ICT
& Effective Disaster Risk Reduction
Disaster
risk reduction begins with information
and its appropriate dissemination.
The advances in information and
communication technologies (ICTs)
that have emerged over the last
two decades lend themselves to
greater possibilities of integration
of different communication systems.
The interoperability of various
communication systems including
internet, mobile phones, fax,
e-mail, radio and television is
reaching out rapidly to the large
cross-sections of the people,
including the fishing communities.
As a result, the possibilities
of ICTs in disaster risk reduction
are also increasing. 'The last
mile' outreach of such systems
is however driven by myriad of
interventions at the various levels.
There are both social and technical
aspects to the application of
ICTs in disaster risk reduction.
The effective application of these
technologies depends greatly upon
their appropriateness for the
social and economic context in
which they are applied. Community
owned ICTs based approaches sound
to have greater impacts as well
as enhanced sustainability. In
this talk, I intend to describe
the emerging role of ICTs for
disaster risk reduction especially
in the context of fisheries sector
and highlight the emerging challenges
in making the application of these
technologies more effective.
A Case Study
Space technology, as an important
component of ICTs, provides both
content as well as conduit. It
enables 'last mile' outreach especially
in underserved and backward areas
and thus assumes greater significance
in addressing the risk reduction
issues with regard to fishing
communities. Further, Remote sensing,
particularly satellite meteorology
(Sat Met), enabled products has
been extremely valuable to enhance
likelihood opportunities and also
to reduce the risk of fishing
in the deep ocean. In fact, livelihood
opportunities must be insulated
from the risk and this is where
the technological interventions
from remote sensing as contents
and satellite communication as
conduit play the strategic roles
for the fisheries sectors.
The risk to the fishing communities
along the coast emanates mainly
from tropical cyclone, storm surge,
tsunami, coastal flooding and
erosion. The talk highlights how
the risk from such disasters could
be brought to the minimum, especially
by using advances in ICTs.
Tropical Cyclone, Storm Surge
and Costal Floods: Communication
and Dissemination Issues
Meteorological satellites are
valuable for monitoring and Forecasting
of cyclones. INSAT/VHRR images
are being used to identify cloud
systems over the oceans, where
no observational data is available,
as well as for cyclone tracking,
intensity assessment and prediction
of storm surges, etc. They need
to be supplemented by ground meteorological
observations and radar data for
accurate assessment of rainfall
intensity. An innovative use of
INSAT has been in the implementation
of the unique, unattended, locale
specific Cyclone Warning Dissemination
System (CWDS) consisting of over
250 disaster warning receivers
installed in cyclone prone areas
of the country, designed to provide
warning to coastal villages about
an impending cyclone. Since the
commissioning of DWS and its first
operational use for disaster warning
in 1987, CWDS has become a vital
disaster mitigation mechanism.
Current research around the globe
is concentrating on use of meso-scale
models with satellite data inputs
to improve the cyclone intensity
and track prediction.
Data relay and communication satellites
have the ability not only to deliver
early warnings on various disasters,
but also in disseminating requisite
information on awareness and educating
the local people in preparing
themselves to face such hazards.
Locale-specific unattended CWDS
installed by India along the vulnerable
eastern and western coasts of
the country, using communication
and meteorological capability
of INSAT multipurpose satellites,
have proven their immense value
in providing timely warning on
cyclones since the last 10 years.
The vast capabilities of communication
satellites are available for timely
dissemination of information on
early warning and real time coordination
of relief operations. The advent
of Very Small Aperture Terminals
(VSATs) and Ultra Small Aperture
Terminals (USATs), and Phased
Array Antennas have enhanced the
capability further by offering
low cost, viable technological
solutions towards management and
mitigation of disasters. Satellite
communication capabilities - fixed,
mobile, personalized - are vital
in a large number of disaster
management situations, especially
in data collection, distress alerting,
position location and coordinating
actual relief operations in the
field. In the area of disaster
preparedness/mitigation, inputs
from satellite data can assist
in making vulnerability analysis
and help decision-makers to evolve
short and long term strategies
for disaster mitigation.
Lessons from Bangladesh
The Cyclone Preparedness Program
(CPP) in Bangladesh, managed jointly
by the Government of Bangladesh
and Bangladesh Red Crescent Society,
is considered to be a success
story. The CPP operates an extensive
network of radio communications
facilities in the coastal area,
linked to its communication center
at its headquarters in Dhaka.
The network consists of a combination
of HF and VHF radios which covers
the high-risk cyclone zone areas.
The entire program has a significant
training and public awareness
component. On recruitment, the
CPP officers give the volunteers
preliminary training. A three-day
basic training is then given to
the volunteers, batch by batch,
on different aspects such as dissemination,
evacuation, sheltering, rescue,
first aid and relief operation.
An extensive public awareness
program that includes cyclone
drills and demonstration, staging
of dramas/ folk songs, distribution
of posters, leaflets and booklets,
film/ video shows and radio and
TV programs complement the training
of volunteers. The CPP is a good
example of how the use of communication
technology in disasters can be
made effective by preparing an
appropriate social and cultural
context in which these technologies
are applied. A well-planned warning
system with equal emphasis on
both social and technical components
ensures that in case of an emergency,
one-point failure in the system
does not lead to a complete break
down.
Towards a multi-node communication
network
Traditionally, parallels in military
operations, which follow a well-defined
command-and control structure,
have inspired the application
of ICTs in disasters risk reduction.
However, growing emphasis on devolution
of disaster management to community
level and greater recognition
of effectiveness of community-based
disaster management would require
that the disaster management community
looks into innovative approaches
for the application of emerging
communication technologies in
disaster management.
Localization
While ICTs have made the sharing
of knowledge and information much
faster and reliable, in the local
language is going to be a major
barrier in the effective application
of these technologies. Translation
software do not yet address the
needs of rural communities, including
the fishermen. In the coming years,
overcoming the language barrier
would be a major challenge and
would require a combination of
high-tech as well as more down
to earth human-based systems.
Communication and dissemination
Issues
Community owned approach is considered
as bottom-up strategy for absorption
of high-end technologies like
space technology. There is unique
example where community owned
approach to Met Sat products has
made considerable impact in some
coastal pockets of India. MS Swaminathan
Research Foundation (MSSRF), established
in 1988 at Chennai as a non-profit
trust committed to harnessing
science and technology for environmentally
sustainable and socially equitable
development, has implemented a
variety of programmes in coastal
systems, biodiversity and biotechnology,
ecotechnology and sustainable
agriculture, education, communication,
training and capacity building.
The Centre has implemented a project
involving a number of telecentres
in rural Pondicherry in order
to establish the impact of information
technology in rural areas. MSSRF
has set up Village Information
Shops enabling enable rural families
to access a basket of information
using modern communication technologies.
It is operated by trained educated
youth, especially women, in rural
areas. They are also trained to
organise and maintain a system
that generates locally relevant
information from generic information,
besides maintaining, updating
and disseminating information
on entitlements to rural families
using an appropriate blend of
technologies. In this process,
they are also empowered to have
access to web-enabled community
centric SatMet products. The Value
Addition Centres, operated by
trained youths, have dial-up accounts
to two Internet Service Providers
(ISPs); the Village Knowledge
Centres (VKCs) have off-line wireless
access to e-mail and the World
Wide Web, via the Value Addition
Centre.
The MSSRF Value Addition Centre
delivers daily images of predicted
wave conditions in the Bay of
Bengal to the local VKCs located
at targeted villages of fishing
community. The images are obtained
from a website run by the US Navy.
The sea conditions are of crucial
importance for the safety of the
fishermen. The information is
so critical that it is transmitted
verbally to the fishermen as they
are preparing their boats early
in the morning, across a public
address system through loudspeakers
placed on the roof of the centre.
The fishermen regard the information
as “life-saving”.
Two of VKCs, located in coastal
villages with 98 per cent of families
involved in fishing and the information
requirements in these villages,
are different and more focused
on the safety of fisherman while
at sea, on the presence of fish
near shore, and on techniques
for post-harvest processing. These
villages also receive information
on wave heights for the coming
48 hours, downloaded from a US
Navy website. Value added SatMet
products are disseminated through
a public address system for the
benefit of fishermen. The system
is also used for announcing various
government schemes related to
fishermen, fish market details,
employment news, distribution
of rice in the local fair price
shops, kerosene, sugar, and so
forth, on a regular basis. Here
is a typical account:
Pannerselvan in the past got his
answers the hard way. When the
seas got angry, he got wet. But
the fishermen of Veerampattinam
no longer put themselves in harm's
way every time they launch their
boats. Three years ago, Swaminathan
chose the village for a pilot
project, a demonstration for central
government policy experts to show
that IT could change the lives
of the poor. Through his Chennai-based
research foundation, Swaminathan
established a minimalist communication
network linking phoneless Veerampattinam
with the city of Pondicherry.
The Internet arrived- and with
it crop prices, email, and weather
forecasts with ocean wave reports.
Four times a day, a local volunteer
checks the web and broadcasts
the information through a village
public address system. Every evening
as he sits sipping tea at a nearby
stall, Pannerselvan can listen
and decide whether it is safe
to go fishing the next day. "When
the computer says that there will
be a storm," he says, "terhe
has always been a storm. We all
believe in it."1,2/
What led to the success
of this project ?
• It emerges strongly that
content-creation through a combination
of the bottom-up process of demand
assessment, and the top-down approach
of value addition has contributed
largely to the success.
• Use of right technologies
LAN based on VHF radio, MetSat
products on sea conditions assessment
and local level connectivity.
Creation of contextual information
from generic source-Internet/Web.
• Routing the commercial
activities-including marketing
of agricultural produces, along
with other important services-education,
health, employment and entailments,
through ICT services to increase
the benefits of target communities.
• Powerful vision backed
by creative leadership of MSSRF
and wider participation of local
communities, especially women.
Lessons and Perspectives
The information technology revolution
has to trigger local innovations
in harnessing the communications
infrastructure. The disaster management
community will have to capitalize
on these innovations in order
to build a disaster resilient
community from the bottom. In
the coming years, the new communications
and information technologies can
potentially redefine the conventional
disaster management systems. There
is a movement underway, away from
strict "command and control"
model to a more devolved system
of disaster management.
While taking the note of all success
related factors under the different
conditions and contexts in such
efforts have made a difference,
the conclusion is that it has
to be used strategically and as
an integral part of building the
livelihood systems of farmers
and fishermen. How well community
learn from the use of, and increasing
gain from access to such systems,
is a function of many variables,
including the opportunities to
make profits from greater knowledge,
technological choices, change
management strategies, and national,
state and local priorites 3,4.
The areas where ICT enabled products
could benefit the community directly
include farmer's advisories, fish
catch improvements and safer fishing.
Operational MetSat products are
mostly available on the web. What
holds the key is linking such
products to the value and service
chains (Fig 2). The Village Knowledge
Centres of MSSRF exemplifies how
such potentials could be harnessed.
Community owned strategy makes
how such possibility could work
in support of the poor and marginal
fishermen community.
References
• Radhakrishnan K (2003),
Reaching the benefit of science
and technology to society use
of ICT in PFZ mission, Policy
maker workshop, MS Swaminathan
Research Foundation, Chennai,
India, Oct 8-9, 2003
• Swaminathan, MS (2003),
Role of ICTs in achieving Millennium
Development Goals, Policy maker
workshop, MS Swaminathan Research
Foundation, Chennai, India, Oct
8-9, 2003
• Ray A Williamson et al
(2001), The Socioeconomic benefits
of earth science and application
research: reducing the risks and
cost of natural disasters in the
United States; A repport prepared
under NASA Grant # NAGS-10539,
Washington, US.
* Value addition chain of web-enabled
MetSat products to develop the
warning system for safer fishing.
Value addition chain of web-enabled
MetSat products to develop the
warning system for safer fishing.
Dr Sanjay K Srivastava Indian
Space Research Organization (ISRO)
HQ Bangalore 560 094 sanjay@isro.gov.in
