DASS: A Multi-level Collaborative Design Framework for Cross-sovereignty Software Accountability

This project addresses the salient challenge of ensuring software accountability for collaboration on emergency management across tribal nations and the United States government. Indigenous communities are among the most vulnerable populations during natural disasters. Establishing effective collaboration between U.S. governments at all levels and tribal nations is pivotal for managing emergencies on tribal lands, with software systems playing a vital role in enabling this cooperation. This project aims to tackle the distinct software accountability challenges arising from the unique governance structures, cultures, and technological conditions of tribal nations, as well as their intricate relations with other sovereign entities. This project develops and implements a multi-level participatory design framework and an AI (artificial intelligence) chatbot for emergency management. This initiative enhances emergency management in tribal nations, improves cross-sovereignty software accountability, and elevates AI system literacy among indigenous communities.This project has two primary aims: (a) the development, implementation, and validation of a multi-level collaborative design framework for ensuring software system accountability across sovereign entities and (b) the development and implementation of an integrative operational AI-enabled chatbot for emergency management in indigenous communities. The project creates a novel multi-level software design framework, engaging stakeholders from tribal nations and the U.S. government in a participatory process. This framework guides the development, implementation, evaluation, and refinement of the AI chatbot in working closely with two mid-western tribal nations and receiving input from indigenous communities across the country. This project contributes to the advancement in the knowledge and practice in three areas: (a) multi-level participatory design and implementation with indigenous people and government stakeholders, specifically for accountable software systems, (b) the performance of tribal emergency management through the collaborative utilization of AI techniques, and (c) validation of the design framework and software implementation's general applicability and local adaptability with indigenous communities.This project is jointly funded by Designing Accountable Software Systems program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.