Information Systems for DecisionMaking for Sustainable Development

CDERA and the INTEGRATED DECISIONMAKING SUPPORT SYSTEM (IDSS)

UWI, ST. AUGUSTINE, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO October 28, 2003

OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION
CDERA THE ORGANISATION CDM STRATEGY WHAT IT IS CDERAS INFORMATION POLICY THE IDSS DEFINITION GOALS OF THE SYSTEM ELEMENTS OF THE IDSS CHALLENGES, CONSTRAINTS AND IMPLEMENTATION CONSIDERATIONS IDSS DISASTER MANAGEMENT DIRECTION

CDERA THE ORGANISATION

Regional Disaster Management Organisation Established by CARICOM Heads of Governments in 1991 Three Organs Council of Ministers, Board of Directors, Coordinating Unit Membership 16 English Speaking CARICOM States

CDERA MANDATE
Main function is to make immediate and coordinated response to disasters in Participating States (PS) To mobilize and coordinate disaster relief from governmental and non-governmental organizations for affected PS To promote the establishment, enhancement and maintenance of disaster response capabilities among PS.

MEMBER STATES

SUB-REGIONAL OPERATIONS
Four (4) Sub-Regional Focal Points
Jamaica Belize. Bahamas, TCI Antigua & Barbuda BVI, Anguilla St. Kitts/Nevis, Montserrat Barbados Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines Trinidad & Tobago Grenada, Guyana

National disaster organizations

Focal Point at National Level Has responsibility for overall management of National Disaster Programme Headed by National Disaster Coordinator (NDC) Work Programme & Budget

MAIN ACTIVITIES
Manage Transition to CDM Information Sharing and Management Managing Regional Response Mechanism Mitigation of Disaster Impacts Programme/Project design and implementation

THE CARIBBEAN STRATEGY ON COMPREHENSIVE DISASTER MANAGEMENT (CDM)

COMPREHENSIVE DISASTER MANAGEMENT

What is CDM? Integrated Management of all Hazards Management of all Phases of the Disaster Cycle Engagement of all Sectors Integrating Vulnerability Assessments and Risk Reduction into Planning and Development

CDM STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK

Goal: Sustainable Development in the Caribbean region SO: Comprehensive Disaster Management is integrated into the development processes of CDERA member countries.

IR-1 : Stronger regional and national institutions promote CDM.

IR-1 : Research and training support CDM.

IR-1 Regional : institutions and donors incorporate CDM in their own programs and promote CDM to their national members/clients.

IR-1 : Preparedness, response and mitigation capability is enhanced and integrated.

IR-1 Hazard : information is incorporated into development planning and decision making.

A consultative process
CDERAs policy is to collaborate with organisations with shared interests This helps to ensure more rational use of the limited resources as duplication is minimized. Also ensures that technical assistance provided is of the highest quality as each agency can take the lead in the area where it has specific technical expertise

1 + 6
NGOs IFRCS (Red Cross) Adventist Disaster Relief Agency CARIPEDA CCA Member Countries & National Disaster Organisations

2 Donors
IDB USAID/OFDA UNDP CDB World Bank European Union CIDA DFIDC Japan OAS

5
Research & Data Partners UWI Seismic Research Unit CARDIN CPACC/UWICED CIMH IMA

3
Regional Sector Partners PAHO/WHO FAO CTO CHA ITU/CTU CARILEC CMO OECS/NRMU

4
Response Partners ECDG RSS SOUTHCOM/HAP CDRU Rempeitc Oil Spill Airlines

Strategic Linkages

THE CDM MATRIX

Initiative Agency

CDERAS INFORMATION POLICY

CDERAS INFORMATION POLICY

To: enhance CDERAs visibility as a leader in the promotion of disaster management. Promote acceptance and ownership of Comprehensive Disaster Management. enhance the Coordinating Units capacity to access, collate, analyze and disseminate information on all aspects of disaster management. support the institutionalization of disaster management teaching and research in regional universities

The INTEGRATED DECISION-MAKING SUPPORT SYSTEM

A CDERA / SOUTHCOM/HAP INITIATIVE

WHAT IS THE IDSS

A Management Tool which incorporates geographic information systems (GIS), visualization, and analytical models, responds to requirements for hazard analysis, risk and vulnerability assessments, mitigation and preparedness planning, and education, training and exercise support.

The IDSS contd

A concept rather than an Information System Distributed Network Decision-Making Support System Collaborative environment / Integration Data intensive/dependent Hardware/software platform Real-time applications

GOALS OF THE SYSTEM

1) provide the fundamental mechanisms needed to allow sharing of information between decision-makers at various levels, 2) provide the capability to view the issue at various scales from regional to national to local and, 3) enable collaboration between participants so that there is a common understanding of the situation at hand.

IDSS Concept
The true goal in integrated decision-making support is to provide the decision-maker with the ability to look into the future. That is, predict in advance the risk and vulnerability of populations and infrastructure to hazards, both natural and man-induced. This requires that data be transformed into knowledge..

IDSS Objective
Equip disaster and humanitarian assistance managers, at all levels of decision-making, and across the four emergency management functions of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery, with a suite of tools, processes, standards and applications to enable:
Access, integration, sharing, and dissemination of

timely and relevant information and knowledge Creation of a common operating environment for improved planning, collaboration, decision-making and execution

ELEMENTS OF THE SYSTEM

ICS GEOCAS OPEN SOURCES

Incident Command System (ICS)

The ICS is a core IDSS component for realtime event management and decision support at the tactical and operational levels allowing users to enter and access information, track resource requests, and report infrastructure status.

Geospatial Collaboration and Assessment System (GeoCAS)

GeoCAS is the primary tool for situational awareness and development of a common operating picture among decision-makers at the operational and strategic levels.

OTHER OPEN SOURCES

Other open sources give users access to a wide range of information repositories such as the media, internal organizational communications (e.g. e-mail, telecon, radio, teletype, fax), the broad universe of internet-based information providers, consultants, academia

Current Constraints
Data/Information are available, but
Hard to find and from multiple sources Multiple formats Difficult to integrate

Tools are available, but

Hard to find and from multiple sources Multiple formats Difficult to ingest data

Collaboration is difficult, particularly in time of crisis

The Challenge(s)
Disparate systems and information sources need to be integrated - into one simple system Data/Information are available, but Hard to find and from multiple sources/locations Multiple formats Challenging and time consuming to integrate Tools are available, but Hard to find and from multiple sources/platforms Can be difficult to ingest data Challenging to use and interpret.

CHALLENGES contd
Collaboration and coordination can be challenging particularly in a time of crisis - information needs to be shared among agencies (local/regional, planning, etc) Whos doing what?Who needs what? What is happening?What happens if? IT infrastructure is inconsistent - solution needs to accommodate all levels of capability. Policies and procedures at different levels of government and internationally are (necessarily) different - Some may not be in place to enable information sharing and full utilization of an IDSS.

Implementation Considerations
Infrastructure Hardware systems Software systems Communications (connectivity and bandwidth) Resources Data (location/maintenance of - Static, dynamic, local, regional, etc) People (Technical, Analysts) Funding Policies/Procedures/Culture Institutional Development Personnel Development Sharing Information/Knowledge and Expertise

Issues for Consideration

Compatibility Issues
Data Format, Measurement Units, Different Vendor Products, Versioning, Ethernet, Token Ring,

Organizational
Sensitive Data Definition Varies Security Issues / Accessing Shared Data Capacity Differs From Country to Country Bandwidth Cost is High Systems, Data, Models Expertise Limited

Architectural Considerations
System Considerations
Data Compatibility Tool Compatibility Flow Mechanism & Medium

Organizational Considerations
Methods & Procedures, Policy Impacts Sharing Rules User Training Maintenance (Systems, Data, Models, ) Connectivity Costs

Key Component & Features

Tools
Geospatial Analytical Tool (GeoCAS) Incident Mgmt Tool Other Tools

Distributed Network
Integrated Local Databases Integrated Tools Open, Modular, Scalable

Interne Interne tt

LAN

Flexible Deployment Option

Start Small, Add as Needed

How Will It Work?

Data is Local:
Imagery, Model Results, Warehouse Info,

Servers Contain:
Key Software Components Jurisdictional Data Pointers to Local Data
Interne Interne tt

Connectivity Via Internet Collaboration Via:

Common Op Picture & Posting of Products

LAN

Key Benefits
Empowering Local Users
Incremental Investments Made Locally Data Quality Improves Locally

Increasing Awareness
Combining Local Data for the Big Picture Aggregating the Results

Common Operating Picture

Collaboration & Tool Integration Reducing Data Duplication

INTEGRATED DECISION-MAKING
The direction in which the emergency management community is going that will leverage technological advances and lead to sustainable development

Thank You
For further Information Contact: CDERA Coordinating Unit Bldg #1, Manor Lodge Complex Lodge Hill, St. Michael, BARBADOS Tel #: (246) 425 0386 Fax #: (246) 425 8854 Email: cdera@caribsurf.com URL: http://www.cdera.org