Adam Widera

• Doctor (Information Systems)
• Managing Director at University of Münster

Logistics and supply chain management are considered as the backbone of humanitarian operations, significantly influencing their performance. Consequently, it is not surprising that the academic community addressed performance measurement in humanitarian logistics early on and extensively. However, there exists a significant disparity between the a...

Cash-based assistance (CBA) has emerged as a promising transfer modality over in-kind assistance in humanitarian aid. However, it is still associated with several disadvantages, such as higher risk of theft, misuse of financial resources, and/or corruption. Novel information and communication technologies are potential solutions for coping with the...

The 21st Information systems for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM) Conference was held in Münster, Germany, from May 25th to 29th 2024. The conference followed a pracademic approach and was jointly hosted by the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS) Competence Center for Crisis Management at the University of Münster and th...

Disaster management exercises are a core component of humanitarian organizations' preparedness strategies. They entail diverse purposes, from training capabilities of participants to testing response plans to enhancing collaboration between organizations and many more. However, it is uncertain how much exercises contribute to preparedness. Rigorous...

Within this paper requirements and related gaps associated with cross-border pandemic management are analyzed. In order to systematically investigate the potential of solutions to close such gaps, trials can be executed and evaluated. Core elements of such trials are specific scenarios that frame the validation of the applicability of solutions. St...

Currently we all are facing a challenging time around the globe regarding pandemics, natural as well as manmade disasters. First to mention the current Covid-19 situation in Europe but also worldwide, which forces ministers, politicians, responsible from health and environmental organisation on regional, national level, first responders and many mo...

Blood supply chains are a specialized type of supply chain dealing with several legally independent actors that cooperate to facilitate the demand of a resource with limited availability and shelf life. In this setting, adequate decision support tools are needed to ensure good design choi1ces are made, as any interruption in the blood supply chain...

Evaluations in the frame of the EU research projects DRIVER+ and STAMINA revealed that, aside from the multitude of solutions that can be applied to manage a pandemic (restraining measures, protective equipment, tests for epidemiological observations, therapies and vaccines, tools for predictions, resource planning and monitoring, IT solutions for...

Blood supply chains are complex networks of independent actors comprising the collection, separation, testing and transfusion of blood products. A limited availability of blood donors and a mismatch of the available and required blood products combined with the complexity of the network make planning and controlling a blood supply chain difficult....

Blood supply chains are complex networks of independent actors comprising the collection, separation, testing and transfusion of blood products. A limited availability of blood donors and a mismatch of the available and required blood products combined with the complexity of the network make planning and controlling a blood supply chain difficult....

The amount and diverse nature of simulation approaches in humanitarian logistics research is continuously increasing. In order get a better understanding of existing simulation paradigms and their benefits for different application cases, we have executed a systematic literature review. The results provide a structured state of the art overview.

In times of social media, crisis managers can interact with the citizens in a variety of ways. Since machine learning has already been used to classify messages from the population, the question is, whether such technologies can play a role in the creation of messages from crisis managers to the population. This paper focuses on an explorative rese...

The amount and diverse nature of simulation approaches in the humanitarian logistics research has increased significantly in the recent years. In order get a better understanding of the existing simulation paradigms and their added value for different application cases, we have executed a systematic literature review according to vom Brocke et al....

: Blood logistics in South Africa is a challenging topic, during a crisis like the current COVID-19 pandemic, but also already in everyday life. Robust optimization approaches can help setting up and managing the blood supply chain including the decision about facility locations and transportation routes that are accessible, cost-efficient and can...

This CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) is based on the results of DRIVER+ (Driving Innovation for European Resilience) that was a research project funded by the European Commission. The aim of that project was to develop a rigorous, yet pragmatic methodology for the assessment of innovative solutions in the area of crisis management (CM). The results of...

CM organizations often face difficulties in assessing the potential impact of a change in their sociotechnical setup for several reasons, for instance because they lack adequate methodological know-how to assess innovative solutions. Investments in new, but inappropriate socio-technical solutions can produce significant costs and might lead to unin...

Traffic congestion creates multidimensional impacts that require stakeholders' integration and coordination. This paper tries to close the research gaps in congestion management by examining a case study of integrated solutions of congestion measures and analyzing future challenges in congestion management based on two selected factors. The authors...

Crisis management (CM) organisations often face difficulties in assessing the potential impact of a change in their sociotechnical setup for several reasons, for instance the lack of adequate methodological know-how to assess innovative solutions. Investments in new, but inappropriate solutions, not only produce significant costs, but also have neg...

Rosnąca liczba i skutki klęsk żywiołowych wciąż wpływają na usprawnianie międzynarodowego zarządzania działaniami logistycznymi. Takie podejście do logistyki zapewnia większą efektywność i wydajność akcji humanitarnych. Celem artykułu jest wprowadzenie do tematyki logistyki humanitarnej, koncentrując się na kwestiach jej zastosowania i współpracy...

For successful firefighting, information is key. In this work, a general overview of the current challenges and trends of data management for firefighting in Germany and the Netherlands are examined. This was accomplished by conducting a literature review to find out the current state-of-the-art in research. The results of the literature review are...

Logistics management is crucial for the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian operations. Performance measurement enables practitioners to identify improvement potentials and management capabilities with regards to their logistics management tasks. While many performance measurement approaches for humanitarian logistics exist in the scientif...

Crisis management (CM) organizations regularly face the challenge to assess the potential impact of a change in their socio-technical setup. No matter if a new software, a new tool, a simple workflow or a broader organizational structure become available, CM organizations need to estimate the potential added value under a high degree of uncertainty...

These are the proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Disaster Management (ICT-DM), hosted by the Chair for Information Systems and Supply Chain Management and ERCIS Competence Center for Crisis Management at the University of Münster. Information and Communication Technologies have become k...

In this paper we present the design, prototype and evaluation of a multi-method simulation environment for humanitarian supply chains. The degree of preparedness of a logistics setup highly determines the humanitarian impact. In order to construct comprehensive models of the associated humanitarian supply chains and to support the decision making p...

Disaster situations lead to a high number of critical and complex decisions regarding disaster relief logistics, which need to be made under dynamic and often unknown circumstances. As this puts decision-makers under high pressure, there is a great need for high-quality decision support. Due to the specific characteristics of disaster relief logist...

Designing information systems (IS) in support of humanitarian work has been a challenge widely pursued for decades. However, one aspect that has been undervalued within systems design is the role of the underpinning humanitarian values and culture as part of system effectiveness. Further, it remains understudied how we might incorporate those value...

Volunteered geographic information (VGI) has been seen as useful information in times of disasters. Several authors have shown that VGI is useful for coping with preparedness and response phases of disaster management. However, because it is still a young technology, the use of VGI remains uncertain, due to its lack of strong reliability and validi...

Decision making in the area of humanitarian logistics and supply chain management often suffers because of the interrelations between planning horizons, tasks, and crisis management lifecycle phases. In this paper, we present a method, an exemplary prototypical implementation and its evaluation within a relief organization. Based on a structured li...

Logistics activities are of high importance for the success of a humanitarian operation and can be responsible for up to 80% of its costs. Vendor Managed Inventory, a concept successfully applied in commercial logistics, might be a possibility to enhance the effectiveness of humanitarian logistics operations. However, there is a lack of an appropri...

In this article we explore how pictograms and assessment categories used by crisis management organizations support the crisis communication with the affected population. In this field exercise simulating a flooding event the exemplary tool GDACSmobile was used to let volunteers report their observations to the crisis management center using a repo...

The EU FP7 project DRIVER conducts a number of experiments that explore new approaches for addressing known deficiencies in crisis management. The “Interaction with Citizens” experiment campaign focuses on testing the usability and acceptance of various methods and tools that facilitate crisis communication via several channels. These include: info...

Volunteered geographic information (VGI) has been seen as useful information in times of disasters. Several authors have shown that VGI is useful for coping with preparedness and response phases of disaster management. However, be-cause it is still a young technology, the use of VGI remains uncertain, due to its lack of strong reliability and valid...

The EU FP7 project DRIVER is conducting a number of experiments to assess the feasibility of addressing known deficiencies in crisis management. In this paper, we introduce experiments that investigate two-way communication solutions between crisis managers and citizens or unaffiliated volunteers. In the so-called " Interaction with Citizens " expe...

In the paper we present the results of a practitioner-centered requirements analysis for the design of humanitarian logistics dashboards. The work is based on a combination of desk research and its reflection through expert interviews and workshops with logisticians from humanitarian organizations. The identified requirements have been classified f...

A rising number of people is affected by disasters, such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2013 Philippines super-typhoon, and the 2015 Nepal earthquake. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, humanitarian decision makers have to assure that action is prompt and targeted although confronted with lack of needed information about the highly comple...

The European Union’s demonstration project, DRIVER (Driving Innovation in Crisis Management for European Resilience) was successfully launched in May 2014. The project implements the Aftermath Crisis Management System-of-Systems Demonstration Programme funded under the 7th Framework Programme by the European Commission. The DRIVER project aims at t...

Humanitäre Logistikaufgaben bleiben oft im Verborgenen und meistens treten sie in den Vordergrund tritt, wenn die Logistik nicht gut funktioniert. In der humanitären Hilfe ist es insbesondere die Logistik, die dafür sorgt, dass das richtige Hilfspersonal mit den benötigten Hilfsgütern im richtigen Umfang und in der richtigen Qualität zur richtigen...

Bilder von dramatischen Katastropheneinsätzen: Wenn Rettungstrupps Opfer bergen, wenn Ärzte Verletzte versorgen oder kranke Kinder behandeln, wenn Helfer Wasser und Lebensmittel verteilen - Nothilfe in ihrer elementarsten Form. Doch was muss geschehen, dass humanitäre Hilfe in kürzester Zeit und möglichst wirkungsvoll erfolgen kann? Wie kommen Ärzt...

In this paper we present the development of an integrated process analysis toolkit for humanitarian logistics. The toolkit integrates a conceptual and a technological component. Our approach follows a case study-based modeling and design approach. The developed concept was evaluated in two humanitarian organizations. Based on these results we exten...

In this chapter we present the platform concept "HumLog@BVL" designed with the Humanitarian Logistics Council of the BVL International. HumLog@BVL is an international network among humanitarian organisations, logistics services providers and humanitarian logistics researchers supporting a continuous dialogue, the exchange of knowledge and logistics...

In dem Buchkapitel stellen wir die Unterschiede und Schnittstellen zwischen humanitären und kommerziellen Lieferketten vor sowie gehen auf die unterschiedlichen Akteure in der humanitären Logistik ein. Auf dieser Grundlage werden ausgewählte Initiativen der kommerziellen Logistik im humanitären Kontext, aktuelle Herausforderungen und Forschungsrich...

The relief organizations work in volatile environments involving a variety of actors with different skills and knowledge. The service of emergency for victims of natural disasters requires a rapid decision-making. The objective of the approach presented in this paper is to develop a Systemic Process Model (SPM) for procurement decisions in humanita...

With this book, almost 50 experts from industry, humanitarian organisations and research institutions contribute their knowledge in this highly relevant field. The book includes the latest results from BVL International's Humanitarian Logistics Council (part 1), a working group that discussed the most important topics of humanitarian supply chains...

In this book chapter we present an action-research based performance management approach which enables the analysis and improvements of humanitarian logistics processes with enough flexibility for organisational and operational specifications and adjustments. For this purpose first an appropriate process modelling approach will be presented. In the...

Auch wenn der Mensch das Auftreten von Katastrophen nicht verhindern kann, so lassen sich durch humanitäre Hilfe zumindest die Auswirkungen reduzieren. Und der entscheidende Stellhebel für die Wirksamkeit der humanitären Hilfe ist die Logistik. Bereits 2010 initiierte die Bundesvereinigung Logistik e.V. einen Arbeitskreis mit Vertretern aus Hilfsor...

Im vorliegenden Kapitel werden die Ergebnisse der Arbeitsgruppe "Prozesse" des Arbeitskreises Humanitäre Logistik der Bundesvereinigung Logistik ausgerichtet. Die erste Zielsetzung des Arbeitskreises, den Nutzen der Logistik bei Hilfseinsätzen und mögliche Potenziale zu identifizieren, bildet den Ausgangspunkt für die Arbeit dieser Arbeitsgruppe. H...

The aim of the research proposed is the development of a process-driven, reusable, modular, and adaptable PMS for humanitarian logistics considering the possible support and necessary extensions and recommendations for supply chain management tools employed by humanitarian organizations. The aims of the thesis are followed by (1.) the development o...

In this work we present the results of a survey on major challenges in humanitarian logistics. The survey was conducted among logistics managers of relief organizations, logistic service providers, and universities investigating in humanitarian logistics. The following issue areas were consulted: (1) Information and Technology, (2) Processes, Organ...

Die Arbeitsgruppe "IT und Kommunikation" wurde im Rahmen des Arbeitskreises Humanitäre Logistik der BVL gebildet, um Anforderungen an IT-Systeme für die humanitäre Logistik zu untersuchen. Sie setzte sich aus Hilfsorganisationen (Deutsches Rotes Kreuz e.V. und Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk), Logistikdienstleistern (Kühne + Nagel AG und SpanSe...

The approach presented in this paper focuses on a model based identification of humanitarian logistics processes and the actors involved in a humanitarian supply chain. Therefore, a promising reference model for humanitarian logistics was applied using a process modeling tool in two different relief organizations in order to support the optimizatio...

Purpose The aim of this paper is to describe a performance measurement system (PMS) including adequate key performance indicators (KPI) for humanitarian logistics respecting the specific requirements of logistics processes of relief organizations. Design/methodology/approach The approach followed is based on a comprehensive literature study of exis...

In this work we present a general framework for process-oriented coordination and collaboration in humanitarian operations. Process management has been proven useful in many business domains, but humanitarian operations and disaster response management in general require different process management approaches. Related work has only recently introd...