ISCRAM2013: The 10th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management 
12-15 May 2013 
Baden-Baden, Germany.

First Call for New Tracks & Special Sessions


Since 10 years, ISCRAM brings together top researchers and practitioners working in the area of information systems for crisis and emergency management. In 2013, the ISCRAM Conference will be held in the ancient spa town of Baden-Baden, Germany, within easy reach from many national and international airports. The conference provides an excellent basis to exchange information and explore new ideas with colleagues from around the world and enables the exploration of the fascinating history and the savoir vivre of southern Germany and France – from gambling in the Casino to relaxing in one of the famous spas.

ISCRAM 2013 is seeking original, high quality proposals for Special Sessions.  These include traditional tracks covering the use of ICT systems in all phases of disaster management, from planning and foresight to crisis response and management, and innovative Special Sessions that address research in focused, emerging, or interdisciplinary areas of particular interest. We particularly encourage the submission of proposals related to holistic crisis management for critical infrastructures. Our intention is to attract more excellent researchers and interested practitioners, who are not an active part of the ISCRAM community yet, and share with them ideas, methods and tools.

Special sessions may include, but are not limited to:
- Cross-cutting issues that integrate two or more traditional ISCRAM topic areas
- Moderated panel discussions
- Hands-on interdisciplinary workshops
- Technology translation and transfer
- Partnership based R&D involving academic and responder groups
- Brief Industry presentations on unresolved problems needing academic input
- "Think Tanks" - addressing one problem or question in small breakout sessions

Interested track chairs are encouraged to consider how to innovatively design special sessions:  please feel free to propose new formats.

As crisis and emergency management should be designed to address the practitioners’ needs, we would like to strengthen the participation of practitioners by calling for a practitioner’s panel focusing on bridging the gap between science and operational use.

Process   
Write a very brief proposal with the following content:
- Title for proposed Track or Special Sessions
- Describe the intent and the objectives for the Track or Special Sessions in 1-2 paragraphs
- Where appropriate, identify proposed participants (e.g. invited panel)
- Where appropriate, identify potential reviewers.

Proposals should be emailed to [log in to unmask] before September 1, 2012.  Include "Track Proposal" or "Special Sessions Proposal" in subject line.

The proposals will be evaluated based on their quality and timeliness, their relevance to ISCRAM, the potential to open new perspectives or bring together confluent areas, and further develop the field.

We encourage you to discuss your proposal prior to submission with the organizing committee. Questions can be directed to [log in to unmask]

For reference, the list of standing tracks from ISCRAM2012:  http://www.sfu.ca/~iscram12/tracks.html

Key Dates:

- Deadline for new track/special sessions proposals - September 20th, 2012
- Deadline for full paper submissions - November 15th, 2012
- Deadline for work-in-progress paper, practitioner papers, posters - January 15th, 2013
- Deadline for doctoral student colloquium papers - February 15th, 2013

Further information can be found in the Conference website: http://iscram2013.org

Organizing Committee:
Jürgen Beyerer (Conference Chair), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and director of Fraunhofer IOSB, Karlsruhe, Germany
Thomas Usländer (Conference Co-chair), Fraunhofer IOSB, Karlsruhe, Germany
Tina Comes (Conference Co-Chair), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Jutta Gelderman (Program Chair), Georg August University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Stephan Fortier (Program Co-Chair), George Washington University, Washington DC, USA (to be confirmed)
Frank Fiedrich (Program Co-Chair), Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany
Friedemann Wenzel (Program Co-Chair), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Lilly Yang (Program Co-Chair), Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK