Publication: Definición de una arquitectura software para dar soporte a comunidades de voluntarios en emergencias
Loading...
Identifiers
Publication date
2015-07
Defense date
2015-07-16
Authors
Advisors
Tutors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Impact
Export
Abstract
La gestión de emergencias es un dominio complejo que abarca desde la prevención y preparación ante posibles situaciones de emergencias hasta la respuesta y recuperación ante las mismas. Dentro de este dominio, las comunidades de voluntarios desempeñan una labor que es considerada fundamental. Estas comunidades se componen de individuos que, movidos por un interés común por la gestión de emergencias y su efecto en la sociedad, se asocian y colaboran altruistamente con organismos y agencias oficiales de Protección Civil. Fruto de esta colaboración, desarrollan una práctica compartida en consonancia con los propósitos, normas y valores establecidos tanto por la comunidad como por los organismos y agencias con las que colaboran. La inclusión de tecnologías de información como medio para mejorar el desempeño de las comunidades es una realidad que ha ido adquiriendo una relevancia creciente. En este sentido, las tecnologías de la información son reconocidas como un instrumento conveniente para asistir la actividad desarrollada dentro de estas estructuras, facilitando la colaboración y la práctica en las comunidades. El proceso de diseño y construcción de sistemas software para dar soporte a este tipo de comunidades es una tarea intrínsecamente compleja. En primer lugar, esta complejidad viene determinada por la propia naturaleza del sistema software a desarrollar. Se trata de sistemas compuestos por módulos y servicios interdependientes, los cuales deben orquestarse para soportar procesos de elevada complejidad, tal y como pueden ser la colaboración, la coordinación o la gestión del conocimiento compartido. Además, la naturaleza compleja de este tipo de sistemas se ve acrecentada por las características propias del dominio en el que se pretende implantar. El voluntariado en emergencias es un dominio con importantes particularidades, y en el que contar con sistemas eficaces es fundamental debido a la inherente criticidad en las actividades desarrolladas. A fin de superar estas dificultades, el objetivo de la presente tesis doctoral es definir una arquitectura software que establezca la estructura, componentes y relaciones que deben considerarse al desarrollar herramientas software orientadas a dar soporte a comunidades en el dominio específico del voluntariado en emergencias. En concreto, tomando como referencia una estructura multicapa y orientada a servicios, esta arquitectura consta de una capa de da-tos, que describe la semántica del dominio, y una serie de capas de servicios que formalizan las necesidades funcionales de este tipo de comunidades. La aplicación de diversos métodos de evaluación ha permitido comprobar la calidad y utilidad de la solución de cara a la construcción de herramientas software que sirvan de apoyo a la colaboración dentro de estas comunidades de voluntarios. Asimismo, se han podido identificar una serie de trabajos futuros que se encaminan principalmente a la profundización en el estudio del papel de la tecnología para el desarrollo de las comunidades. Como resultado del trabajo se han realizado distintas contribuciones en el ámbito del diseño software para dar soporte a comunidades
Emergency management is a complex context that covers from prevention and preparedness of potential crisis situations, to response and recovery when these situations occur. Within this domain, communities of volunteers are recognized as a fundamental staff. These com-munities are composed by individuals who share a common interest in the emergency domain and therefore come together to altruistically collaborate with the official Civil Protection organisms and agencies. As a consequence of this collaboration, they develop a shared practice according to the objectives, values, and norms established by both the community and the organisms they collaborate with. The inclusion of information technologies as a way of improving the performance of com-munities is a reality which is becoming more and more relevant. In this sense, information technology is considered a convenient instrument to support community activity, facilitating collaboration and practice within these structures. The process of designing and building community-based information systems is an intrinsically complex task. Firstly, this complexity is derived from the nature of the system tin question. These systems are composed by modules and interdependent services that need to be orchestrated to support highly complex processes such as collaboration, coordination, or knowledge management. Moreover, the complex nature of this type of system is enhanced by the specific characteristics of the domain in which is implemented. Emergency volunteering domain has relevant particularities that must be addressed as well as requiring effective systems to deal with the inherent criticality of the activities developed within such domain. In order to overcome these drawbacks, this research thesis aims at defining a software architecture that establishes the structure, components and relations to be considered to construct community-based tools for the specific domain of emergency volunteering. Based on a layered service structure, this architecture is composed by a data layer and a set of service layers. The data layer describes the semantic of the domain while the services layers formalize the functional needs of this kind of community. The application of different evaluation methods has allowed the validation of the quality and the utility of the solution to guide the construction of community-based tools that assist collaboration within the emergency volunteering domain. Furthermore, it has been identified a number of research issues for further work. These issues are mainly oriented towards a more in-depth focus on studying the role that technology plays in community development. As a result of this work, diverse contributions to the area of software design for supporting and building communities have been established.
Emergency management is a complex context that covers from prevention and preparedness of potential crisis situations, to response and recovery when these situations occur. Within this domain, communities of volunteers are recognized as a fundamental staff. These com-munities are composed by individuals who share a common interest in the emergency domain and therefore come together to altruistically collaborate with the official Civil Protection organisms and agencies. As a consequence of this collaboration, they develop a shared practice according to the objectives, values, and norms established by both the community and the organisms they collaborate with. The inclusion of information technologies as a way of improving the performance of com-munities is a reality which is becoming more and more relevant. In this sense, information technology is considered a convenient instrument to support community activity, facilitating collaboration and practice within these structures. The process of designing and building community-based information systems is an intrinsically complex task. Firstly, this complexity is derived from the nature of the system tin question. These systems are composed by modules and interdependent services that need to be orchestrated to support highly complex processes such as collaboration, coordination, or knowledge management. Moreover, the complex nature of this type of system is enhanced by the specific characteristics of the domain in which is implemented. Emergency volunteering domain has relevant particularities that must be addressed as well as requiring effective systems to deal with the inherent criticality of the activities developed within such domain. In order to overcome these drawbacks, this research thesis aims at defining a software architecture that establishes the structure, components and relations to be considered to construct community-based tools for the specific domain of emergency volunteering. Based on a layered service structure, this architecture is composed by a data layer and a set of service layers. The data layer describes the semantic of the domain while the services layers formalize the functional needs of this kind of community. The application of different evaluation methods has allowed the validation of the quality and the utility of the solution to guide the construction of community-based tools that assist collaboration within the emergency volunteering domain. Furthermore, it has been identified a number of research issues for further work. These issues are mainly oriented towards a more in-depth focus on studying the role that technology plays in community development. As a result of this work, diverse contributions to the area of software design for supporting and building communities have been established.
Description
.
Keywords
Diseño de software, Gestión de emergencias, Voluntariado