Experience using Collaborative Technology with the United Nations and Multi-National Militaries: Rim of the Pacific 2000 Strong Angel Exercise in Humanitarian Assistance
October 2000
Mark Adkins, Center for the Management of Information,University of
Arizona
John Kruse, Center for the Management of Information, University of
Arizona
Laurie E. Damianos, The MITRE Corporation
JoAnn Brooks, The MITRE Corporation
Robert Younger, SPAWAR Systems Center - San Diego
Eric Rasmussen, Commander Third Fleet, U.S. Navy
Yelena M. Rennie, The MITRE Corporation
Beatrice Oshika, The MITRE Corporation
Jay F. Nunamaker, Jr., Center for the Management of Information, University
of Arizona
ABSTRACT
The Center for the Management of Information (CMI) at The
University of Arizona engaged in a joint research project with the
U.S. Navy's Commander Third Fleet (Third Fleet) and The MITRE
Corporation (MITRE) to use and evaluate collaborative technology
during Strong Angel, a humanitarian assistance/disaster relief
(HA/DR) exercise. Strong Angel was a part of RIMPAC 2000, a
five-week multinational exercise that involved seven nations with
over 22,000 people, fifty ships, and 200 aircraft. RIMPAC 2000's
Strong Angel set out to satisfy three goals: (1) Develop a mutual
understanding of respective capabilities, limitations and
expectations among multinational militaries and the main United
Nations relief agencies; (2) Create a replicable system for the
safe conduct of Strong Angel and subsequent exercises in
civil-military interaction for humanitarian support; and (3) Deliver
a coordinated response to a population in crisis. CMI, Third Fleet,
and MITRE teamed to achieve four objectives: (1) provide a
collaborative environment both at sea and ashore within an
austere environment; (2) use collaborative technology to
establish a forum for the exchange of relevant information
between civilian humanitarian organizations and the military; (3)
document the flux of combined activities each day; and (4)
evaluate the utility of collaborative technology during a
civil-military exercise in humanitarian relief. The team met each
objective and reports the results in this paper which is to be
presented and published at the Hawaiian International
Conference on Systems Sciences in January 2001.
Additional Search Keywords
RIMPAC 2000, Strong Angel, humanitarian assistance/disaster relief,
collaborative technology, evaluation, group support system.
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