Introduction to the minitrack on Disaster Information, Technology, and Resilience in Digital Government

International audienceThe 21st Century has been termed "the century of disasters." Worldwide there were twice as many disasters and catastrophes in the first decade of this century as in the last decade of the 20th Century. All continents are affected, both directly and indirectly. And the trend continues, fuelled by climate change, demographic changes and social dynamics. The serious challenges facing government in cities, regions and nations of the world relate to acute shocks (such as forest fires, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, pandemics and terrorist attacks) and chronic stresses (such as high unemployment, religious extremism, inefficient public transport systems, endemic violence, chronic shortages of food and water). Information is among the key life-supporting essentials in a disaster response, as well as water and basic foods which are vital to sustain lives. It is information technology these days that gives us access to most of this information. We rely greatly on it. In this sense, information management with effective use of information systems should be conducted and evaluated among disaster relief agencies. Successful information management will result in making higher situational awareness in a field that is crucial for a disaster response. It also guides us to build a disaster-resilient community which can adapt the society to those unexpected events. These issues should be tackled at each level of the governance (international, national, regional, local, etc.), and with regards to all relevant dimensions (social, technological, interoperability, agility, etc.). This minitrack features government and disaster information management, including the development of disaster resilience communities/societies. Five papers have been selected that deal with any aspect of the analysis, design, development, deployment, implementation, integration, operation, use or evaluation of ICT for discussing government roles for disaster responses, disaster information management, and resilience communities. In addition, we support innovative and breakthrough visions regarding "disaster information, technology and resilience.