| Summary: | In the wake of the attack of 9/11, the United States government recognized that the manner in which threats and information were conveyed was extremely inefficient, and in many cases completely nonfunctional due to disparate data failing to become accurately coalesced. This is especially true within the area of intermodal cargo shipping. Our research explores and seeks to inform the development of requirements for an information sharing system amongst harbor cargo operators engaged in intermodal shipping. Through interviews conducted of MISTs federal and local partners, careful examination of existing MIST findings, and research into best practices in information system design, we seek to provide an analysis of current needs and recommendations for improvements to communications about threats to intermodal shipping. Our qualitative findings, found through interviewing communication systems operators and users, indicate that the generalized lack of trust has created limits to communication that have manifested themselves in different electronic solutions that appear to have been developed without direct input from operators. We also find that there exist overland enterprises (e.g., trucking industry) that lack motivation to provide funding for improved communications infrastructure. Future research efforts may include further identification of communication barriers (e.g., cost) to improve shared communications systems.
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