makes each agent into an active node; as more nodes are networked in, the big picture of what's happening becomes increasingly clearer. This paper discusses how transmedial technologies can transform each agent into a network of nodes for collaborative situation awareness.