ICT For Disaster Management

ENV ISIO N 2009
ICT FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT
CONTENTS @ A GLANCE
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) DISASTER DISASTER RECOVERY DISASTER MANAGEMENT RISK REDUCTION RISK BENEFIT ANALYSIS FUTURE ERA CONCLUSION
1 PERIYAR MANIAMMAI UNIVERSITY, TAMILNADU
ENV ISIO N 2009
ABSTRACT
Necessity is the Mother of Invention

In this paper we are going to discuss the factors about disaster, disaster recovery and its management using Information and communication Technology (ICT). We cannot stop any disaster from being happened but we can warn and create awareness among the public. Disaster recovery plays a vital role by recovering from trouble. As a Computer Engineer we suggest new methodologies in Disaster Management by using ICT and Risk Benefit Analysis.
ENV ISIO N 2009
INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is tenure which comprise the technological belongings for the manipulation and communication of information. It can be mostly referred to as Information technology (IT) in many places. ICT is a fast growing and peaking field when compared to others. It captures the attention of most people than any other could do. It helps common people in day to day life. For example in older days we used to tune in to radio stations to know about current affairs and news. But nowadays after the evolution of ICT we used to surf on the internet to keep ourselves updated and knowledgeable. Further we also have satellite radio, television, mobile phones or even more.
ENV ISIO N 2009
DISASTER
A disaster is something an unexpected accident or chaos creating a huge loss to property and money and more often it claims lives. Natural disasters are the most commonly seen disasters. Natural disasters may include tsunamis, earthquake, volcanic eruptions, earth slides, floods, famines. Sometimes there are also other disasters like Stock Market Crash, Financial Crisis which are also included under disasters. For all of us we have to know onething, we are responsible for the industrial developments. During the development man is overexploiting many resources which lead to many problems. Natural disasters are the result of overexploitation, Global warming which inturn leads to the Ageing of Earth and definitely one day Earth will be absorbed by Sun. A Sun Storm Welcomes us by 2010 is predicted to affect the global communication. As the backbone of developing India, we youth will take this as a challenge and will ascertain a solution with the help of ICT. DISASTERS CANNOT BE MOSTLY AVOIDED, BUT THEIR EFFECTS CAN BE REDUCED
ENV ISIO N 2009
DISASTER RECOVERY
Disaster recovery is a process of renovation of the inflated after a disaster had been occurred. Using the progress in ICT we can create awareness among the public about a disaster. We can create new recovery toolkits by using new technologies. ICT not only create awareness about a disaster but it also warns previously before a disaster occurs. For example consider the Tsunami warning system which is stationed in Pacific Ocean.
A RECOVERY TOOLKIT & TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM
ENV ISIO N 2009
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
The management of the disaster before and after the occurrence of a disaster with the help of various instruments is said to be as disaster management. The above displayed figure shows the logo for the ministry of National Disaster Management Authority. Here while discussing about disaster management we should revive the recent thrilling encounter that happened in Newyork in US, where a plane is about to crash and the pilot made an evasive trick and saved the lives of 155 people. Soon after the pilot is about to crash the pilot landed the plane in the surface of the river and within minutes after the landing Americas disaster management acted quickly and recovered the people from the plane. The point behind this is by noticing this incident we have to develop our Disaster management system to at our best so that it could help us to act quickly against disasters.
ENV ISIO N 2009
PHASES IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT
There are six phases in a disaster management. These six phases usually overlap. ICT is used in all the phases, but the usage is more apparent in some phases than in others.
MITIGATION RISK REDUCTION PREVENTION PREPAREDNESS RESPONSE RECOVERY
ENV ISIO N 2009
ICT FOR DISASTER PREVENTION, MITIGATION AND PREPAREDNESS The first important steps towards reducing disaster impact are to correctly analyze the potential risk and identify measures that can prevent, mitigate or prepare for emergencies. ICT can play a significant role in highlighting risk areas, vulnerabilities and potentially affected populations by producing geographically referenced analysis through, for example, a Geographic information system (GIS). The importance of timely disaster warning in mitigating negative impacts can never be underestimated. For example, although damage to property cannot be avoided, developed countries have been able to reduce loss of life due to disasters much more effectively than their counterparts in the developing world. A key reason for this is the implementation of effective disaster warning systems and evacuation procedures used by the developed countries, and the absence of such measures in the developing world. COMPARISON OF DAMAGE CAUSED BY THREE DISASTERS
In the case of Hurricane Katrina, although the economic loss and damage to property were much higher, the number of deaths was remarkably less than that resulting from the Indian Ocean tsunami in Sri Lanka and the Pakistan earthquake. This is largely because in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the victims were mainly communities living below the poverty line a factor that significantly contributed to their vulnerability and because effective disaster warning systems were not in place. In New Orleans, official warnings were dispatched in advance and many in the
ENV ISIO N 2009
affected areas were evacuated in time. In addition, the disaster management process was much better than what it had been in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, despite the heavy criticism it received. A warning can be defined as the communication of information about a hazard or threat to a population at risk, in order for them to take appropriate actions to mitigate any potentially negative impacts on themselves, those in their care and their property. The goal of early public warning is to ensure to the greatest extent possible that the hazard does not become a disaster. Such warnings must be unambiguous, communicate the risks succinctly and provide necessary guidance. The success of a warning can be measured by the actions that it causes people to take, such as evacuation or avoiding at-risk areas. COMPONENTS USED FOR DISASTER WARNING Radio and Television Mobiles & Telephone Short Message Service Cell Broadcasting Satellite Radio Internet/ Email Sirens
ENV ISIO N 2009
RADIO AND TELEVISION Radio is the traditional way of communicating with the public. Using radio several educational and awareness programs were conducted. Radio served as the main medium of approach to the people in the olden days and even now. Some of the advantages that a radio has are its size is so compact that it can be kept inside pocket and it consumes very less power than any other medium. For example, consider a remote village affected by storm and heavy rain. In this situation a radio plays a vital role than any other media because the operating power of a radio is very less and its size is very compact so that it can be carried everywhere and hence the people gets the updated news wherever they go. The only disadvantage with the radio is that it is not visual. Television is the most widely used and familiar telecommunicating device. The greatest advantage with a television set is that it overcomes the visual disadvantage of the radio. For example, consider the Gujarat earthquake. Here the TVs played a vital role in collecting the relief from the public and many other foreign NGOs. All of these became possible because it showed the tears of the disaster very close to the peoples heart and created Helping tendency People had learnt a lot of safety measures from the visuality shown by TVs. TVs also show the activities of the government to the public, when any disaster happens. This increases the Political Stability.
ENV ISIO N 2009
DIGITAL RADIO SYSTEMS After the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, many radio manufacturers considered introducing new digital radio alert systems that react even if the set is switched off. In order to trigger this alarm, a special flag integrated into the received signal from a terrestrial transmitter or a satellite would be used and the set would automatically tune to the emergency broadcast channel. The only disadvantage of this system is that to introduce a new generation of receivers in analog environment generally takes 5 to 10 years. With digital receivers, this would be somewhat easier.
A sight at the effect caused by the Indian Ocean tsunami 2004 December
ENV ISIO N 2009
MOBILE & TELEPHONES Telephones and Mobile phones provide connectivity to the nook and every corner of the nation. Especially mobile phones provide connectivity to a person wherever he goes. At this situation consider the example. During flood conditions in a village, one could instruct his friends and public in the next village and can help to reduce the death prone and losses to the property. Further we can also send SMS to our friends and instruct them.
ENV ISIO N 2009
Mobile phones have the advantage of less weight, less size and more coverage than the land cables. Nowadays mobile phones are equipped with latest technologies such as GPS, GPRS, 3G, EDGE, EGPRS, HSCSD, CSD, and lot more. GPS GPRS 3G EGPRS Global Positioning System General Packet Radio Service Third generation mobile networking Enhanced GPRS
INTERNET/E.MAIL The role Internet, email and instant messages can play in disaster warning entirely depends on their penetration within a community and usage by professionals such as first responders, Coordinating bodies, etc.While these media can play a prominent role in a developed country, Where nearly half of all homes and almost all offices have Internet connections, this is not the Case in the developing world. In many developing countries, less than 5 percent of the Population uses the Internet and even those who are users do not use it on a regular basis. In Such a situation, it is difficult to expect Internet and email to play any critical role. In spite of that drawback, many disaster-related activities are already underway within the Internet community. For example, a new proposal for using the Internet to quickly warn large Numbers of people of impending emergencies is currently being drafted by the Internet Engineering Task Force.
ENV ISIO N 2009
FUTURE ERA The convergence of technologies, the deeper embedding and wider integration of technology into products, services and processes are shaping the future development of ICT. This is having major impacts on the ICT industry. The next generation of ICT will be exemplify by its functionalities rather than by traditional product or service categories Systems and services are increasingly, 1) Networked, mobile, seamless and scalable, offering the capability to be the best connected anytime, anywhere to anything. 2) Embedded into the things of everyday life makes things compact. 3) Intelligent and personalized, and therefore more centered on the user and their needs 4) Rich in content and experiences and in visual and multimodal interaction THIS IS OUR FUTURE AND WE HAVE TO SHAPE IT AND CHALLENGE!
ENV ISIO N 2009
COMPARISON BETWEEN DIFFERENT COMMUNICATION CHANNELS USED IN DISASTER WARNING
With advancement in Information & Communication Technology in the form of Internet, GIS, Remote Sensing, satellite-based communication links; it can help a great deal in planning and implementation of disaster risk reduction measures. These technologies have been playing a major role in designing early warning systems, catalyzing the process of preparedness, response and mitigation. ICT tools are also being widely used to build knowledge warehouses using internet and data warehousing techniques. These knowledge warehouses can facilitate planning & policy decisions for preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation at all levels.
ENV ISIO N 2009
RISK BENEFIT ANALYSIS

Risk benefit analysis is a process of analyzing whether a risk is benefactory or not. This is similar to Cost benefit analysis. In risk benefit analysis the risks and benefits of a particular thing or disaster is analyzed and assigned Dollar amounts and the most favorable ratio between risks and benefits is sought. The only ethical way to implement risk benefit analysis is for the engineer to ensure to the greatest extent possible that the risks as well as the benefits of his design are shared equally in the society.
ENV ISIO N 2009
CONCLUSION
Information and Communication Technologies in form of Internet, GIS, Remote Sensing, Satellite communication etc. are essential in planning and successful implementation of most Disaster Risk Reduction proposal. However, the potential of most advanced technologies is required to be harnessed in early warning, preparedness and response systems along with adequate stress on building human capacities to use these tools and technologies. Thus by doing papers like this we will be able to know about recent trends in our IT field and the challenges that we are facing and we believe that it has provided us the intention to invent and propagate through the progression.
ENV ISIO N 2009
REFERENCES
1. Disaster management approaches and strategies Tejsingh 2. Disaster management in telecommunication, broadcasting and computer system Galal Ei. Mahdy

ICT For Disaster Management

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

ICT For Disaster Management

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ENV ISIO N 2009