Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Kaj Suneson and Ilona Heldal
Many research projects aim to examine collaboration for PSAs (e.g. Berlin and Carlström, 2009) or
examining technologies that support emergency and rescue operations (e.g. Landgren, 2007, Nemeth
et al., 2010). There are also studies and methods are also aimed at <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> technology or to obtain
predictions for 'proactive reasoning across domains as diverse as energy, security, <strong>the</strong> environment,
health and finance in order to maximize opportunities and counter adversities' (Sanfilippo et al., 2009,
p.1). O<strong>the</strong>r studies examine specific aspects, e.g. a common knowledge aid for decision quality
(Mosier, 1997) or, on <strong>the</strong> contrary, how it makes decisions slower (Wittenbaum et al., 2004). However,
as far as we are aware no previous work has explored <strong>the</strong> benefits <strong>of</strong> NMD when launching large
technical systems, especially for inter-organizational communication and collaboration.
2. Background
This section will first introduce telecommunication for public safety and <strong>the</strong> situation being studied
followed by descriptions <strong>of</strong> knowledge barriers and <strong>the</strong> NDM framework and associated concepts that
assure usefulness in <strong>the</strong> understanding and specification <strong>of</strong> knowledge.
2.1 Telecommunication in <strong>the</strong> Public Safety sector
When providing ICT systems to <strong>the</strong> Public Safety sector two <strong>the</strong>oretical possibilities are available. The
choice can ei<strong>the</strong>r be to use an old standard, already developed for tailored solutions for this sector, or
<strong>the</strong> launch can wait until a future commercial solution is suitable for PSAs.
Tailored solutions have been launched in several waves in <strong>European</strong> countries over <strong>the</strong> last 20 years
in <strong>the</strong> form <strong>of</strong> digital radio communications based on TETRA, TETRAPOL or P25 standards (Tetra,
2000). These serve <strong>the</strong> needs <strong>of</strong> local, regional and central government services involved in public
safety and order, such as <strong>the</strong> health and emergency services, police, ambulance, firefighting and
rescue services. Depending on <strong>the</strong> country, o<strong>the</strong>r user organizations, e.g. local, regional and
municipal services, social workers, nuclear power plants, probation and prison systems, could also be
included (Sjöblom et al., 2010). The systems may also extend to <strong>the</strong> armed forces, although many
countries have separate military networks and administrations.
Interestingly, <strong>the</strong> road map <strong>of</strong> tailored digital networks for emergency services has too <strong>of</strong>ten led
nowhere, with high costs, poor technical performance, a slow and difficult launch process and poor
reliability (Bohlin et al., 2005). There are various reasons for this, e.g. <strong>the</strong> digital technology not only
replaces an older technology but must be treated as a new innovation (Sjöblom et al., 2010) and
consequently a longer adaptation process needs to be considered. Berlin and Carlström (2009) points
out that differences between <strong>the</strong> collaborative partners, <strong>the</strong>ir organizational cultures and <strong>the</strong>ir working
routines might affect co-operation negatively. This can also be interpreted as ano<strong>the</strong>r reason for <strong>the</strong>
negative road map.
The currently available commercial alternatives on <strong>the</strong> market, such as GSM and 3G, do not satisfy
<strong>the</strong> specific requirements <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Public Safety sector. There are strong demands on functions such as
push-to-talk (PTT, allowing almost instant connection), data security and robustness. Using
commercial digital broadband for Public Safety <strong>of</strong>ten means "lost calls" due to lack <strong>of</strong> coverage,
overloaded systems in crisis and so on. Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, at <strong>the</strong> present stage many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> commercial
networks are unable to <strong>of</strong>fer solutions for group communication, communication between handsets
without a network, or services that require exact positioning, which are also common demands from
PSAs.
2.2 The studied telecommunication roll-out
To solve <strong>the</strong> problems presented in <strong>the</strong> introduction and to increase potential co-operation between
PSAs, a new digital communication system, RAKEL (RAdioKommunikaktion för Effektiv Ledning –
Radio communication for effective management), is being introduced in Sweden (RAKEL, 2009).
Adoption and connection to RAKEL have been much slower than was originally envisaged and <strong>the</strong>
co-operation and collaboration organization has not been solved ei<strong>the</strong>r. Although thought <strong>of</strong> as a
business that should cover its own costs, <strong>the</strong> system will not achieve this goal in <strong>the</strong> near future
(Heldal et al. 2010).
The digital telecommunication system decided in Sweden and tailored to PSAs and o<strong>the</strong>r
organizations has an important role to play in society in case <strong>of</strong> crisis. In <strong>the</strong> long run <strong>the</strong> system is
aimed at a broad collection <strong>of</strong> organizations with <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> achieving stability during crises and major
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