Multi-agent-based data exchange platform for bridge disaster prevention: a case study in Taiwan

Geographic location and natural environment expose Taiwan to an elevated risk of natural disasters that severely damage human life and national infrastructure. Currently, disaster information is handled through distributed systems maintained by different management agencies. Gleaning critical information from disparate Web sites is a difficult and labor-intensive task that makes consolidating disaster information impractical. Lack of such integration delays alerts notification from being disseminated to relevant administrative agencies in a timely manner, stalling necessary decision making and magnifying the disaster. This research developed a data exchange platform to integrate and exchange data between distributed systems using software agent techniques. Such techniques were designed to exchange data automatically. Agents become active at the onset of a disaster event and compile data from various resources to report on the current state of bridges. Also, action recommendations delivered by the system can assist bridge managers make appropriate decisions.