This systematic review provides a comprehensive overview of tsunami evacuation models. The review covers scientific studies from the last decade (2012–2021) and is explicitly focused on models using an agent-based approach. The PRISMA methodology was used to analyze 171 selected papers, resulting in over 53 studies included in the detailed full-text analysis. This review is divided into two main parts: (1) a descriptive analysis of the presented models (focused on the modeling tools, validation, and software platform used, etc.), and (2) model analysis (e.g., model purpose, types of agents, input and output data, and modeled area). Special attention was given to the features of these models specifically associated with an agent-based approach. The results lead to the conclusion that the research domain of agent-based tsunami evacuation models is quite narrow and specialized, with a high degree of variability in the model attributes and properties. At the same time, the application of agent-specific methodologies, protocols, organizational paradigms, or standards is sparse.

Computational ontologies are machine-processable structures which represent particular domains of interest. They integrate knowledge which can be used by humans or machines for decision making and problem solving. The main aim of this systematic review is to investigate the role of formal ontologies in information systems development, i.e., how these graphs-based structures can be beneficial during the analysis and design of the information systems. Specific online databases were used to identify studies focused on the interconnections between ontologies and systems engineering. One-hundred eighty-seven studies were found during the first phase of the investigation. Twenty-seven studies were examined after the elimination of duplicate and irrelevant documents. Mind mapping was substantially helpful in organising the basic ideas and in identifying five thematic groups that show the main roles of formal ontologies in information systems development. Formal ontologies are mainly used in the interoperability of information systems, human resource management, domain knowledge representation, the involvement of semantics in unified modelling language (UML)-based modelling, and the management of programming code and documentation. We explain the main ideas in the reviewed studies and suggest possible extensions to this research.

Various organizations and institutions store large volumes of tsunami-related data, whose availability and quality should benefit society, as it improves decision making before the tsunami occurrence, during the tsunami impact, and when coping with the aftermath. However, the existing digital ecosystem surrounding tsunami research prevents us from extracting the maximum benefit from our research investments. The main objective of this study is to explore the field of data repositories providing secondary data associated with tsunami research and analyze the current situation. We analyze the mutual interconnections of references in scientific studies published in the Web of Science database, governmental bodies, commercial organizations, and research agencies. A set of criteria was used to evaluate content and searchability. We identified 60 data repositories with records used in tsunami research. The heterogeneity of data formats, deactivated or nonfunctional web pages, the generality of data repositories, or poor dataset arrangement represent the most significant weak points. We outline the potential contribution of ontology engineering as an example of computer science methods that enable improvements in tsunami-related data management.

Immense numbers of textual documents are available in a digital form. Research activities are focused on methods of how to speed up their processing to avoid information overloading or to provide formal structures for the problem solving or decision making of intelligent agents. Ontology learning is one of the directions which contributes to all of these activities. The main aim of the ontology learning is to semi-automatically, or fully automatically, extract ontologies—formal structures able to express information or knowledge. The primary motivation behind this paper is to facilitate the processing of a large collection of papers focused on disaster management, especially on tsunami research, using the ontology learning. Various tools of ontology learning are mentioned in the literature at present. The main aim of the paper is to uncover these tools, i.e., to find out which of these tools can be practically used for ontology learning in the tsunami application domain. Specific criteria are predefined for their evaluation, with respect to the “Ontology learning layer cake”, which introduces the fundamental phases of ontology learning. ScienceDirect and Web of Science scientific databases are explored, and various solutions for semantics extraction are manually “mined” from the journal articles. ProgrammableWeb site is used for exploration of the tools, frameworks, or APIs applied for the same purpose. Statistics answer the question of which tools are mostly mentioned in these journal articles and on the website. These tools are then investigated more thoroughly, and conclusions about their usage are made with respect to the tsunami domain, for which the tools are tested. Results are not satisfactory because only a limited number of tools can be practically used for ontology learning at present.

Tsunamis are a perilous natural phenomenon endangering growing coastal populations and tourists in many seaside resorts. Failures in responding to recent tsunami events stresses the importance of further research in building a robust tsunami warning system, especially in the “last mile” component. The lack of detail, unification and standardisation in information processing and decision support hampers wider implementation of reusable information technology solutions among local authorities and officials. In this paper, the architecture of a tsunami emergency solution is introduced. The aim of the research is to present a tsunami emergency solution for local authorities and officials responsible for preparing tsunami response and evacuation plans. The solution is based on a combination of machine learning techniques and agent-based modelling, enabling analysis of both real and simulated datasets. The solution is designed and developed based on the principles of enterprise architecture development. The data exploration follows the practices for data mining and big data analyses. The architecture of the solution is depicted using the standardised notation and includes components that can be exploited by responsible local authorities to test various tsunami impact scenarios and prepare plans for appropriate response measures.