The Psychology of Interoperability: Building Better Multi-Agency Counter-Terrorism Training (INTEROP)
This project will review past challenges to interoperability between the UK Emergency Services and identify a framework to systematically identify the behavioural and verbal indicators of these, with the aim of testing and refining a proof-of-concept training intervention to promote interoperability.
The Manchester Inquiry into the 2017 marauding terrorist attack (MTA) at the Manchester Arena argued that interoperability between the emergency services had failed with catastrophic consequences for public life. Sir John Saunders, chair of the inquiry, stated how JESIP, which has been charged with training and improving interoperability for the Emergency Services since 2012, had not worked. He questioned why interoperability was not second nature to responders during MTAs and specifically asked what type of training is required.
The proposed research will address this question by:
- developing understanding of the psychology of interoperability
- creating an objective framework to measure interoperable behaviours
- designing a novel proof-of-concept training intervention, rooted in theories on social-organisational identities, to promote greater psychological buy-in to interoperability.
