Emergency Knowledge Center

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Emergency Knowledge Center

• Jennie File
• Andy Wadsworthwith
• Tom Prudhomme, Tim Wentling,and Steve Downey
• via the Access Grid
• Knowledge Learning Systems Group
• National Center for Supercomputing Applications
• University of Illinois
• jfile_at_ncsa.uiuc.edu

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Emergency Knowledge Center

• What is the NCSA Knowledge Learning Systems
  Group?
• What is the EKC and how will it be valuable to
  agencies, businesses, and the public?
• How can the EKC be accessed?
• How is knowledge in the EKC presented?
• How does it work?
• What are the components of the EKC?

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About KLSG

• Our Mission
• Create new knowledge related to e-Learning and
  Knowledge Management, synthesize existing
  knowledge, and inform the design and development
  of next generation tools.
• R D Focus
• e-Learning
• Knowledge Management
• Creation of digital knowledge and learning
  environments

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Recent Projects

• NASA
• World Bank
• NSF / European Commission
• Office of Naval Research
• Allstate Insurance
• Caterpillar Inc.
• NCSA Strategic Industrial Partners
• Eastman Kodak
• JP Morgan Chase
• Kellogg Company
• Motorola, Inc.
• Sears, Roebuck and Co.

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What is the EKC?

• Definition
• Integrated, distributed system for capturing,
  analyzing, and sharing knowledge regarding
  preparation, mitigation, and recovery of
  disasters.
• Value provided
• Allows agencies and other entities to contribute
  knowledge to a central knowledgebase without
  making one agency responsible for the entire
  system.
• Supports delivery of knowledge to the public and
  its agents during times of calm and crisis.

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What is the EKC?

• It is comprised of
• Integrated dynamic knowledge repositories (DKRs)
• e-Learning delivery system
• Full range of communication tools
• Searchable, auto-archiving, expert network

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How can the EKC be accessed?

• Affected directly (stores hit by floods, )
• Responding to crisis (utilities, insurance,
  churches, )
• .

• Potential victims
• Victims and their relatives
• Researchers (students, teachers, corporations, )

• FEMA
• Fire police
• Red Cross

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How is knowledge presented?

• The information provided toeach device type is
  customized to conform to that devices
  capabilities and to the seriousness of the
  disaster

Everything
Enough
Essentials
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How does it work?

• Connections to the system can be made through any
  of the regionally distributed, Grid-connected
  servers.

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How does it work?

• The servers continuously update their information
  and share their meta-data with other servers in
  the network thereby providing inherent redundancy.

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How does it work?

• If a server goes down for any reason, the
  remaining servers still retain all of the
  information on the lost server and continue
  providing information for the citizens, agencies,
  and businesses to use.

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What are the EKC components?

• Each server houses all four components of the
  Center
• a searchable knowledge repository
• e-Learning system for formalized learning
• communication tools from text chats to the
  Access Grid
• expert network to identify and communicate with
  field experts

dynamic knowledge repository e-Learning
system full range of communication tools
expert network
Regional Grid-based Servers
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What are the EKC components?

• The DKRs contain information gathered through web
  pages, emails, message board postings, etc.
  Contribution of information to the DKRs is done
  primarily through system automations as well as
  by manual contributions.

dynamic knowledge repository e-Learning
system full range of communication tools
expert network
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What are the EKC components?

• The e-Learning portion of the Center allows
  advanced preparation of layers of learning
  materials Just in Time text, How-To videos, and
  full courses to fit the needs of the users.

dynamic knowledge repository e-Learning
system full range of communication tools
expert network
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What are the EKC components?

• The collaboration system features layers of
  collaboration text, audio to text, audio,
  video, Access Grid based upon the needs and
  hardware capabilities of the users.

dynamic knowledge repository e-Learning
system full range of communication tools
expert network
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What are the EKC components?

• The expert network allows users to ask questions
  of crisis experts individually or in groups using
  asynchronous or synchronous methods.

dynamic knowledge repository e-Learning
system full range of communication tools
expert network
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The Total System

• Collectively these servers and their components
  housed on them provide an information rich,
  collaborative environment capable of
  disseminating information quickly and effectively
  using multiple technologies and devices.

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Contact Us

• http//learning.ncsa.uiuc.edu/