Understanding the Keys to Effective Information Management and Situation Display During a Pollution Response

Abstract

ABSTRACT As technology and access to information increases, so do the expectations by leadership and the public for the highest quality and most current information during a pollution response (USCG, 2010). This demand is essential to the incident's decision-making process and for situational awareness (USCG, 2010, 2011a). The influx of response data generated must be met by savvy teams of information managers who can provide this need in a timely, efficient manner. This process is further complicated by the relationship between government and industry responders, both of whom often have different information management requirements yet need to work cooperatively with the same data (USCG, 2011b). In this paper, information management common themes, successes, and failure points from three case studies including the M/V Cosco Busan oil spill, the Hurricane Sandy pollution response, and the U.S./Canada CANUSLANT oil spill exercise are discussed. Although these incidents and exercise have significant operational differences, the need for efficient dissemination of quality information remains the same.