ICTs in disaster prepardness, mitigation and adaptation
Summary
"... streamlining and standardizing the way we collect and share critical information prior to and during a crisis could lead to more effective decision making and timely delivery of essential services to those in need of help. The availability of more credible, accurate, complete and timely information could also contribute to improving public communications and journalistic reporting. With improved quality of information, fund-raising efforts that depend upon broad public awareness and support could produce better results. Finally, with more complete and accessible data, post conflict event reporting and evaluation could be facts-based and transparent."
Dr. Choi Soon-Hong, PhD, Assistant Secretary-General and Chief Information Technology Officer, The United Nations, excerpt from speech made at DW Global Media Forum 2009
Resources
Please also look at the ICT initiatives catalogued in the Early Warning and Conflict Prevention section in this wiki.
New Media and Humanitarian Aid
Presentation made by Chairman of the ICT4Peace Foundation Daniel Stauffacher on 23 June 2009 at the Global Humanitarian Forum 2009 held in Geneva. Read description and download presentation from here.
Keynote Speech by Dr. Choi Soon-Hong, UN Chief Information Technology Officer
Keynote Speech made by Choi Soon-Hong, PhD, Assistant Secretary-General and Chief Information Technology Officer, The United Nations at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, 3 June 2009, Bonn, Germany. Click here for full speech.
UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
The ISDR aims at building disaster resilient communities by promoting increased awareness of the importance of disaster reduction as an integral component of sustainable development, with the goal of reducing human, social, economic and environmental losses due to natural hazards and related technological and environmental disasters. See website here.
Committee on Information and Communications Technology, Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division (IDD) of UNESCAP
The first session of the Committee on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) was held from 19 to 21 November 2008 at the United Nations Conference Center (UNCC) in Bangkok, Thailand. The Committee was organized by the Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division (IDD) of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Read final report and all submissions made to the Committee here.
Interim Report: Stocktaking of UN Crisis Information Management Capabilities
From October 2007 to February 2008, representatives from the ICT4Peace Foundation met informally with a number of high-level representatives at key agencies based at the United Nations in New York in preparation for a stocktaking exercise on crisis information management capacities and best practices. These meetings with heads of agencies, units and departments, IT administrators and key Knowledge Management (KM), Information Management (IM) professionals and consultants gave vital insights into some of the best practices and key challenges facing crisis information management at the UN including the gaps and needs that had already been identified, the challenges facing KM and IM and ideas for meaningfully addressing some of these challenges. Click here for full report.
ICT for Disaster Management, published by UNDP APDIP
By Chanuka Wattegama with a Foreword by Prof. Krasae Chanawongse. Since the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) together with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have taken initiatives to study the current situation of emergency communications in the Asia-Pacific countries and to give recommendation on national emergency telecommunication and national early warning system setups. Assessments were conducted in Bangladesh,Maldives and Sri Lanka on these emergency communication systems. To enhance early warning systems, ADPC, under the Indian Ocean Early-Warning System programme, also introduced the Tsunami Alert Rapid Notification System Programme with emphasis on robust ICT systems to disseminate information and warnings from the national to the community level. Read the full paper here. Read a detailed critique of the paper by Sanjana Hattotuwa, Special Advisor to the ICT4Peace Foundation, here.
Cyclone Nargis: Lessons and implications for ICTs in Humanitarian Aid
Cyclone Nargis was a strong tropical cyclone that caused the deadliest natural disaster in the recorded history of Burma (officially known as Myanmar). The cyclone made landfall in the country on 2 May 2008, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 133,000+ fatalities, over 2.5 million internally displaced with tens of thousands still missing and dead. Soon after the cyclone hit it was evident that damage to life and property far exceeded initial estimates. Discussions within the ICT4Peace Foundation on the issues tied to ICT provisioning and relief work within the specific context of Myanmar led to the preparation of a short paper for the Foundation’s Advisory Board and allied partners, outlining key technical, operational and political issues as well as possible solutions. The paper also included a comprehensive media monitoring study of developments on the ground related to communications. Download the full report and updates from here.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Martti Ahtisaari on ICT4Peace and using ICTs for crisis management
Statement of Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2008 delivered at High-level meeting to discuss Interim Report: Stocktaking of UN Crisis Information Management Capabilities, held on 7th November 2008 at the United Nations in New York. Watch the video on YouTube here.
Strategic use of ICTs in Disaster Management
Paper on Strategic use of ICTs in Disaster Management by Lieutenant General (Retired) Deepak Summanwar, presented at Responsibility to the Future - Business, Peace, Sustainability organised by the Strategic Foresight Group in Mumbai, June 2008. The ICT4Peace Foundation was a knowledge partner at this event. Download the paper here.
ICT for disaster management in the Asia-Pacific region - Chapter for Commonwealth Ministers Reference Book
An adaptation of the essay by Daniel Stauffacher and Sanjana Hattotuwa, ICT for disaster management in least developed countries and small islands in the Asia Pacific Region, that is published in the official Commonwealth Ministers Reference Book on behalf of the Commonwealth Secretariat. Download the essay here. Download the original essay, written for UN GAID, here.
Prevention Web: a new tool to increase knowledge on disaster risk reduction
For the first time, a website will provide a common tool for both specialists and non-specialists interested or working in the area of disaster risk reduction (DRR) to connect, exchange experiences and share information at all levels of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction: local to global, UN, international and non-governmental organizations to citizens and companies. Prevention Web is a product of many months of user research, information architecture, visual and technical design, and testing, to meet the needs of target audiences in this field. Prevention Web relies on contributions from the DRR community and includes: disaster risk reduction news, country reports, publications, good practices, fact sheets, networks and communities, and more. The beta release period will emphasize content development by calling for contributions from the community at large – UN, international, non-governmental, academic, and civil society partners. The website will be managed by a dedicated team of seven information managers between Geneva, Panama City, Nairobi, Cairo, Bangkok, Kobe and Bonn.
Click here to access Prevention Web.
Enhancing National Capacities for Conflict Mapping, Analysis and Transformation in Sudan
http://www.sd.undp.org/projects/dg13.htm
The breadth of challenges facing Sudan calls for the development of effective strategic planning tools designed to assist actors in the clear identification and prioritization of risk factors facing the country, in pursuit of lasting peace and stability. Based on UNDP’s experience with conflict management and mitigation, and following international best practice in the field of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), crisis mapping and conflict analysis, a process of geographic state-level threat and risk mapping was identified as the most effective tool for filling the current risk information gap. When combined with strategic analysis of the information generated, this tool facilitates strategic interventions for conflict-sensitive recovery and development.
TRMA’s unique mixed-method approach, combined with user-driven tools, places the project at the cutting edge of crisis mapping. Base-line data is collected in collaboration with state, UN and NGO actors. Concurrently, the use of participatory mapping workshops at local level allows communities to identify the most pressing crisis and risk factors in a given area. In this way, rich local knowledge is geo-referenced and detailed by the TRMA team. Building upon grass-roots knowledge, follow-up consultations with all relevant stakeholders and the development of consolidated situation analysis, allows partners to identify and prioritise conflict-sensitive recovery and development activities.
