Crisis management requires effective coordination between multiple actors to ensure rapid and well-informed decision-making and to effectively resolve the crisis at hand. However, in highly stressful and time-pressured situations can fragmented information and manual processes often challenge the formation of a shared situational awareness, which can delay critical decisions. This study aims to explore how the technology of Internet of Things (IoT) could support and strengthen inter-agency collaboration in crisis management within a Swedish context. The work focuses on how IoT-based solutions might enhance information sharing and decision-making by providing real-time data and improving the continuity of situational awareness and collaboration processes.

A qualitative research approach was applied, involving semi-structured interviews with actors from emergency services, coordination functions, and governmental agencies. Since organizations and practitioners possess critical insights into their operational needs, they are best positioned to define where and how technology can add real value to their work. The results show challenges in current practices, such as information gaps during leadership transitions and the lack of common tools for maintaining a coherent situational picture across organizational boundaries. The findings suggest that IoT has significant potential to address these challenges by enabling automated data collection, dynamic visualization, and improved cross-agency information flow. Additionally, IoT can contribute to both documentation and organizational learning by providing enhanced traceability of events, thereby supporting learning from a wide range of situations and helping to build both organizational and individual experience over time.

For these benefits to be realized, IoT solutions must be designed in close alignment with users’ needs and integrated with existing organizational processes. The study emphasizes that the successful adoption of IoT in crisis management requires a holistic approach, combining technological development with organizational adaptation. To support this, the study also presents recommendations on how IoT can be implemented in ways that strengthen inter-agency collaboration and decision-making in practice.

This study was conducted in collaboration with the Swedish Defence Research Agency (Totalförsvarets forskningsinstitut, FOI), as part of ongoing research on use of IoT to support collaboration between different agencies.