Delivering a new helicopter base at Kai Tak for the Hong Kong Government Flying Service

An additional helicopter base has been built for the Government Flying Service at the former Kai Tak airport runway site in Hong Kong, China. The base allows high-rise development to take place at Tung Chung new town near the service's existing base at Hong Kong International airport, which would have restricted emergency helicopter operations during poor weather. The project involved construction of a take-off and landing pad, parking bays and hangar for two helicopters, plus an office building for the flight planning centre and air command and control centre. This paper describes how use of an NEC contract helped ensure close collaboration between the employer and contractor, leading to timely completion with zero accidents despite restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Parallel Emergency Management of Incidents by Integrating OODA and PREA Loops: The C2 Mechanism and Modes

Given the differences of command and control (C2) activities between the field command center and the emergency operations center (EOC), this article combined the edge C2 theory with the parallel C2 theory, and proposed a parallel incident C2 mode based on the observe–orient–decide–act (OODA) loop and planning–readiness–execution–assessment (PREA) loop. The aim is to build up a PREA loop-based parallel incident C2 mode and its related operating mechanism of edge empowerment and energy release in parallel incident C2 mode. The parallel incident C2 mode based on the PREA loop and OODA loop supports the co-existence and connection of the two roles of the incident C2 agent at the emergency scene. The two roles are the executive role of emergency response and operation and the command and organization role of the edge emergency system. This article initiates a deep integration of two different C2 process mechanisms in the emergency response and operation process, taking into account the local emergency scene and the global emergency system. Taken together, a key issue has been well addressed regarding the contradiction that the traditional emergency response cannot be reconciled in terms of rapidity and thoroughness. Author

The prototype system of public emergency command, dispatch, and control service for mobile target based on Beidou precise new time and space under the situation of epidemic

In this paper, under the influence of the current new corona pneumonia (2019 - nCoV), a prototype system of public emergency command and control service for Beidou's precise new space-time mobile target is proposed. This system uses the Beidou positioning equipment to be embedded in the mobile terminal and further realizes the precise control of the positioning trajectory of logistics vehicles and related personnel through the Beidou new space-time mobile target public emergency command and control service prototype system. At the same time, the grid difference technology is used to improve the positioning accuracy of the moving target so that the unmanned robot in the epidemic area can work more accurately. While reducing the risk of infection, the efficiency of epidemic prevention can be improved through systematic data analysis. The data can be collected through the platform to form an analysis report to provide decision support in the government's epidemic prevention and control work. © 2022 SPIE

News from BEL

Some of the major orders acquired during the year were Avionics Pack for Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Advanced Electronic Warfare Suite for Fighter Aircraft, Instrumented Electronic Warfare Range (IEWR), Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), Cdr TIT90 Tank, COMINT System, Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) and Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS) for C-295 Programme, Electronic Gun, IoT Gateway, etc. Some of the flagship projects executed during FY 2021-22 were Missile Systems (Air Defence Weapon System and LRSAM), Command and Control Systems, Communication and Encryption products, various Sonars, Electro-optic Systems, Fire Control Systems, Gun Upgrades, various Radars, Electronic Warfare Systems, Coastal Surveillance System, Un-manned Systems, Home Land Security Systems, Smart City projects, K-FON, Medical Electronics, etc. Major products exported included Coastal Surveillance System, Trans-Receive (TR) Modules, EO-IR Payload System, Compact Multi-Purpose Advanced Stabilization System (EOS CoMPASS), Solar Hybrid Power Plant, Data Link, Electro-Mechanical parts, Low Band Receivers (LBREC), Medical Electronics, Spares for Radars, etc.

The compatibility of multiple leadership styles in responding to a complex crisis: leading a health service COVID-19 response.

PURPOSE: The health service response to COVID-19 provided a unique opportunity to build our understanding of the leadership styles in use in managing a crisis event. Existing literature emphasises command and control leadership; however, there has been less emphasis on relational approaches and the behaviours necessary to ensure the agility of the response and minimise the risk of relational disturbances. The purpose of this paper is to understand leadership styles in use, as part of a health service response to COVID-19. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: This paper draws on data from semi-structured interviews with 27 executives and senior leaders from a tertiary health service in Australia. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Notes and examples were coded according to deductively derived criteria around leadership styles and competencies from the literature, while remaining open to emergent themes. FINDINGS: Health system leaders described examples of both command and control and relational leadership behaviours. This dually provided the discipline (command and control) and agility (relational) required of the crisis response. While some leaders experienced discomfort in enacting these dual behaviours, this discomfort related to discordance with leadership preferences rather than conflict between the styles. Both leadership approaches were considered necessary to effectively manage the health system response. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Crisis management literature has typically focused on defining and measuring the effectiveness of behaviours reflective of a command and control leadership response. Very few studies have considered the relational aspects of crisis management, nor the dual approaches of command and control, and relational leadership.

Utilizing Smart City Cyber-physical Infrastructure for Tracking and Monitoring Pandemics like COVID-19 with the ICCC as the Nerve Centre

Managing the ongoing COVID-19 (aka Coronavirus) pandemic has presented both challenges and new opportunities for urban local body administrators. With the Indian government's Smart City mission taking firm roots in some of the Indian cities, the authors share their learnings and experiences of how a Smart City Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) can be extended to become the nerve centre of pandemic-related operations and management, leveraging the Smart City IoT infrastructure such as surveillance cameras for monitoring and enforcement. The authors are of the opinion that the lessons learned and experiences gained from these cities are extremely valuable and can easily be replicated in other cities in a relatively short time period, thus providing a standard and uniform method across the nation for handling epidemics in the future. © 2020 ACM.

The Development and Deployment of a Programmable Water Sampling System Using an Autonomous Surface Vehicle

During January and February, 2021, SeaSatellites Inc, (Seasats) in collaboration with the Scripps Ecological Observatory at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, conducted a series of sea trials to demonstrate the capability of collecting ocean water samples using a newly developed Programmable Water Sampling System (ProWaSS) that had been integrated into a solar/battery powered 3m (9.0ft) Seasats Autonomous Surface Vehicle. During the past decade there has been a steady growth in the number of autonomous surface vehicles being deployed to conduct a variety of missions ranging in duration of only a few hours to multiple days, weeks and in some cases multiple months. For many, the idea of deploying an autonomous surface vehicle for extended periods of time, in all- weather conditions while still performing the allotted tasks is a welcomed option. Alleviating the need to go to sea for long periods and now having seen the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic curtailing crewed ship activities, the autonomous surface and subsurface vehicle option has proven invaluable. Collecting water samples for microbial and eDNA analysis is key to better understanding the health of marine ecosystems. For example, knowing the location and density of organisms capable of producing a harmful algal bloom (HAB) is critical to predicting their landfall on beaches where they impact the health and safety of humans and marine wildlife with a potential for substantial financial loss due to closure of recreational and commercial enterprises on our coasts. One way to provide an early warning of HABs landing on coastal beaches is through regular offshore water sampling at HAB initiation sites. This can sometimes be challenging due to rough seas and the unavailability or expense of vessels. The Seasats autonomous surface vehicle equipped with a Programmable Water Sampling System (ProWaSS) allows sampling to commence when other types of sampling are difficult or impossible or crewed vessels are unavailable or operationally prohibited. Trials of the ProWaSS demonstrated the ability to repeatedly collect water samples at pre-determined GPS waypoints offshore of Scripps Pier, return to the pier where the Seasats vehicle was quickly and easily recovered and the samples sent to the laboratory for analysis. This paper and presentation describe the Seasats vehicle and the ProWaSS and presents the results of the water sample analysis provided by Dr Jeff Bowman and Elizabeth Connors from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, and proposed further development to expand the ProWaSS to accommodate additional water samples and the inclusion of data from CTD and fluorometer sensors. © 2021 MTS.

Civilian-Military Collaboration before and during COVID-19 Pandemic—A Systematic Review and a Pilot Survey among Practitioners

Due to the similarity in skills and assets, Civilian-Military collaboration has emerged as one of the most reliable partnerships during the disaster and public health emergency management to address all necessary elements of surge capacity, i.e., staff, stuff, structure (space), and systems. This study aimed to evaluate this collaboration before and during the coronavirus 2019 pandemic. The outcomes of the systematic review revealed several published reports on successful civilian-military collaboration and proposed a need for further improvement. One hundred sixty-six individuals from 19 countries responded to nine questions, included in an online survey with the possibility to leave comments if necessary. The questionnaire referred to elements such as command and control, safety, communication, assessment, triage, treatment, and transport, as the crucial components of emergency management. The comprehensive examination of the survey results together with registered comments revealed a possible improvement in collaboration particularly on the strategic levels, i.e., meetings at the command-and-control level, safety, communication, and networking issues. While logistic collaboration seemed to be unchanged, the practical parts of the collaboration, i.e., clinical and non-clinical operational partnership (Triage and Treatment), mutual education, training, and operational understanding of each organization remained unchanged. In conclusion, although the current pandemic may have facilitated a more intense collaboration between civilian and military healthcare organizations, it lacks practical partnership and operative engagement, representing two crucial elements necessary for harmony and compatibility of both systems. Such collaboration may require a political will and perhaps a mutual civilian-military authority.