Crowd control and management enterprise modelling (CCMEM) utilising the MECCA (mega event coordination and control architecture) framework

• Main Author: Alsubaie, Hatab
• Other Authors: Khaddaj, Souheil ; Choudhury, Islam
• Published: Kingston University 2014
• Subjects: 004; Computer science and informatics
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.617366

Crowds are often an integral part of an event or an activity that may potentially be overlooked, yet present a substantial threat to the health and safety of all those attending such an event. In the majority of crowd control situations, the importance of managing the event will not simply rest with the event managers themselves, but is likely to involve having to create efficient enterprise wide systems which several third parties would need to interact with, in order to deal with difficulties, should they arise, such as the need to liaise with the police or fire service, as appropriate. This research focuses on the practices of crowd management and the way in which those involved in crowd management should potentially change their approach, in order to enhance safety, but also to enhance the efficiency of managing and controlling the crowd, something which is becoming increasingly important, given the economic impact that large-scale events can have on a region. To enable the above a Crowd Control and Management Enterprise Modelling (CCMEM) framework was developed. The first stage of this was the synthesis of the appropriate components within various existing crowd management models found in literature. This synthesis, formed the basis of the theoretical components from which the Mega Event Command and Control Architecture (MECCA) framework was developed. This framework was evaluated with two case studies involving very large or mega events, ! namely the Hajj to Mecca and the London Olympics 2012. A research study that used both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect primary data was designed, which further developed and validated the CCMEM and the MECCA frameworks. The application of MECCA framework with the two case studies was evaluated using the Crowd Management Evaluation Components (CMEC). When looking at the results of the data collected and the case studies in this particular research, it became apparent that the enterprise wide view understanding of mega event management enabled the effective mapping of and development of associated integrated systems for each of the components of the framework. This in turn leads to more efficient and effective crowd management. Also this better understanding enables officials to react much more effectively and much more quickly to changes in the crowd dynamics. Further work can be carried out to develop the various integrated information systems which will be required and this will be based on the enterprise wide CCMEM - MECCA framework.