Challenges:

• Collect and organize data from 20 offices nationwide
• Manage training and deployment for 8,000 personnel
• Provide up-to-date national data to the government

The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB) is a government organization tasked with protecting Norway and its’ citizens from natural disasters, corporate accidents, and other non-military threats to safety. Working under the Minister of Justice and the Police they handle everything from training personnel for disaster response, crisis response, performing studies to assess potential risks, cooperation between military and civilian agencies, and data management in each of these areas.

Novacura Flow is to be used by the Norwegian Civil Defense. The Norwegian Civil Defense is subordinate to the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB).

Over the years their over 20 locations have utilized different and sometimes outdated tools and software systems to manage the operations listed above. The Civil Defense realized these systems were undependable and the process of compiling all the data had become a tedious task. According to Lars Sørsdal, Head of Investigation, Operation, Plan and Exercise:

“We have eight thousand conscripts who have a duty to meet when there is an effort going on and we must have records of all their competencies and history of the stakes and exercises they have been a part of. If the system that we used to track that information broke down, we would be in a bit of a crisis. So that’s the main reason we wanted a better system.”

Solution:

• Digitalizing pen and paper processes
• Engineering one standard process for all offices
• Reporting via mobile apps to a universal dashboard
• Replacing multiple specialty systems with IFS and Novacura Flow

When Novacura was brought on the first obstacle to overcome was creating standard processes for each of the various functions DSB was involved in. Using a combination of IFS and Novacura, our consultants were able to define and implement standard procedures for the entire organization. This endeavor also meant capturing and migrating existing data from disparate legacy systems.

Once they had the vision, the next step was building custom applications to replace old systems and tasks that had previously been done by manual operations. These custom applications had three major benefits. First, it allowed 8000 personnel in the field at disaster relief sites, training facilities, inspections etc. to report data in real-time, second it automated and digitized processes that had previously been manually entered one at a time, and third it compiled and displayed all the information in a Portal dashboard.

“Novacura Flow made it much more efficient for us. Our ERP system, that is IFS Applications, is very good but we see that Novacura Flow on top of it makes it easier to retrieve exactly the data we want to see.” -Lars

Results:

• Better visibility across all twenty civil defense districts
• Instantaneous data capture
• Standardized processes across the entire organization
• No more data entry or paperwork

“Novacura allows us to see the total overview of what is happening, we get the statistics so fast. Someone uses Flow in the forest, we can follow through on it here. In Flow portal but also inside IFS and Lobby in IFS which is a very good tool.” -Lars

When a forest catches fire or some other natural disaster strikes resources in form of personnel and equipment can be dispatched instantly. DSB has reduced the need for manual tasks and no longer has to make as many phone calls, approve paperwork, request up-to-date info from several offices, or manually check licensing for responders. All of that is now visible to them from their desktop, tablet, or phone.

“The most important thing for us is that Novacura Flow is very easy to use on a cell phone. I can do a call-out in a quick and easy way and I think that is really good.

It’s also a big advantage that we can pick out what data to see and pick out data in relation to user access of what the individual needs to see. If there are too many buttons then it gets a bit complicated to use it. So it is a low threshold to use it.” -Lars

Anyone who has spent time at a large organization knows that real change is easy to imagine, but almost impossible to achieve. The Civil Defense and Novacura have together implemented processes across over 20 districts and changed the day-to-day routines for over 250 employees. One of our core values at Novacura is that “We care”, so implementing these changes at an organization dedicated to protecting the well-being of the Norwegian citizens and countless others worldwide is something we treasure.