This Study Group workshop, run on behalf of Dstl, aims to explore the state of the art in communicating Chemical / Biological (CB) hazard information to decision makers. In particular, the effect of uncertain elements of the input data, such as meteorology, might have on the decision making process.

If you are interested, and available, or have a colleague you might suggest, please do let me know.

Background

This workshop (which will be held between the 29th and 31st May 2019) follows a successful three-day meeting in 2018 which explored the state of the art in visualising uncertainty disease models. The proposed workshop will move on to focus on communication strategies for CB plume hazards. Hazard information can be generated in the form of computational model output containing the mean, variance and distribution of casualty numbers across space and time. The decision maker needs to make a decision on how to deal with the potential hazards based on the spatial and temporal extent of the plume, and the number of casualties predicted. Presenting such complex information to a decision maker often leaves them information rich, but potentially unable to distil this information into a succinct evidence base for key decisions in a timely manner.

The Study Group

This Study Group will focus on exploring the state of the art around visualisation and communication strategies for conveying CB hazard information to military decision makers. Hazard predictions are subject to uncertainty, and as such communication strategies should be designed so that the user can assess intuitively the effect these uncertainties have on their decision. Participants will be asked to discuss, examine, and explore (with the aid of representative datasets, and input from military advisors) novel interactive visualisation schemes for a variety of scenarios.

This Study Group will be hosted at the Business Design Centre, London. Accommodation and food for the three days will be covered by the organizers for those invited and accepted to take part. We are accepting expressions of interest to attend from UK researchers in the fields of statistics, psychology, graphic design, visualisation and other subjects relevant to the challenge.

Why take part in the Study Group?

• Get exposure to new application areas and understand the impact of ongoing research.
• Gain access to novel example data sets and current state of the art approaches.
• Expand your research portfolio.
• Make vital contacts with industry and government research sponsors.
• Meet and connect with other academics from a wide variety of different fields.
• Help to solve problems that will have real world impact.