An architecture for intelligent decision support with applications to emergency management

In this paper we present the results of our initial efforts to develop an architecture for designing intelligent decision support systems (DSS) that can be used to aid and assist in emergency management and response systems (EMS). Our methodology for designing DSSs is based on a modelling technique that uses binary Petri nets (BPN). The paper begins by contrasting the standard methodology of DSS design with the model-based approach that we propose. We then discuss the different types of models that one might consider in our approach and describe why BPNs are useful for modelling DSS. Next we present a description of interconnected binary Petri nets. This is followed by an example of applying BPNs to a toy EMS problem. The concluding section discusses how our approach can be extended to develop intelligent DSSs