Abstract
Information intermediaries play a critical role in information supply chains for emergency preparedness. Yet, their responsibilities have not been adequately examined in the literature. Using a state public health department as an exemplar, we explore the roles and challenges experienced by one intermediary organization as it faced the unique challenges of deploying a public health emergency preparedness system. We further discuss the influence of stakeholder participation and commitment, inter-organizational collaboration, issues related to organizational structure and resources, and the challenges specific to developing and institutionalizing an IT system for emergency preparedness. Based on the public health case, a set of propositions focused on trust, coordination, information sharing and incentive alignment are developed to illustrate the role of information intermediaries.
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Notes
The SEIR model is a classic epidemiological model that captures the spread of an epidemic in a homogeneous population (Anderson and May 1982). This model describes four discrete states of an epidemic: Susceptible, Exposed, Infectious and Recovered. Infectious individuals spread the disease to the (non-immune) susceptible population. Those in the susceptible population to which the disease is transmitted become exposed and after a period of time, the incubation (or latent) period, they become infectious. Individuals remain infectious for a period of time, the infectious period, and then recover (with immunity).
Maricopa county represents 3.8 million of the 6.1 million population in the State of Arizona (2006 Census).
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Ipe, M., Raghu, T.S. & Vinze, A. Information intermediaries for emergency preparedness and response: A case study from public health. Inf Syst Front 12, 67–79 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-009-9162-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-009-9162-3