Using volunteers as first responders in frequent emergencies has during the recent decade received increased attention from research and practice. In this study, we focus on the ICT dispatch of volunteer first responders, and their onsite work and collaboration, e.g., as to ICT dispatch, response rates, response times, time-on-site, and tasks performed. We use incident reports filled in by the volunteers and the theoretical lens of digitalized co-production. The results point at a positive effect of using volunteers as first responders, e.g., shortened response times and concrete contributions in most cases, indicating cost-effectiveness. The ICT for dispatch, however, is a challenging part of the co-production, lacking above all, in geofencing, but also in functionality for dynamic resource allocation. Most of the volunteers are willing to contribute to large-scale crisis management, making them a future useful resource in this context. Implications for digitalized co-production are discussed.

The term semi-professional can be used to denote occupational groups that do not have emergency response as their primary profession but who get additional responsibilities within rescue and response, e.g. by performing a first response or assisting the professional emergency services. In this study, four different groups of possible semi-professional resources are analyzed and compared. Similarities and differences between the four groups are discussed. Factors, important for the successful implementation of a cross-sector collaboration of this kind, are highlighted. The preliminary results show that all four groups have the potential to act as semi-professional resources within emergency response. Interestingly, the basic requirements are the same for all groups, despite different prerequisites.

In the summer of 2018, Sweden was taken by surprise and engulfed by forest fires on an unprecedented scale. Various forms of crisis volunteerism (CV) proved essential in the large scale response that ensued. Previous information systems (IS) research gives insights, both theoretically and practically, on the potential of IS and digitalisation to enhance and support crisis response. However, the forest fires demonstrated that CV practices and practitioners in Sweden have practically no such support. CV is, in other words, an essential part of the crisis response system, but unsupported by dedicated digitalisation. The aim of this thesis is therefore to understand what is required to enable a digital transformation (DT) that will significantly improve CV practice and the overall crisis response system.

Sweden is not unique in this respect. From an international perspective, IS research devotes much attention to the area of crisis response. However, this is most commonly done using the perspective and needs of crisis management stakeholders as a departing point. Also, despite research on and the availability of IS solutions, the degree of practical implementation would appear to be low. This thesis is therefore also based on the perceived knowledge gap that the lack of IS and digitalisation supporting CV is, in part, a result of the lack of research focus on volunteer stakeholders and the CV practice itself. Another gap noted is the lack of knowledge regarding the real-world practice of CV which contributes to undermining the development and use of IS solutions for CV.

This thesis, therefore, provides a much needed holistic understanding of real-world CV. This understanding moves the perspective of volunteer stakeholders to the forefront without losing the perspective of crisis management. This has been done via an empirical study in the aftermath of the Swedish forest fires crisis as well as via studies of international IS literature on crisis response and CV. This has resulted in a unique holistic and comprehensive model that relates to the complexity, dynamics and emergence involved in CV practice. Via this model it is possible to relate specific parts or aspects of CV practice, to the whole practice area and continue modelling attributes in greater detail, as required, depending on DT or IS design needs.

Underlying the focus in this thesis lies a mild critique of previous IS research with more reductionist approaches, whereby the relevance of broader contextual understandings has been downplayed. The thesis aligns with perspectives on digitalisation and IS design, proposing the relevance of developing broader holistic understandings of research topics. That is, understandings that have greater potential to reveal how phenomena come into being and are adapted in environmental contexts.

DT is understood in terms of a process whereby broader understandings of phenomena are used to identify needs (triggers), strategies and capabilities that will inform IS design initiatives. An analytical framework depicting this process and its main components and relationships has been designed in this thesis to contribute to an understanding of what is required to digitally transform CV practice.

In summary, the thesis provides a new holistic approach and understanding for the CV practice area and how it may be digitally transformed. The thesis also contributes to a new perspective on DT, applied to a complex and non-organisation based setting. This knowledge is of relevance to both practitioners and IS researchers in crisis response and CV. The CV practice meta-model and the analytical framework for digital transformation can be used to enable and inform future digital transformation strategies and policy in Sweden and internationally. They can also contribute to guiding the initiation of practical IS design initiatives, with greater potential to enhance and improve both CV and overall crisis response.

The research was performed within the information systems (IS) discipline.

Det finns ett ökande intresse från blåljusaktörer som kommunal räddningstjänst och statlig sjö- och flygräddning samt polisen och, att samverka med frivilliga privata personer, grupper och organisationer. Det finns också ett ökande intresse från medborgare att bidra för trygghet, räddning och säkerhet. Fältet ”frivilliga verksamheter” består av en mängd olika verksamheter som på många sätt är väsensskilda, med mycket olika målgrupper, medlemmar, inriktning, kunskaper och etableringsgrad. När systematisk samverkan och utbyte mellan myndigheter/offentliga verksamheter och frivilliga verksamheter planeras är kunskapen om frivilligverksamhetens förutsättningar viktig.

Inom ramen för projektet ”Frivillighetens geografi” är syftet med denna forskningsöversikt att identifiera dimensioner som kan beskriva mångfalden av frivilliga aktörer och verksamheter och som är av betydelse för räddningssamverkan och lämpliga samverkansformer mellan räddningsaktörer och frivilliga.Metoder som används för litteraturöversikten var riktade sökningar samt sökningar i Unisearch, SafeLit och Scopus efter olika aspekter av frivillighet och frivilliga inom räddning med sökorden volunteers AND citizens AND rescue OR Rescue Service AND collaboration OR co-production OR co-operation. Sammantaget gav det 41 publikationer som analyserades med riktad innehållsanalys till teman.

I resultatet kunde tio olika typer av frivilliga identifieras när det gäller räddning och respons från väl inarbetade och organiserade frivilliga försvarsorganisationer till åskådare, CSR-verksamheter och exploatörer. Frånsett sist nämnda, kan de bidra inom olika områden som ställer olika krav på kunskaper och förmåga. Samverkan med frivilliga kan också inrättas olika utifrån vilka behov av kontroll eller behov av initiativ och egenutveckling som finns. Tidsperspektiv på när frivilligas bidrag gör mest nytta bör beaktas. Idag saknas i Sverige i stort sett frivilliginsatser inom förebyggande eller analys.

Utöver tidsfaktorn har åtta olika dimensioner som har betydelse för den frivilliga verksamhetens möjligheter att samverka och bidra inom räddning och respons identifierats. Dessa sträcker sig från graden av inriktning mot räddning och integration i räddningssystemet till legitimitet och vilka resurser man förfogar över eller geografisk täckningsgrad.

Slutsatsen är att kombinationerna av dimensioner till den frivilliga verksamhetens karaktär och särart avgör var och hur verksamheten kan bidra i en mångfald av olika möjligheter från grannsamverkan till första respons eller organisering av beredskap. Möjligheterna till samverkan med frivilliga avgörs snarare av räddningssystemets förmåga att kanalisera, hantera och ta vara på mångfalden. Frågor att ta ställning till och ett förslag till checklista utifrån slutsatserna bifogas.

Detta dokument syftar till att inom ramen av programmets arbetspaket nummer två - nya aktörer och organisationsformer - tydligt sammanställa de forskningsresultat som forskare inom CARER tidigare publicerat. Dokumentet syftar dessutom till att konceptualisera och kondensera dessa forskningsresultat så att de kan nyttjas av övriga arbetspaket inom ramen för forskningsprogrammet. Samtligt material som återges och refereras kan hittas i sin helhet i form av vetenskapliga publikationer och rapporter publicerade genom CARER. Dokumentet kan vara av intresse för externa aktörer som arbetar med nya sätt att organisera respons men är främst ett internt arbetsdokument för CARER, för användning exempelvis i form av föreläsningsmaterial och underlag för övriga arbetspaket inom programmet.

Swedish municipalities that experience the negative sides of urbanization in form of depopulation, declining growth and economic challenges are in need of long term adaption politics in order to uphold the welfare system for its inhabitants. This paper focuses on cooperation with civil society as an important tool for the municipalities emergency rescue services in order to tackle the problematic situation. In order to form a concept that is easily implemented as an effective adaptation measure, practical cases need to be studied. In this paper, interviews with officials from two active cooperation projects provide important and practical data to be analyzed against previous research in the subject. One project uses cooperation with civil society as a tool to help a countryside village in southern Sweden to increase the safety and protection in the area. The other project will operate in the southern suburbs of Stockholm as a cultural and social gap-closer in order to create a preventive force to stop car fires etc. and improve the flow of information. Both projects are currently, or plan to involve volunteers from the civil society as a central resource. Using previous research as an analytical framework for identifying important factors for an effective cooperation, this paper presents practical solutions. Despite the early stage of the projects analyzed in this paper, the results already shows examples of different solutions, strategies, challenges as well as reciprocal ones.