There are various types of disasters and no one can expect when they will occur. IT disaster recovery plan (ITDRP) became one of the most important contingency plans for organizations in the event of disasters. Organizations started realizing the importance of having IT Disaster recovery plan but many hesitate to apply this plan before a disaster occurs. However, even when the importance of ITDRP is acknowledged in the IS field, most scholarly work has focused on the process and strategies while briefly looking at the challenges and benefits of the DRP. This paper aims to investigate the most common challenges associated with having an effective ITDRP and the opportunities associated with this plan. A qualitative study was conducted which consists 6 interviews within several organizations which have developed an ITDRP. The results show that top management support, staff issues, maintenance, and disaster recovery sites are the main challenges organizations face during DRP. While the benefits were data protection, reducing the interruption for business functions, enhancing the reliability for staff and IT services and speeding up the decision-making process.

Progress in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and radio frequency (RF) technology has fostered the development of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Different from traditional networks, WSNs are data-centric, self-configuring and self-healing. Although WSNs have been successfully applied in built environments (e.g. security and services in smart homes), their applications and benefits have not been fully explored in areas such as disaster recovery and rescuing. There are issues related to self-localisation as well as practical constraints to be taken into account. The current state-of-the art communication technologies used in disaster scenarios are challenged by various limitations (e.g. the uncertainty of RSS). Localisation in WSNs (location sensing) is a challenging problem, especially in disaster environments and there is a need for technological developments in order to cater to disaster conditions. This research seeks to design and develop novel localisation algorithms using WSNs to overcome the limitations in existing techniques. A novel probabilistic fuzzy logic based range-free localisation algorithm (PFRL) is devised to solve localisation problems for WSNs. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm performs better than other range free localisation algorithms (namely DVhop localisation, Centroid localisation and Amorphous localisation) in terms of localisation accuracy by 15-30% with various numbers of anchors and degrees of radio propagation irregularity. In disaster scenarios, for example, if WSNs are applied to sense fire hazards in building, wireless sensor nodes will be equipped on different floors. To this end, PFRL has been extended to solve sensor localisation problems in 3D space. Computational results show that the 3D localisation algorithm provides better localisation accuracy when varying the system parameters with different communication/deployment models. PFRL is further developed by applying dynamic distance measurement updates among the moving sensors in a disaster environment. Simulation results indicate that the new method scales very well.

The objective of this thesis is to identify how to take advantage of opportunities – in the construction sector in specific – to contribute to sustainable development at an early stage of intervention in disaster-affected areas. To this aim, the thesis develops a "framework for sustainability", distilling the literature on sustainable, disaster recovery into a succinct set of criteria for the planning and/or evaluation of recovery programmes. What is unique about this framework is its intended suitability to the field of construction in particular. The framework is tested in the thesis against two "case study projects" in construction in disaster areas. Data on these two projects, which took place in the Marmara Region of Turkey, was collected over a period of fieldwork. The findings, arranged in the chronological order of each project's planning/design, implementation, and maintenance, are presented in the latter part of the thesis. This is followed by an analysis chapter, which uses the proposed framework to evaluate the experiences of the two projects. The thesis concludes that sustainable recovery may indeed be supported from an early stage of construction initiatives, by concentrating not only on constructed products, but more importantly, on the construction process itself.

Due to the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as drivers of economic growth, it is essential to explore the security issues impacting SMEs' success and failure. One of the main security risks that could significantly impair the operability of the organizations is the permanent loss of data due to man-made and/or natural disasters and interruptions. Research has shown that SMEs are not taking disaster preparedness for their computer and networking systems as seriously as they should. This dissertation is an attempt to explain the process of a risky choice, specifically the decision maker's choice of not investing in disaster recovery technologies (DRT) to protect the firm. This study applied a revised model of determinants of risky decision-making behavior suggested by Sitkin and Weingart (1995) to a context of DRT investment in the real world. The model was empirically tested using survey data collected from a list of technology investment decision makers of SMEs located in the northeastern United States. Analysis and results of the collected survey data suggest the revised model can be applied to the real world context. The executive's characteristics, experience, and traits such as positive outcome history, risk propensity, risk perception, and decision framing influence the decision to invest in data protective technologies in SMEs. Specifically, the results of the analysis indicated that risk propensity is affected by outcome history and risk perception is affected by decision framing. In addition, risk propensity affected risk perception and risk perception affected the choice of DRT investment. Furthermore, decision framing had moderate effect on DRT investment

The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program was created in 2000 to incentivize commercial investment in low-income communities that have traditionally lacked access to capital. In addition to its use to foster community development, after Hurricane Katrina it was put to use as a disaster recovery resource as part of the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act. The program has successfully attracted investors, but gauging the community impact of NMTC projects is difficult to assess because of the diversity of allowable project types and their wide dispersion across the country. New Orleans affords a unique opportunity to examine how NMTCs have contributed to a specific community because of its pre-disaster economic and post-disaster recovery needs, and because 40 businesses in the city have received NMTC financing through 2008. At present, a disproportionate share of projects and dollars invested have gone to the Central Business District and other lightly flooded or unflooded areas.

This qualitative case study explores the post-Katrina experiences of African Americans in Houston and in New Orleans. When the levees failed, residents from New Orleans were scattered across the country. Houston housed the largest population of displaced low-income African Americans from New Orleans. As the rebuilding process began, housing, employment, education, and healthcare policies in New Orleans changed. These institutional changes employed urban revitalization and poverty removal strategies adapted to disaster recovery. This study differs from previous research by examining these changes with an intersectional approach. It explores how African Americans frame obstacles as they attempt to return to a city with reformed housing, employment, education, and healthcare policies. To do this, I analyze three different cases 1) those that returned to New Orleans, 2) those still displaced in Houston, and 3) those that relocated to Houston after returning to New Orleans for over a year.

Fondée sur dix-sept mois d’enquête ethnographique à Tongoa (entre 2013 et 2015), une île du Vanuatu, cette thèse et la réflexion qui la sous-tend portent sur les espaces travaillés, en mer comme sur terre. Elle prend comme fil conducteur les jardins de subsistance et met en évidence les relations qu’entretiennent les habitants de l’île, tant entre eux et avec ces deux types d’espaces, qu’avec les collectifs de non-humains qui peuplent leur monde. L’étude de la nature domestique révèle que la terre et la mer sont pensées dans un cadre commun et montre en quoi elles sont constitutives du mode de vie et des représentations de ceux qui les créent et les exploitent. L’environnement dans lequel évoluent les Man-Tongoa est marqué du sceau de catastrophes, dont la contingence constitue, pour eux, un inéluctable donné de l’existence. Les espaces appropriés sont régulièrement bouleversés, voire temporairement anéantis, par un événement sismique ou climatique de grande ampleur – comme le cyclone Pam, intervenu en mars 2015. L’ethnographie de cet événement et l’étude des différents phénomènes relevant de la catégorie locale de disasta démontrent comment est localement construite la notion de catastrophe lorsque la « tradition », les dénominations chrétiennes et les ONG en proposent des explications parfois incompatibles. / Based on seventeen months of fieldwork carried out between 2013 and 2015 on Tongoa, an island in the archipelago of Vanuatu, the present PhD dissertation and its underlying reflection aim to study domesticated spaces, both on the ground and in the sea. This research explores and follows the logics of subsistence gardens, underlying the relationships cultivated both between islanders and these spaces, and between them and the non-human entities inhabiting their world. Such an approach helps underline how the land and the sea are conceptualised in a common frame of understanding, and shows how both spaces equally build up the way of living and thinking of those who create them and tap into their resources. The environment of the Man-Tongoa bears the weight of potential disasters, whose very contingency is an inescapable given of daily reality. The appropriated spaces are regularly shattered, sometimes even temporarily wrecked, by large-scale seismic or climatic events – as demonstrated by the cyclone Pam, which took place in March 2015. The ethnography of this event and the analysis of the various phenomena pertaining to the local category of disasta demonstrate how the notion of disaster is locally constructed, when “tradition”, Christian denominations, and NGOs offer non mutually intelligible or compatible explanations.

Companies that perform data backup lose valuable data because they lack reliable data backup or restoration methods. The purpose of this study was to examine the need for a Six Sigma data backup performance indicator tool that clarifies the current state of a data backup method using an intuitive numerical scale. The theoretical framework for the study included backup theory, disaster recovery theory, and Six Sigma theory. The independent variables were implementation of data backup, data backup quality, and data backup confidence. The dependent variable was the need for a data backup performance indicator. An adapted survey instrument that measured an organization's data backup plan, originally administered by Information Week, was used to survey 107 businesses with 15 to 250 employees in the Greater Cincinnati area. The results revealed that 69 out of 107 small businesses did not need a data backup performance indicator and the binary logistic regression model indicated no significant relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The conclusion of the study is that many small businesses have not experienced a disaster and cannot see the importance of a data backup indicator that quantifies recovery potential in case of a disaster. It is recommended that further research is required to determine if this phenomenon is only applicable only to small businesses in the Greater Cincinnati area through comparisons based on business size and location. This study contributes to positive social change through improvement of data backup, which enables organizations to quickly recover from a disaster, thereby saving jobs and contributing to the stability of city, state, and national economies.

For many regions and local governments, budgetary restraints limit funds appropriated for emergency management activities to inadequate levels, and little guidance exists related to decision factors used by elected officials in identifying budget and ordinance priorities. Using Kwon, Choi, and Bae's conceptualization of punctuated equilibrium theory, the purpose of this case study was to examine how decision factors influenced Hampton Roads, Virginia, elected official disaster recovery policy between 2003 and 2012. Data were collected through review of 1,310 city documents and 10 semistructured interviews with elected officials. Data were inductively coded and analyzed using a thematic analysis procedure. Data analysis resulted in the identification of 3 decision factor themes that guided post disaster recovery in Hampton Roads: (a) establishing a sense of normalcy in terms of budget appropriations and ordinances for security, safety and quality of services short-term recovery policy, (b) budgetary resiliency to encourage the restoration of infrastructure related to long-term recovery policy, and (c) the development of self-sufficient processes that lead to an anticipatory mindset with issuance of mitigation ordinances and capital improvement appropriations policy. The findings confirmed punctuated equilibrium theory, as man-made disasters triggered short-term recovery policy decisions. Results of the study may affect positive social change by providing local elected representatives with a 'tool kit' of decision factors to consistently address post disaster recovery policy for public safety, security, and stability via the governance mechanisms of strategic planning, appropriation decisions, and assessment.

Power transmission grid infrastructures deliver electricity across large distance and are vital to the functioning of modern society. Increasingly these setups embody highly-coupled cyber-physical systems where advanced telecommunications networks are used to send status and control information to operate power transmission grid components, i.e., "smart grids". However, due to the high inter-dependency between the communication and power grid network layers, failure events can lead to further loss of control of key grid components, i.e., even if they are undamaged. In turn, such dependencies can exacerbate cascading failures and lead to larger electricity blackouts, particularly under disaster conditions. As a result, a range of studies have looked at modelling failures in interdependent smart grids. However most of these designs have not considered the use of proactive network-level survivability schemes. Indeed, these strategies can help maintain vital control connectivity during failures and potentially lead to reduced outages. Hence this thesis addresses this critical area and applies connection protection methodologies to reduce communication/control disruption in transmission grids. The performance of these schemes is then analyzed using detailed simulation for a sample IEEE transmission grid. Overall findings show a good reduction in the number of overloaded transmission lines when applying network-level recovery schemes.