NPS Hastily Formed Network Center Web Portal
Freely Available NPS Managed Interactive Online Distance Learning Module and Introduction to the Concepts of Hastily Formed Networks
Our current theme project addresses the issues
arising in emergency response to crises such as
the 9/11 attacks and natural disasters such as
the Indian Ocean tsunami, Pakistan earthquake
and Hurricane Katrina. These demand the combined
actions of people in a network of multiple organizations
with no common authority, who must cooperate and
collaborate. Characteristics of situations in
which HFNs are necessary include:
- Genuine surprise. The precipitating event
is in no
known category. There has been no advance planning,training,
or positioning of equipment.
- Chaos. Everyone is overwhelmed. No one understands
the situation or knows what to do. People are
frantic and panicky.
- Totally insufficient resources. Available
resources
and training are overwhelmed by the magnitude
of the event.
- Multi-agency response. Several agencies must
cooperate in the response, including military,
civilian government, and private organizations.
These groups have had little or no prior reason
to collaborate. The shock of moving from a state
of "coexistence" to a state of "collaboration"
can be overwhelming.
- Distributed response. The response is distributed
over a geographical area into many local jurisdictions.
The authority to allocate resources and reach
decisions is distributed among many organizations.
Decisions by command-and-control do not work.
- Lack of infrastructure. Critical infrastructures
like communications, electricity, and water
do not work. Makeshift infrastructures need
to be deployed quickly.
Core questions arising in the study of HFNs include:
How is trust quickly established among disparate
groups that haven't previously worked together
and may have differing cultural norms, decision
making styles, organizational structures and technical
system incompatibilities? How do responders establish
mobile communications and sensor systems across
organizational boundaries? How do they conduct
interorganizational operations? How do they establish
common goals, collaborate on action plans and
coordinate execution?
Hastily formed networks is an area where advanced
networking technology and human organization issues
meet. They can work well together, or they can
clash. Our research combines work in diverse areas
including networking technologies, sensor systems,
autonomous coordination, human communication,
improvisation, organizational theory and trust.
. For more in depth information on the various
work being done, visit the following links.
"Hastily Formed
Networks" by Peter Denning (pdf)
Hastily Formed Networks Center website (web page)
Hastily
Formed Networks for Complex Humanitarian Disasters
After Action Report and Lessons Learned from the
Naval Postgraduate School's Response to Hurricane
Katrina
(pdf)
"Valued Information at the Right Time (VIRT): Why Less Volume is More Value in Hastily Formed Networks " by Frederick Hayes-Roth
(pdf)
"Collaborative IT Tools Leveraging Competence in Hastily Formed Networks " by Paul Pavlau (pdf)
"Swift Trust in Hastily Formed Networks" by Roxanne Zolin (pdf)
Disaster
Relief Efforts & Information (webpage)
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