**8. References**

American Society of Mechanical Engineers – ASME (2011). *Engineering Ethics.* 


Department of the Environment, United Kingdom Government (1994). *Sustainable Development, the UK Strategy,* Cmnd 2426, HMSO, London, UK.

**3** 

 *Australia* 

**Cloud Versus Clouds: Emergency Response Communications at Large Scale Festivals and Special Events – Innovative ICT Applications** 

*2School of Management and Information Systems, Faculty of Business and Law, Footscray* 

While considerable effort, if not always success, has been made in terms of the adoption of emergency response and communication technologies on a government level, the ability of private enterprise to adopt such emerging technology has for financial reasons been limited to only certain larger industries, e.g. power industry etc. Here we address the potential use of such systems, through the adoption of emerging technology in situations with short active time-frames, high potential impacts on significant populations, and low management resource contexts. In this chapter we focus on the specific context of special events and

Studies on risk emergency response to extreme natural events, in the festivals & special events literature, is rare and requires more research (Getz, 2007). There is a lack of research focus on the application of theory to practice covering 'heat of moment' live risk response situations (Sonmez, Backman & Allen, 1993). Special events have been defined as one-off 'specific rituals, presentations, performances or celebrations that are consciously planned and created' (Allen, O'Toole, McDonnell & Harris, 2011, p. 11). They include sporting, cultural, business and celebratory live events. In the typology of specials events, festivals are

Risk management practices, and in particular emergency management planning and response systems, are integral parts of modern special event management practice (Getz, 2007; Allen et al., 2011). The use of technology in special event management is widely adopted but little evidence of its holistic integration into the work practices of event managers has been identified (Knox, 2009). Recent event risk management texts (Tarlow, 2002; Silvers, 2008) accent the project management functions related to risk management but largely fail to address the potential use of ICT (information and communication technology) systems, including emerging technologies, as key components of this knowledge area.

The ability to provide affordable technological infrastructure that can be quickly ramped up in size and is widely accessible to stakeholders is essential when seeking to create a userfriendly and efficient system that enables time critical and multiple-direction decision making communication amongst stakeholders. A potential example of this might include

**1. Introduction** 

festivals as an example of these circumstances.

seen as 'themed, public celebrations' (Getz 2007. p. 31).

*1School of Business, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland,* 

David Gration1 and Shah J. Miah2

*Park, Victoria University, Melbourne* 


http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/computers.pdf; accessed May 26, 2006.

