Applying Decision Support and Data/Information Fusion/Management Concepts for Emergency Response in the Context of Harbour Protection

Abstract

The events of September 11, 2001 moved the issues of anti- and counter-terrorism, national/public security and collective emergency response (both crisis and consequence management) to the forefront of many nations’ concerns. Harbour protection against terrorist attacks is an example of a kind of concern typical of the post 9/11 security paradigm. In the event of a large-scale terrorist emergency situation that would necessitate the ability to coordinate multi-agency and multi-national operations, advanced decision support, knowledge exploitation, information fusion and management tools can significantly improve the ability to respond to such emergency. This paper presents a brief review of Canada’s national security policy and discusses the roles of National Defence. Key concepts and characteristics of emergency management are outlined with associated information management requirements for the collective response to an emergency. A collaborative workspace aiding military experts to work together effectively with other civil authorities at all levels and international allies is proposed. The collaborative environment supports the fusion of various perspectives to better interpret the situation and the problem, identify candidate actions, formulate evaluation criteria, decide on what to do, and synchronize a diverse set of plans and actions.