E-Government Challenge in Disaster Evacuation Response: The Role of RFID Technology in Building Safe and Secure Local Communities

Abstract

While geographic information systems (GIS) can provide information on the static locations of critical infrastructure and evacuation routes, they do not provide the dynamically changing locations of things and people on the move. In contrast, radio frequency identification (RFID) wireless network technology can automatically identify and track the movement of assets (i.e., fire engines, ambulances, and rescue workers) and vulnerable citizens on the move (i.e., the elderly and the disabled), and hence providing local governments and communities with real-time information and enhanced decision-making capabilities, during chaotic disaster response operations (i.e., evacuation). Although the potential high impact and strategic value of integrating RFID into e-government development and government's comprehensive natural disaster management policy for improved preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation, very little has been written in the e-government literature regarding the adoption, use, and impact of RFID in building safe and secure local communities for citizens and businesses. This position paper, which is based on a review of the literature and a field case study, intends to contribute to the definition of the egovernment research priorities needed to build regional disaster preparedness, as an integral part of egovernment development policy.

An RFID-based inventory management framework for emergency relief operations

“…They provided information on Mississippi's Harrison County, where health officials implanted RFID chips on Hurricane Katrina victims. Chatfield et al (2010) analyzed the literature on existing RFID technology benefits. A real-time online feedback control scheme proposed by Ozguven and Ozbay (2013), which includes an efficient control approach based on the continuous time predictive control model.…”

Understanding the Determinants of Adoption and Use of Information and Communication Technologies for Emergency Management: Proposing a Research Agenda based on Existing Academic Literature

“…Lack of priority for disaster mitigation and preparedness in its emergency management strategies becomes one of the barriers to adopt ICTs for hazards recognition, identification of vulnerable areas, risk assessment, and anticipating disaster [20,35]. Clear strategic plans about mobile ICTs help agencies to clarify the roles of new ICTs during emergency response and ensure necessary resources for effective use of mobile ICTs [16,42].…”

Critical Time, Space, and Decision‐Making Agent Considerations in Human‐Centered Interdisciplinary Hurricane‐Related Research

“…Passive data collection technologies (e.g., GPS, medical sensors, RFID tags) make the burden on individuals low, essential since they are occupied by hazard concerns. Examples include Ambrose et al (2010) who examine broadening the use of medical sensors on nursing home patients to help monitor them as they are evacuated and Chatfield et al (2010) who consider RFID tags to provide E-Government support to vulnerable individuals during an evacuation.…”