A service science and engineering approach to public information services in exceptional situations - Examples from transport

Abstract

ITC based information services are widely used for providing or accessing information on a daily basis. In exceptional or emergency situations relevant information could be sent to citizens in order to elicit improved responses. There are examples of using mobile devices to reach users, e.g., in some countries, citizens have received text messages with relevant information about H1N1, such as a list of the main symptoms and a telephone number to call in case of emergency. This paper proposes the Contemplate initial extension to the engineering CDIO process (conceive, design, implement and operate) and stresses out its iterative nature as a framework suitable for new service design, in our case for emergency or exceptional information services. Although the proposal is applicable in general, this paper uses examples from public transport in urban areas. Road works, congestion, and accidents are examples of undesirable influences on public transportation. Technologies such as GPS, mobile communication devices, databases, data mining and other approaches for profiling user activities with careful individual and social considerations could be used to improve the quality of service and quality of life in cities. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.