Estonian Academy of Security Sciences researchers receive Best Paper Award at international ITDRR 2026 conference

Researchers from the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences presented studies at the ITDRR 2026 (Information Technology in Disaster Risk Reduction) conference focusing on civil protection and crisis management – from sheltering awareness and the provision of sheltering instructions to the use of technology and the development of crisis managers’ competencies.

Special recognition was given to a paper by Jaanika Puusalu, researcher at the Centre for Internal Security Research of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences, Ülle Säälik, Vice-Rector for Research and Development at the Estonian Military Academy, and Reet Kasepalu and Stella Polikarpus, researchers at the Centre for Civil Protection Research and Development of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences. Their paper was selected as the Best Paper of the conference. The award-winning study focused on crisis managers’ self-assessments of their IT competencies as well as their professional and exercise experience.

The results showed that participants who had gained leadership experience during exercises rated their IT competencies higher. This highlights the importance of practical exercises in developing crisis managers’ competencies and supports the need to integrate technology training with realistic management tasks and guided reflection.

Papers from 11 countries were submitted to the conference, with an acceptance rate of 62.5%. In terms of the countries represented by the authors of accepted papers, Estonia ranked second after Japan. Participation in this year’s conference was also significant for the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences with a view to the next step: ITDRR 2027 will take place at the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences in Tallinn and will be the first international scientific conference organised by the Academy itself.

In addition to the award-winning paper, the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences delegation presented the results of several other research projects. Kristjan Sõrg from the Estonian Rescue Board, together with Stella Polikarpus, researcher at the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences, presented an overview of the accessibility and signage of public shelters in Tallinn and how they are represented on digital maps. The study, conducted in cooperation with the University of Agder in Norway, highlighted that making a shelter visible does not necessarily ensure its accessibility or a correct understanding of the level of protection it provides. Clear terminology and information about entrances, opening hours and accessibility are therefore important both for the public and for those responding to crises.

Ülle Mäe, lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences, and researcher Reet Kasepalu presented a study comparing the quality of sheltering instructions provided by 1,247 employees and volunteers before and after training. The study compared lecture-based instruction with a combination of lectures and H5P 360° visual learning developed by Daniel Jefimov from the Rescue College. Results in the simulation group improved by an average of 9.6 percentage points, compared with 4.8 percentage points in the lecture-based learning group.

In addition to the three papers, Stella Polikarpus presented a poster introducing a questionnaire designed to measure sheltering awareness – specifically, how well people know where and how to take shelter in the event of an air attack. Preliminary results based on responses from 313 participants showed that people often know more about sheltering than they believe they do. At the same time, participants also tended to accept inaccurate or false information about sheltering as correct (liberal information bias). This demonstrates the importance of providing clear and reliable sheltering guidance and continuing research into the effectiveness of risk communication.