Svana Helen Björnsdóttir

Mrs. Svana Helen Björnsdóttir

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Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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5 September 2021 in Risk Analysis
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Journal Article
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SBSvana Helen Björnsdóttir
Svana Helen Björnsdóttir
PJPáll Jensson
Páll Jensson
RBRobert J. de Boer
Robert J. de Boer
STSaemundur E. Thorsteinsson
Saemundur E. Thorsteinsson

20 April 2022 in Sustainability
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
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SBSvana Helen Björnsdóttir
Svana Helen Björnsdóttir
PJPall Jensson
Pall Jensson
STSaemundur E Thorsteinsson
Saemundur E Thorsteinsson
Ioannis M. DokasIoannis M. Dokas
Ioannis M. Dokas
RBRobert De Boer
Robert De Boer
The overall aim of this article is to contribute to the further development of the area of benchmarking in risk management. The article introduces a two-step benchmarking model to assess the efficacy of ISO risk management systems. It furthermore aims at verifying its usefulness in terms of finding hidden risk issues and improvement opportunities. The existence of all key elements of an ISO 31000-based risk management system is examined at the beginning of this study. Then, the quality in terms of efficacy of important aspects of the risk management system is examined in more detail with special benchmarks. The application of the model to six ISO-certified organizations follows and reinforces the novelty of this study, which is to combine risk science knowledge with benchmarking theory in the application of ISO risk management standards in organizations. The results show that the benchmarking model developed in this study provides rigor when assessing and evaluating the efficacy of an ISO risk management system. By applying the model, risk issues and risk factors can be found that had not previously been identified. The findings are of importance for risk management, the benchmarking science, and for the development of ISO risk management standards.

18 November 2021 in Sustainability
Verified
Journal Article
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TFThordur Vikingur Fridgeirsson
Thordur Vikingur Fridgeirsson
HIHelgi Thor Ingason
Helgi Thor Ingason
SBSvana Helen Björnsdóttir
Svana Helen Björnsdóttir
AGAgnes Yr Gunnarsdottir
Agnes Yr Gunnarsdottir
In this rapidly changing and fast-growing world, sustainability is an important paradigm. However, the constantly growing level of uncertainty leads to increased strain in decision making. This results in a growing need for a more effective and extensive approach for identifying project risk in particular events that are not easily detected but can have a severe impact, sometimes referred to as Black Swans or “fat tail” events. The VUCA meter is a normative approach to identify project risk by assessing in a structured way events that may be volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous and might contribute to the project risk. In this study, the VUCA meter is benchmarked against a traditional risk identification process as recommended by PMI®. Firstly, two workshops, each referring to the respective risk identification method, were conducted. Secondly, a Delphi survey was run to investigate if the VUCA meter would capture Black Swan risk events that are bypassed by the traditional risk identification approach. The results clearly indicate that the VUCA meter can be developed to be a significant addition to the conventional risk identification process for large projects that are at an early stage. The VUCA meter facilitates a discussion that gets people to think beyond the traditional framework for identifying project risk factors. As a consequence, “fat tail” events, that are not apprehended with the conventional technique, are captured by the VUCA meter.

29 December 2023 in Sustainability
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
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SBSvana Helen Björnsdóttir
Svana Helen Björnsdóttir
PJPall Jensson
Pall Jensson
STSaemundur E Thorsteinsson
Saemundur E Thorsteinsson
Ioannis M. DokasIoannis M. Dokas
Ioannis M. Dokas
HIHelgi Thor Ingason
Helgi Thor Ingason
This study introduces a systems-theoretic methodology to meet the requirements of a major national infrastructure for safety and security-based design by enhancing the alignment of stakeholders and actors in the project. Safe-by-Design (SbD) is an engineering concept for risk management that considers safety as much as possible in the design phase. The article presents the results of a case study conducted to investigate the efficacy of recent system safety models and analysis techniques in the major national infrastructure of a Waste-to-Energy (WtE) project under consideration in Iceland. The structures and roles within the system responsible for constructing the WtE plant, given the sustainability and circular economy restrictions, are addressed in the study. Stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities are analyzed, yielding their feedback on potential risks and creating a positive image of the project. Also, suitable ways to enter the project and finance it are devised. In essence, this enables the creation of a safety and security-based design approach. Furthermore, detailed documentation of the system model development is presented. The novelty of the study lies in the application of STAM, STPA, and STECA as an SbD approach for a major infrastructure project. Also, the methods discussed here have not been used in a WtE project as far as we know.