Continuation, Coordination and Cooperation of Disaster and Humanitarian Response : A Netcentric C3 Approach to Emergency Management and Citizen Participation.

This proposal addresses the need for smart governance of disaster and humanitarian response. Response efforts are often dominated by top-down, protocol-driven control and command approaches by formal authorities. Participatory, citizen-led efforts are increasingly prevalent, providing insight into local needs and opportunities, and informal support where authorities run aground. However, a smart approach that integrates top-down approaches with bottom-up efforts is lacking. We aim to extend netcentric disaster and emergency management approaches. Netcentric work is a form of networked organizing, supported (but not determined) by technologies and organizational procedures, focusing on sharing information and informing about decisions both laterally and hierarchically. Despite its potential, netcentric work can still be perceived as a form of command and control; we seek to extend it into more participatory, balanced forms of response management. There is an array of data, studies and tools that propose and analyze improved response methods, from either a command and control, or a participatory perspective. So far, none have succeeded in spanning both sides of the spectrum, while both are critical for effective responses. This proposal for partnership development aims to bring together private, public and non-profit partners to identify the guiding question, and means to tackle this gap. We will conduct a desk study, field interviews, and convene an agenda setting workshop with relevant project partners. Ultimately, we aim to extend the C3-model of continuation, coordination and cooperation in disaster and humanitarian response, that is participatory yet controlled, and building on emerging insights into the challenges of netcentric organizing.