ICT-enabled city government field operations: Resiliency during extreme events

Extreme events include both natural and man-made emergencies, disasters, and catastrophes of exceptional and unthinkable magnitude, which would surpass the capacity of local government to effectively respond. Often organizations plan and prepare for 'average' disasters, which, as the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami exemplified, can lead to unseen vulnerabilities and costly damages. For this paper, we have studied the daily routine operations, the uses, and impacts of ICTs (including mobile ICTs) in two infrastructure management divisions of a city government to better understand their potential fitness for coping with extreme events. We conducted nineteen in-depth field interviews on general procedures, organizational structures, daily routine operations, action plans, information needs, workflows, emergency procedures, and the use of ICTs in the context of emergency response. Based on the data analysis, we have developed recommendations for radically re-thinking extreme event response scenarios through data integration, training and effective use of ICTs, planning and preparedness.