Using ICT for Effective Disaster Management Forum -

A Summary Report on Sessions and Panel Discussions

Heritance Hotel, Ahungalle, Sri Lanka

26th - 28th June 2006

Today: 10 July 2006

Contact:

Nuwan Waidyanatha
Project Manager
Last Mile Hazard Warning Systems
LIRNEasia, 12 Balcombe Place
Colombo 08, Sri Lanka
tele - +94 773 710 394
fax - +94 112 675 212
waidyanatha@lirne.net
www.lirneasia.net

asia@lirne.net
Table of Contents
1.Overview...................................................................................................................................................................... 2
2.Background.................................................................................................................................................................. 2
3.Attendees...................................................................................................................................................................... 3
4.Recommended Matrix Assignments............................................................................................................................. 5
5.Session Notes............................................................................................................................................................... 6
6.Session Panel Discussion Notes................................................................................................................................. 14
7.Demos........................................................................................................................................................................ 16
8.Networking Events..................................................................................................................................................... 17
9.Rapporteur Final Remarks......................................................................................................................................... 17

1. Overview
This report presents a summary of the comments and observations made in the presentations and
panel discussions concerning the 7 sessions of the Forum: Using ICTs for Effective Disaster Management,
which here on shall be referred to as the “Forum”. It is understood by the author that the Forum is
an output of the CTO regional capacity building programs.

The comments and observations made in this report are based on the outline of the Forum's
program, CTO suggested disaster management matrix, from observations made, and conversations
with stakeholders at a Forum held at the Heritance Hotel in Ahungalla, Sri Lanka, 26-29 January
2006.

The intent of this report is to identify issues for further consideration regarding the social scientific
methodology of using ICTs in Disaster Management and to provide a set of notes that mention the
various core activities of the participating stakeholders.

Note that the observations made and recorded are purely the authors perception and does not tie or
obligate any other organization to what is stated in this document.

2. Background
The understanding is that human beings are more prone to disasters. Statistics show that the North
Americas and Asia are the most vulnerable regions in the world. As result of the developed nations
having invested in disaster mitigation they have reduced their risks. However, south Asia has yet to
apply the formulas of risk reduction and embed these concepts in their national development plans.

It is understood that Disaster Management is a balanced collaboration between the stakeholders –

policy makers, regulators, operators, and civil societies. The objective of the forum was to bring
together various stakeholders in the disaster management arena, in the region, together to discuss
effectively using ICTs in Disaster Management.
Sessions were divided in to a table with stakeholders in the rows and disaster management life cycle
categories in the columns. Further each life cycle category was addressed by one or more of the
speakers in the designated sessions. The sessions spanned one and a half days. The second half of
the second day was a field visit to observe the tsunami reconstruction. Day 3 was reserved to
develop the Logical Framework proposed by the CTO.

3. Attendees
Assumptions -- All stakeholders attending the Forum use ICTs in one or more ways in their normal
line of business. Other stakeholder activities that are not relevant to using ICT are disregarded.

Tabl e 1: Or ganiza tions atte ndi ng t he Fo ru m and Main line o f bu sines s

Participa ti ng
Or g aniza tion M ain line of Bu s ine s s
All India Disaster Using GIS to map slums and provide resources for all disaster
Mitigation Institute mitigation programs
(AIDMI)
Asia Disaster Preparedness Working towards disaster reduction in the Asia pacific region
Center (ADPC)
Bangladesh Disaster BDPC is a an initiative of the Government of the people's republic
Preparedness Center of Bangladesh Disaster Management in terms of Community Flood
(BDPC) Monitoring and Forecasting (OFDA)
Bangladesh NGOs Implementers of the Bangladesh Cyclone Signaling System
Network of Radio and
Communication (BNNRC)
Cellular Emergency Alert Advocates Cell Broadcasting and works towards improving the
Services Association technology to maximize business for the mobile and related industries
(CEASA)
Commonwealth CTO will be conducting 4 Forums in 4 different countries this year
Telecommunications their main focus is to promote ICT knowledge in the commonwealth
Organization (CTO) nations
Dialog Telekom Dialog Telekom mainly provides GSM mobile phone services. The
University of Moratuwa Dialog Mobile Communications Lab
conducts the hardware R&D and Microimage conducts the software
R&D for the Dialog Disaster Early Warning Network System.
Ericson Ericson Response provides relief and response communication for
the United Nations
Information An apex body governed by the President of Sri Lanka that involves in
Communication policy and direction for the national ICT
Telecommunication
Agency (ICTA)
 Participa ti ng
Or g aniza tion M ain line of Bu s ine s s
Inmartsat Inmarsat provides mobile L Band satellite voice and data
communications over IP
International Federation of The country society of IFRD provide a range of services including
Recross and Red Crescent disaster relief, health and social programs, and assistance to people
Societies (IFRC) affected by war.
International ITU is an organization within the UN where governments and private
Telecommunication Union sectors participate in telecom networks and services
(ITU)
Lanka Software Foundation Sahana Disaster Management software portal, which is one of the
(LSF) many Free and Open Source Software initiatives of LSF
LIRNEasia ICT reform and regulation research organization committed to
improving the lives of the people in Asia
Mobitel/SLT Mobitel is the GSM mobile solutions provider that was floated off the
incumbent Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT)
Sarvodaya Sri Lanka's largest community based organization with presence in
15000 villages.
Telecommunications Regulatory body of telecommunications in the Maldives
Authority of the Maldives
(TAM)
Telecommunications The national regulatory agency for telecommunications in Sri Lank
Regulatory Commission Sri
Lanka (TRCSL)
United Nations A 10 year UN initiative aiming to build disaster resilient communities
International Strategy for by advocating disaster reduction
Disaster Reduction
(UNISDR)
United Nations Advocates of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
Development Programs
(UNDP)
World Bank Sri Lanka The Sri Lankan arm of the World Bank that provides financial and
(WB) technical assistance to the country
WorldSpace Global Data WorldSpace provides one way communication voice and data
Solutions (WorldSpace) solutions through L Band frequencies that are received via the
WorldSpace digital satellite radio sets.
Young Asia Television Yatv develops awareness audio/video material that mediates the
(Yatv) impact of war and conflict in the region to the communities
 4. Recommended Matrix Assignments
The table below is the CTO proposed Disaster Management Matrix. An organization occupying a
cell implies that organization's main line of business contributes in one or more ways to the listed
category of the Disaster Management Life cycle.

Tabl e 2: Allocation of th e pa rticipa ting o rganiza tion s in t he CT O p ro pose d m at rix

Dis as te r Mana g e m en t Life c y cle
Sta keho lder s Preparedness Mitigation Relief Recovery
Policy Makers 1 2 3 4
LIRNEasia LIRNEasia Sarvodaya Sarvodaya
UNISDR UNISRD Erickson Erickson
World Bank World Bank ITU ITU
ADPC ADPC
AIDMI AIDMI
ITU ITU
Regulators 5 6 7 8
ITU ITU ITU ITU
LIRNEasia LIRNEasia TAM TAM
TAM TAM

Operators 9 10 11 12
Dialog Dialog Dialog Dialog
SLT/Mobitel SLT/Mobitel Inmarsat Inmarsat
Erickson Erickson

Civil Society 13 14 15 16
Sarvodaya Sarvodaya Sarvodaya Sarvodaya
BDPC BDPC BDPC BDPC
IFRC IFRC IFRC IFRC
AIDMI AIDMI
 5. Session Notes
Tabl e 3: Main poin ts addr ess e d and r eco m me nda tio n s ma de b y e ac h of the s peak e rs
Ses s io n No . & Spea ker s M ain Po int s Reco mme nd ations
T itle
1. The Cost of Mr. Ismail Number of Disaster is rising Meeting the MDGs is
Disasters Radwan, because of global changes. depends whether a
Senior successful disaster risk
Asia and USA are the countries
Economists, most prone to disasters. 90% of the reduction stratergy can be
World Bank put is place.
people affected are from Asia.
For each US$ 1 spent on mitigation Always factor in a cost for
risk reduction when
saves US$10 in losses
calculating your
Annual GDP losses 2-15% MDGs development budgets
that are threatened by disasters – 1.
Development expenses
poverty reduction, save children's
should focus on disaster
lives, Make mothers safe, Protect
Mitigation
the environment, a global
partnership for development
Disasters are a country problem
Christel Rose, Hyogo Framework of Action is for The National and
regional Disaster Risk reduction Community level Policy
Program Protection and resilience should be must be taken in to account
Officer, when developing a
in all CBO long term plans
UNISDR for comprehensive disaster
Asia & the National plan implied community management policy.
Pacific plans
Look at the Futerrisitic
Community when applying
the framework; i.e.
Institutionalizing the
processes.
Ses s io n No . & Spea ker s M ain Po int s Reco mme nd ations
T itle
Rohan In the developed world disasters are Government need not do
Samarajiva, measured in dollars and cents; i.e. all the work all they need to
Executive Property damage; and in the do is implement the right
Director, developing world disaster is policies.
LIRNEasia measured in terms of human lives Need community level
lost disaster preparedness; i.e.
All the cases of 2004 tsunami The last-mile.
evacuations such as the girl from
UK, Dr. Chris Chapman, Tilly etc
did not involve ICTs
Congestion in communication lines
is inevitable cell broadcasting must
be carefully put in place for
effective disaster communication
None of this rhetoric matters if
ultimately human lives cannot be
saved
The National Disaster Management
Policy is a flowed. It was not given
adequate time for
recommendations

2. Disaster Ifthekhhar There is no community presence in Need a Policy, Legal, and

Management Ahmed, policy and planning Institutional Frameworks.
Policy Project Disasters is proportional to Policy and Organizational
Manager, Reporting structures must learn from a
Urban subjective approach and not
Disaster Risk Regional records show an
a proactive stakeholder
Management, institution emerging or changing
approach.
ADPC faces every time a disaster strikes
South East Asian regional national Need a strong Public and
Private Partnership.
policies recognize disaster
management to be a “public good”;
i.e. Government responsibility
Ses s io n No . & Spea ker s M ain Po int s Reco mme nd ations
T itle
Mehul Disaster Management act requires a Disaster victims must be
Pandya, community prospective; i.e. tied in to the equation of
Coordinator Community participation in policy the development goals.
of Learning making Structures require
Services, Disaster victims can and do use accountability measures at a
AIDMI ICTs when given a chance regional and global level.
GIS is a proved tool for disaster
management the science requires
adequate coverage; i.e. More data
Beteween legistation and the end
users there is a Market. Disasters
destroy markets
Civil Society must be given
adequate time to make
recommendations on the National
Disaster Management Policies
There are no accountability
measures
Geethika The Sri Lanka Disaster
Karunaratne, Management organizational
UNDP, Sri structure
Lanka Regional Disaster Management
organizational structure
National Disaster Management
Policy will be available for public to
scrutinize soon

3. The Role of Md. Rafigul Bangladesh signaling method for Modern warning methods
Regulators and Alam, cyclone early warning along with must be community
the Creation of Chairperson community based preparedness friendly.
an enabled and National planning proved to be effective
regulatory Disaster Rosk Communities do not understand
environment Expert, modern warning systems
BNNRC
Community based risk management
is the only effective way
Ses s io n No . & Spea ker s M ain Po int s
T itle
Mohammed Relative to the small population of
Amir, Chief Maldives lost a significant
Executive, percentage of the populations
TAM
Destroyed 62% of the GDP
Biggest disaster recoded in the
history of Maldives. No
institutional structure to manage
disasters of the scale of 2004
Tsunami
Very low elevation make terrestrial
communication highly vulnerable (5
of the 23 nodes were damaged)
Substantial damage to the
telecommunication Infrastructure
World Meteorological
Organization's Global
Communications System is now
working
Wisit Public is encouraged to make
Atipayakoon, recommendations on ITU-T, ITU-
Project R, and ITU-D to help the world
Officer, ITU- communicate
BDT Case studies have proved Ham
Radios to be an effective device for
disaster management
communication
Tampere convention, should
Infrastructure be regulated
immediately after a disaster
Reco mme nd ations
Telecommunication Policy
Objective is to establish a
nationwide early warning
systems.
there is a need for early
warning and emergency
communication system .
Implement Emergency
Alert via Broadcasting.
(EAB)
Regulators must set the
policies to enable business
continuity and disaster
recovery.
Setup Private sector
partnerships prior to
emergencies.
Use OCHA's central
register of Disaster
management Capacities to
create/maintain a telecoms
inventory of human and
material resources with
contacts/conditions.

4. Operators Ashok Bharti, Inmarsal BGAN is a

and Disaster Country comprehensive voice and data
Management Head, communication globally workable
Inmarsat solution
Ideal for post disaster first
responders
Easy to create IP hot spots
anywhere in the world
Ses s io n No . & Spea ker s M ain Po int s Reco mme nd ations
T itle
Shicuchi GDAC is a website for early
Odaka, warnings
Managing Links with USGS, PTWC, etc
Editor for
ReliefWeb An effective tool for post disaster
communication
Each country can link their
ReliefWeb site to the main site
Mothilal De Operators require a short term, Warning customers and
Silva, General medium term and long term employees must be a
Manager initiative in the Corporate Social Corporate Social
Corporate Responsibility programs Responsibility.
Planning, Good working relations with the
Quality army allowed for easy
Systems, reconstruction efforts
Development,
and MIS 66% of damaged GSM
Dialog infrastructure restored in 3 days;
100% restored in 4 hours
Require partnerships with NGOs
working in the Provinces
Ses s io n No . & Spea ker s M ain Po int s Reco mme nd ations
T itle
5. Preparedness Vinya Civil Society and Development Sarvodaya 5 R approach –
Ariyaratne, debates never include Civil Relief, Rehabilitation,
Executive Societies Reconstruction,
Director Reconciliation,
State must recognize the strengths
Sarvodaya Reawakening.
of Civil Societies and their role in
development Paradigm shift from state-
dominated model to a
US$ 1.3 billion came as pledges to
community-based model for
Sri Lanka, less than 50% of the
disaster prevention, risk
families who were victims of 2004
reduction, mitigation, and
tsunami have been provided with
response.
housing
Tsunami experience brought waves ICT plays a key role in the
new paradigm.
of compassion
Sarvodaya practices a 5 stage
development process which uses
technology for community
development, education,
empowerment, and disaster
management
Giving a voice to the effected
through Webhamuva
Muhammad Hyogo Framework involves 168 Use cultural actions such as
Saidur countries and a 10 year street dramas to educate
Rahman, commitment risk management.
Director Case studies in the Pacific islands
BDPC show that training maybe not
required where knowledge already
exists (i.e. Organized)
risk = hazards *
(vulnerability/capacity); therefore,
reduction in poverty is proportional
to reducing the risk; i.e. You are
increasing capacity and reducing
vulnerability
The Bangladesh Community Flood
Information System has proved to be
effective.
Ses s io n No . & Spea ker s M ain Po int s Reco mme nd ations
T itle
Mothilal De Disaster Early Warning Network Establish and maintain
Silva, General was a clear strategy in the efforts to consistent communication
Manager deliver a mechanism for national and coordination with all
Corporate early warning, an instant warning, is stakeholders.
Planning, reliable and authentic, works at the
Quality time of need
Systems, Dialog Telekom's next step is to be
Development, ready with CB for early warnings
and MIS
Dialog GSM can be a lifeline for early
warnings

6. Mitigation Luna Abhu Platform for the Partnership of ICT policies should include
Swaireh, early warning technical and non-technical
Program people.
Officer,
platform for
the
Promotion of
early
Warning ,
UNISDR
Nuwan Sarvodaya hazard Information Hub All ICTs should use the
Waidyanath, is a Common Alerting Protocol CAP 1.1 standard to avoid
Project Message Relay any calamities of data
Manager, exchange by using earlier
It is a two tier communication
Last-Mile architecture, which involved both versions of CAP.
Hazard HIH first responders and Village The last-mile must
Warning first-responders incorporate language
System, localization in their early
LIRNEasia Reliability of the ICT is measured
warning messages.
by how well the CAP message was
received by the Village First
Responders and the effectiveness
of the ICT will be measured as to
how well the Village reacted to the
message
Mark Wood, London Bombing congested the Enable over the air
Secretary communications activation services.
General, Activating Cell Broadcasting is not Develop a universal Agency
CEASA extremely difficult it is already built 3 digit Channel Code.
in to CDMA and GSM networks
CB is not vulnerable to SPAM as
much as SMS is
Ses s io n No . & Spea ker s M ain Po int s Reco mme nd ations
T itle

7. Relief Chamindra Sahana Disaster Management Disaster Management

De Silva, Information System records and Information Systems must
Director, reports who is doing what when be transparent and
Sahana and where. trustworthy.
Project, LSF Live CD and USB solution of
Sahana provides simplicity in
instantly using the software
Dilip Community based Floods early Drills and continuity
Machchar, IT warning system in Bangladesh has programs must be enforced
and Telecom proved to be effective in the case for sustainability of the
Delegate, of tsunami warning; only 2 programs.
IFRC Bangladeshis died in 2004 tsunami After setting up an early
Before the early warning system warning system for one
Bangladesh lost 2 times the size of hazard it is easy to extend to
a population as Maldives each year an all-hazards approach.
and has reduced it to about 9
people after installing the early
warning system
Dag Nielson, Ericson Corporate Social Support the Tempere
Director Responsibility it to provide convention.
Ericson humanitarian assistance in
Response communication Infrastructure
through the UN
Humanitarian efforts require
substantial planning, most of the
time local resources are not
available because they are victims
of the disaster; therefore external
resources must be taken, which
means scaling down regular
commercial operations
 6. Session Panel Discussion Notes
Tabl e 4: Po int s add res sed by panel re la tive t o t he CT O expec ted dis cus sion topics
Ses s io n
No. Expec te d d is cu s s ion
1 The five priority actions outlined in the Sri Lanka was an early partner in the initiative
Hyogo framework for action
With recent experience in mind how
can we harness the potential in ICT?
Pane l Dis cu sse d
and the first country to bring forward a plan to
UNISDR
Disaster reduction is an essential element that
needs attention in development
Need a local level plan opposed to a National
level plan such as the Hyogo framework
2000 people died after setting up a disaster
reduction plan
Can you show outputs of Disaster reduction
The experience in the very hotel the Forum took
place – Heritance Ahungalla, formally known as
– Triton Ahungalla, was a victim of the 2004
tsunami. However, everyone survived because of
early detection of the Indian ocean earthquake
through previous now how, Dr. Chris Chapman,
a seismologist, saved lives, no ICT involved here,
similarly the Tilly Smith case

2 Best Practices in Disaster Management The communities must be given a chance to

voice their opinion in the national disaster
management policies and acts.
ICTs alone don't save lives the end users must
now how to react to early warnings; i.e.
awareness is vital
ICT legislations: what steps must we Telecommunications Regulators must take
take to make sure it has a disaster necessary action to provide incentives to the
management focus? operators through tariffs.

3 Best practices in regulating for the
continued operation of ICTs when
disaster strikes
The Tampere Convention; can it work
in practice?
Common Alerting Protocol was designed to
accommodate pre and post disaster
communications; moreover emergency data
exchange standards such as EdXL are also
evolving
The Mexicans outright disagreed to allowing
third party operators and equipment vendors to
import into the country; it is a workable solution
Ses s io n
No. Expec te d d is cu s s ion Pane l Dis cu sse d
4 What more can operators do to restrict Use the lessons learned to prepare better
the damage done by natural disasters? business continuity and disaster recovery plans
The importance of accurate reporting Not addressed
and the use of the media in disaster
mitigation
What can we do to ensure that ICT
operators understand their role in
disaster management?

5 Examples of best practices in engaging Bangladesh community disaster preparedness

the community for disaster program has proved where the death due to
preparedness disasters have been reduced to less that 9 per year

Information sharing and knowledge Government needs to take an initiative to respect

management, with so many potential
parties involved how can this be
organized?
the efforts of the local parties and implement the
solutions without delay. The Dialog/MicroImage
example shows how frustration settles in when
the government does not move the projects
forward

What can be done to increase Make the communications Common Alerting

interoperability now and in the future Protocol compliant. Dialog has already began
experimenting with CAP version 1.1

6 The progress of the International Early The framework has been built but requires the
Warning Program (IEWP) countries to take an initiative and move forward
The CEASA is promoting that all emergency
agencies adopt one of the 3 digit cellular
broadcasting channel numbers
The importance of balancing data
gathering with good knowledge
management

What key steps can be taken in the Encourage public and private sector partnerships
short term to remove the impediments
7 to using ICTs in relief efforts?
Ses s io n
No. Expec te d d is cu s s ion Pane l Dis cu sse d
Best practices of ICTs Using Free and Open Source Software principals
to develop applications that are an effort of a
global partnership opposed to a proprietary
approach which only benefits a selected domain

7. Demos

7.1.Inmarsat IP voice and Data solutions – Their solutions are IP based solutions
that use the L-Band frequency. There are 9 geostationary satellites that Inmarsat own and
operate. The solution provides high speed up to 490Kbps, Wi-Fi phones with IP Telephony
and SMS. The units carry a SIM card which identifies you as a unique user, hence the
Telephony packets are routed to the particular SIM card. The voice quality is not the best but
is adequate for the most unreachable places on earth. A call is approximately US$ 6 per
minute and data is approximately US$ 2 per Megabyte.

Proposed Alerting Method: Internet Public Alerting System (Pseudo Broadcast Messaging)

7.2.WorldSpace Disaster Warning, Recovery and Response (DWRR)

Voice and Data Solutions – The one-way Satellite Digital Radio voice/data is channeled over
L Band frequencies. Moreover, the digital radio is attached to a GPS unit which extends the
capability of geospatial addressability. Therefore, it is possible to connect the addressable
satellite radio through a USB to the computer to download data (120kbps). The DWRR is a
infrastructure free solution for early warnings in last-mile communities.

Proposed Alerting Method: MP3 voice and TCP/IP data (Broadcast Messaging)

7.3.Universityof Moratuwa Dialog Early Warning Network System's

Remote Alarm Device (RAD) - is a Sri Lankan GSM product; especially designed and
developed for the Government of Sri Lanka. The unit is owned and operated by the Sri Lanka
118 center (Ministry of Law and Order). The RAD is equipped with a AM/FM radio SMS
display, siren, call back feature.

Proposed Alerting Method: GSM voice and data (Sequential Messaging)

7.4.Dialog/MicroImage Sinhala/Tamil/English SMS with alerting java

applet - only flow is that solution works only on phones with an operating system such as
Windows / Simbien /Linux/etc. However, the market is catching on and the SMART phones
will saturate the market in less than a decade to come.

Proposed Alerting Method: GSM data (Sequential Messaging)

Note – Mobility is a common feature in all the demo solutions

 8. Networking Events
A great opportunity provided by the hosts to have round table conversations during breakfast,
lunch, and diner. There were no cliques. Everyone made sure that they had an opportunity to
network with everyone participating in the forum. The entertainment bent everyone away from the
working mode and was necessary for the brain to rest and not be saturated.

9. Rapporteur Final Remarks

The outcome of the event was positive. The forum was more of sense of assurance to all the
stakeholders in the region that they are on the right track of contributing their efforts in risk
reduction.

All participants had lessons to learn and lessons to share. The intuition needs to be put in to actions
with the aim of institutionalizing the processes.

Private and Public partnerships (i.e. All stakeholders) should work towards completing the
regulatory framework and implement the policies in less than 5 years.

The Civil Societies and operators should complete the pilot projects to determine feasible and
sustainable ICTs for early warnings in the last mile.

Risk reduction and disaster resilience was more the topic opposed to disaster management, which
seems to sound more like relief operations and reconstruction and using ICT for operations instead
of including mitigation and preparedness.