Empirical Evaluation of Activity Coordination Among Field Response Agencies Using ICT Solutions

This study empirically evaluates ICT-based coordination among Japanese disaster response agencies during the acute life-saving phase. Although national guidelines mandate inter-agency cooperation, agencies (fire services, police, and Self-Defense Forces) operate as self-contained silos with few joint verification drills. To overcome this structural barrier, we conducted two empirical experiments in FY2025. The first, a joint rescue drill in Aichi Prefecture evaluating a three-tiered coordination structure (prefecture, municipality, and field command), verified system functions for facilitating smooth activity coordination among response agencies. The second, a regional joint drill in the Chubu block testing cross-system data integration, focused on the real-time acquisition and layer-overlay sharing of vehicle passage records on SIP4D-Xedge and SOBO-WEB to secure access routes to isolated areas. Post-drill surveys and observational analysis confirmed high coordination achievement, demonstrating that a common operational picture (COP) was positively evaluated by participants and suggested the potential to support situational visibility and operational area division. Moreover, key technical requirements were identified, including offline caching/synchronization against tunnel communication blackouts and standardized UI symbology across agencies. Ultimately, effective coordination requires standardized sharing rules, platform integration into routine operations, and robust COP generation visualizing unit capabilities and passage records to accelerate life-saving efforts.