Abstract :
In the context of homeland security, one of the key challenges in such environment is achieving effective, timely and orderly collaboration and information sharing among various government agencies at the Federal, state, and local levels. These agencies are using the Web as one of the means for sharing related information that is of different forms. In case of a crisis, a virtual response team needs to be formed in an ad-hoc manner. Members of this virtual response team come from various government agencies and private organizations. Depending on various factors, including the location and the nature of the crisis, the composition of this virtual multi- agency response team may change from one crisis to another. Furthermore, during the course of a given crisis the membership of this virtual multi-agency response team (VMART) may change dynamically to accommodate various needs (e.g., public health versus fire) and to confirm to certain constraints, such as jurisdictions, e.g., as the crisis extended from only New York, initially to New Jersey.
