Crisis training exercises play a vital role in preparing local and regional governments for the management of crises and disasters. Unfortunately, conducting sufficient training is demanding, especially in small municipalities, due to constrained time and personnel resources, but also complex planning and scheduling of the dominant on-site training methods. Virtual training has been suggested as a resource-efficient and flexible  complement. However, despite numerous specifications of digital technology for training, research on organisational implementation and usage is lacking, indicating a low uptake. This article presents a cross-border R&D effort to facilitate the digitalisation of crisis management training by developing generic virtual tabletop exercises (VTTXs) to be shared via a repository, and (re-)used in, and adapted for, diverse contexts. The purpose of this article is to identify essential aspects in designing and conducting virtual tabletop exercises (VTTXs) for collaborative crisis management training.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to apply the concept of organizational ambidexterity as a conceptual lens to increase the understanding of tensions between exploitation (continuity) and exploration (change) in Agile software development (ASD) project teams, and particularly the balancing (ambidextrous) strategies utilized. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual framework was constructed from interdisciplinary sources on ambidexterity. A literature review of publications on ambidexterity in ASD was then performed, and the results from the selected publications were classified according to an extension of the conceptual framework. Findings Contextual ambidexterity in ASD is affected by the four basic coherent concepts: time, task, team and transition. The study found that most ambidextrous factors and strategies were task and team-related. In addition, a mixture of hard (performance) strategies and soft (social) strategies is needed in order for people/teams to (be able to) become ambidextrous. Practical implications To provide a better understanding of ASD, it is important to identify a broader set of ambidextrous factors and strategies that can impact ASD project teams. The expanded conceptual framework can serve as a basis for future empirical research and provide insights to practitioners on how to strengthen ambidexterity in ASD projects. Originality/value The contribution is of great importance for ASD research and practice, as ASD methods are a popular method for managing projects within ASD and in other nonsoftware organizations. In addition, as more and more organizations struggle to deal with rapidly changing environments, interest in the phenomena of paradoxical tensions and the strategy (ambidexterity) to deal with these tensions increase.

Genomförandet av övningar är en nyckel till stärkt förmåga att agera effektivt i kris. CriseIT-projekten har haft som mål att bidra till detta genom att skapa möjligheter för kommuner och andra aktörer med krisövningsbehov att öva enklare och oftare.

Det finns en önskan om, och en medvetenhet om behoven av, att öva mer än vad som görs i nuläget i många organisationer. Digitala verktyg är ett sätt att göra det möjligt att öva oftare, med lägre resursåtgång och kortare tid för planering och genomförande. Corona-pandemin har ytterligare gjort det tydligt vilka möjligheter digitaliseringen innebär för att effektivisera processer som tidigare varit inramade av tids-och rumsbegränsningar –t.ex. övning.

Denna rapport syftar till att på ett lättillgängligt sätt redogöra för och diskutera utmaningar och möjligheter med den digitala övningsprocessen, så som den kommit till uttryck i CriseIT-projekten, genom att beskriva metodiska arbetssätt för design, genomförande och utvärdering av digitala krisövningar samt några perspektiv på implementering av digital övningsmetodik i organisationer. Målgrupp för rapporten är den som arbetar med krisberedskap i offentlig eller privat verksamhet, och som önskar lära sig mer om möjligheten att digitalisera sin övningsprocess. Arbetsrapporten är del av resultatredovisning för CriseIT2.

Introduction

The Corona pandemic as well as the recent IPCC report (2021) are two examples that demonstrate crisis preparedness as an inevitable cornerstone in the development of resilient and sustainable societies. Community resilience can be defined as "the existence, development, and engagement of community resources by community members to thrive in an environment characterized by change, uncertainty, unpredictability, and surprise" (Magis, 2010). This makes resilience particularly integral to social sustainability. Strategies for societal resilience include training of leaders and joint preparation with, and training of, potential crisis actors in a region (Boin & McConnell, 2007). Crisis training strengthens capabilities that are important in the various stages of crisis management, clarifies responsibilities/roles and available resources, supports informal networks and test contingency plans (Steigenberger 2016; McConnell & Drennan 2006). By strengthening crisis management capabilities, training can also enhance adaptive capacity and agency, key parts of community resilience (Berkes & Ross, 2013).

Crisis training also comes with challenges, e.g. having sufficient resources, and accomplishing collaboration with actors within and between organizations (Field et al. 2012; Sniezek et al. 2002) In addition, van Laere and Lindblom (2018) stress the need for recurrent training in diverse training formats. Computer based training has been suggested as a resource-efficient and flexible complement (Lukosch et al., 2012). In this presentation we discuss opportunities and challenges, from a sustainability perspective, when using digitalised crisis management training. 

Research approach 

A Learning Management System (LMS) based method for tabletop exercises have been developed in two R&D projects with a design science research (DSR) approach (cf. Peffers et al., 2007). Several empirical methods have been utilized, e.g. in-depth interviews, surveys, document analysis, observations of workshops and exercises. In this presentation we mainly build on interviews and surveys following two workshops ("test exercises") in 2021 with 1) experts at The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), and 2) project stakeholders respectively. 

Findings

Experiences from the project(s) show that crisis actors request more frequent, easy-to-use, and reusable exercises. In addition, scarce resources in public organisations, and climate change mitigation, put pressure on crisis preparedness activities to be economically and environmentally sustainable. An LMS enable efficient reuse of exercises´ structure and content. Moreover, an LMS can assist participation, e.g. by allowing distributed training, and asynchronous modules where participants can give input when time provides. Also, the possibility of individual reflection assignments, and immersive content (e.g. videos) are appreciated. 

Opportunities

By facilitating for communities and a wider variety of crisis management actors to train, the LMS method can contribute to social sustainability. Moreover, the LMS method can contribute to economic sustainability by reuse of exercises, and thus sharing of resources. Furthermore, distributed exercises decrease the need for traveling which contributes to environmental sustainability.

Challenges

Challenges identified include identifying what can, and cannot, be trained by this method. Also, there is a need for an active trainer/support for the trainees. Furthermore, there are technological challenges such as the amount of systems in use simultaneously (LMS, video conferencing, PowerPoint etc.), and use of diverse LMS in different organisations.

Övning ger färdighet och det gäller inte bara i traditionell undervisning utan också vid krisledning. Krisledning kännetecknas av att medlemmarna i en krisledningsgrupp ska ansvara för sina respektive verksamhetsområden och genom snabb interaktion och samordning över verksamhetsgränserna mildra effekterna av krisen för organisationen eller samhället som helhet. Det innebär att rollmedvetenhet och kommunikationsförmåga måste tränas för den enskilde så väl som för gruppen som helhet. På gruppnivå är också samverkan och koordinering internt och externt viktigt att öva. Tidigare studier visar att organisationer är intresserade av möjligheten att öva mer via digitala verktyg (Wik et al., 2017). Inom ramen för det till och med 2021 pågående Interregprojektet CriseIT 2 utvecklar vi ett koncept för övningsstöd baserat på lärplattformar. Kapitlet beskriver genom en fallstudie hur en seminarieövning kan genomföras med stöd av lärplattformen Canvas. Data till studien har samlats in genom observationer, enkäter, storgruppsdiskussion och deltagarnas indata till Canvas. Erfarenheter från fallstudien sammanfattas i möjligheter, problem och förbättringsbehov kopplade till Canvas och övningsdesignen, och rekommendationer ges både för krisövning och för undervisning baserad på problematisering och dilemmaövningar i klassrummet.

Introduction

The present requirement for social distancing makes it difficult to maintain conventional crisis training practices. Nevertheless, there is still a need to train because not even a prolonged crisis will cover all aspects of crisis management. We present some findings from a crisis management table-top exercise performed with four managers in February-2020 in a learning management system (LMS) as part of an R&D project aiming to develop a concept for digitally supported exercises that opens for continuous exercises with different challenges. This particular exercise took place before the participants’ organisation activated its crisis team due to the Covid-19 outbreak. However, our follow-up interviews were conducted after the participants had been working three times a week, for several weeks, in crisis team meetings via Zoom. The purpose of this presentation is to illuminate one aspect of constant crisis response: how managers react to the simultaneous need to do crisis training during an ongoing crisis. 

Case Description

The case exercise was based on six modules including an evaluation questionnaire . The mainly asynchronous modules were activated at a certain day, at a certain time, and participants were expected to give comments within 4h – it is often not detrimental if someone is delayed, except for one module, which runs synchronously like a chat function or as a video or physical meeting. In the case exercise, four managers from three units participated besides the security coordinator of the organisation, who had participated in three similar exercises before while only one of the managers had done so. In order to avoid negotiating the managers’ calendars, the activation of the modules were spread over a 12-day period, some in the mornings, some at lunch hour.

Ideas emerging from the interviews

The responses did not indicate that the participants preferred the more realistic exercise form of synchronous communication over the less interactive asynchronous mode but they gave suggestions to chisel out the synchronous and asynchronous traits even more: while the participants were less happy with the written chat and preferred video or physical meeting for the synchronous module, they were of the opinion that the asynchronous modules should be more based on independent work. However, few went back to see other participants previous comments. More explicit instructions to check previous modules can possibly make asynchronous modules better at training information exchange.

Having individual questionnaires were both questioned, as evaluation briefings are normally done with the whole group, and appreciated, as it reduces group pressure and promotes more reflection. Also the individual interviews were liked for the latter reason. The interviews were conducted in Zoom with screen sharing of exercise discussions; this walkthrough of the completed exercise could possibly be part of a final questionnaire a week or two after an exercise.

Most interestingly, participants would have liked continued exercising with more specific information about the scenario or simply a new exercise, whether digital or physical. Thus, in spite of the intensive ongoing crisis, these managers could see the value of this form of supplementary crisis training. 

In this paper, we identify, analyze and propose generic requirements for software aiming at supporting crisis management training in local governments. The study builds on a Swedish-Norwegian R&D project based on a quadruple helix model. A design science approach was applied and the artifact presented in this paper is a list of generic requirements. The generic requirements are divided into overall requirements, requirements connected to the trainer’s role and requirements connected to the trainee’s role. The requirements are also mapped to the problems and opportunities identified in the project. Finally, we present examples of elaborations of the addressed requirements based on software design considerations. The presented requirements and the systems development process that was used provide guidelines for systems analysts and developers in future systems development projects aiming at constructing new software for crisis management training.

The ongoing digital transformation in government has enabled innovative changes in operational processes and service. However, while e-services and social media are widely adopted, earlier studies indicate that this transformation is still being awaited in other areas, such as crisis or disaster preparedness. Recent events such as the 2018 wildfires in several parts of Europe, as well as empirical research, highlight the need for more (systematic) training of local governments’ crisis management teams. Conventional training methods are time- and space-dependent and require long-term planning, making it complicated to increase the extent of training. In this interdisciplinary study, we report on the results from the Swedish-Norwegian CriseIT project that aimed to develop information systems (IS) for crisis management training. The purpose of the article is to describe information systems designed to support local governments’ crisis management training and to discuss how these artefacts could improve crisis management training practices.