In a series of posts, we shall trace and examine the increasing role and impact of ICTs in the area of disaster management.

Nobel Laureate R.K. Pachauri, while addressing the 5^th convocation of the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DA-IICT) in January 2009, highlighted the need for ICTs in dealing with natural disasters and other weather-related events that pose a threat to human life and property.

[…] Climate science has advanced at a phenomenal rate largely because powerful computers can now run very complex models that simulate climatic conditions on land as well as the oceans. Our assessment of future changes in the climate as a result both of natural as well as human factors is dependent largely on the power of models that are being used today and our ability to assess the impacts of climate change in different parts of the world. In response to future projections of these events, governments, civil society and even business organizations can take effective measures to adapt to changes that would occur.

Citing an example from 2003, Dr. Pachauri said:

“I would like to give the example of a major heat wave that took place in parts of Andhra Pradesh in 2003, as a result of which almost 4000 people lost their lives according to official records. […]

“When studying this major problem, it became apparent that ICT infrastructure could have saved perhaps all the lives that were lost if it had been put in place properly and utilized effectively. There was, for instance, no early warning provided to the victims of the heat wave. Nor was there any follow up in terms of providing medical advice to those who suffered from heat stress, such as the need for oral rehydration therapy and simple healthcare for those who were affected. Even television channels could have been used to spread proper awareness and information to protect the lives of those who were affected were not used.

“There are several examples of coastal disasters where people affected can be warned on a timely basis and evacuated before the disaster itself takes place. When a hurricane hits the coast of Florida, the infrastructure available is used to provide adequate warning and notice to those likely to be affected, and entire townships are evacuated. When a cyclone of even lower intensity hits the coasts of Bangladesh or Orissa, major damage takes place, because not only is there lack of shelters and infrastructure to house those who are affected, but there are inadequate systems for early warning and guidance.

“Today even mobile telephones could be used as an effective medium to provide early warning and thus save lives and property”.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking at the Telecom World 2009 in Geneva, also highlighted the role of ICTs in addressing key issues, including natural disaster reduction.

“Through good climate science and information sharing, ICTs can help reduce the risk and impact of natural disasters… when an earthquake hits, a coordinated ICT system can monitor developments, send out emergency messages and help people to cope.”

The UN Secretary-General’s statement echoes the paradigm shift in Disaster Management mentioned in the 2005 presentation by Sujit Mohanty, namely:

• From relief and recovery to Risk & Vulnerability management
• Introducing culture of preparedness at all levels
• Strengthen decentralized response capacity in the country
• Empowerment of vulnerable groups and ensuring livelihoods
• Learning from past disasters.

In the aftermaths of large-scale natural calamities such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the world was forced to wake up to the need for coordinated and collaborative harnessing of the power of ICT systems in managing natural disasters.

Paul Currion in humanitarian.info stated that:

“In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, there has been an astonishing amount of activity in web-based initiatives responding to the consequences of the disaster. Examining the characteristics of the response of the technology community to Hurricane Katrina tells us much about the way the web has shaped social responses to disaster, raises some interesting issues about the impact of ICT in disaster response, and points towards what might happen in future.[…]

“It was clear following the Indian Ocean tsunami that the information revolution was in the process of changing the way in which we respond to disasters. This was demonstrated by the rise of web-based fund-raising; Christian Aid raised over $700,000 online in nine days, amounting to nearly four times as much as it raised through donations over the phone. The spread of broadband, improvements in satellite telecommunications and the availability of imagery has made possible GIS and cartographic projects that would not have been possible five years ago. The rise of the open source movement has led to initiatives such as the Sahana project, an attempt to develop a suite of web-enabled applications for disaster response organisations.

Currion goes on to talk about the “first responders of the wired world”, netizens who spring to action to fill in information gaps that the governments of the respective countries and even the traditional media often struggle to fill. However, given the high influx of information post-Katrina, it was soon apparent that multiple data streams would be more effective if they were collated, consolidated and served from a more centralized platform. Thus we saw initiatives such as the Katrina PeopleFinder Project and the Katrina Help Wiki come into play.

In this context, it would not be unfair to say that the South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami (SEA-EAT) blog, set up during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, was a trendsetter of sorts–the first project of its kind that demonstrated the power of engaging ordinary people effectively to channel information in order to bridge the gap between those who needed help and those who had help to offer. According to Dina Mehta, one of the key people behind the SEA-EAT blog,

“I think what we managed to do was demonstrate perhaps the largest ‘people's' coordinated effort on the web during disasters, that it was possible and that too without any formal organizational structure. There’s also something in the ability for these efforts to bring in ordinary citizens from all walks of life - people who aren’t necessarily dedicated or working in this space - most of us have different professions and regular jobs too - but just a human need to help.”

While the SEA-EAT blog focused on “keeping the information flowing”, the Sahana FOSS Disaster Management System in Sri Lanka functioned as a more structured, holistic system that helped manage the large scale of the disaster of 2004. The project was deployed by the Sri Lankan government's Center of National Operations (CNO) which included the Center of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA). Generalized later for global use, Sahana has now grown to become a globally recognized project with deployments in many other disasters such as the South Asian earthquake in Pakistan (2005), Southern Leyte Mudslide Disaster in Phillipines (2006), the Jogjarkata Earthquake in Indonesia (2006), the Peru Earthquake (2007), the Myanmar Cyclone (2008), etc.

In 2005, Michael Gurstein of the New Jersey Institute of Technology wrote his reflections on the web-based initiatives and what he perceived as the need gaps in these situations:

“Scanning the Net for information and for stories I was struck by a couple of things concerning the role (and lack of role) of the Net in these events. The Net appeared to be playing a very significant part in responding to the needs of those at a distance–the on-lookers for information, stories, ways of contributing and so on; families and friends of those possibly impacted with attempts at creating listings of the found and the lost and for those on the ground to manage the concerns and queries of those farther away; and one expects that behind the scenes much of the co-ordination and planning that is being done by aid organizations is being done in ways that are pushing the boundaries of Computer Mediated Communication and managing at a distance.

“But I guess I'm a bit surprised that the Net wasn't able (yet?) to bridge the information divides between those who had some idea about what might be coming (the scientists and those immediately impacted) and those who might have been able to make some use of that information in the places where the impact took appreciable time to be realized.

“The problem here was not, I think a “the Digital Divide” that is, it wasn’t because of a lack of “access” to information, although apparently that too was a problem overall; rather, it seemed to me to be another example of what I've referred to elsewhere as the gap between “access” and “effective use”…From what I can gather many if not most of the communities impacted had Internet “access” in one form or another. What they (and here I would include those with the knowledge who couldn't use it as well as those without knowledge) lacked rather, was the social infrastructure which could have turned Internet access into an “effectively usable” early warning system.

“Some had the information—the scientists who detected the earthquake and could understand how that could result in a Tsunami and those who felt the early impact either of the earthquake or the Tsunami—but couldn't use it. Others needed the information—the coastal villages around the Indian Ocean—but couldn't or weren’t able to “get it” at least in a timely and usable form. The “degrees of separation” imposed by nationality, language and perhaps most important, domains of knowledge and profession (and the related lack of social linkages, network based trust relationships, communication pathways and so on) impeded the communication between the two groups and one wonders whether this was simply a matter of it still being early days in our Internetted world or something more profound and permanent. (Michael Gurstein, The Journal of Community Informatics, (2005) Vol. 1, Issue 2, pp. 14-17)”

Observing the loss of lives in typhoon Ketsana that hit Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia in October 2009, Paul Conneally posted the following on his blog Head Down, Eyes Open:

“In many poverty stricken areas there is no access to TV or radio (or Internet for that matter) to help communicate warning messages. Aid agencies must work with communities to find out which methods of communication work for them at the time of an emergency and run simulation exercises to put this into practice. Often mobile phone text messages or even sending people out into the streets with megaphones, as was the case in these emergencies, prove to be most successful.

“[…]Early warning, early action in high disaster risk countries needs to be seen as a mindset, not a mechanism or technology, and works best when it spans timescales, anticipating disaster by days, hours, months, years and even decades. It must also be firmly linked to early action by decision-makers, and must cover ‘the last mile' -linking early warning mechanisms not just to the most ‘at risk' communities, but to the most vulnerable people within those communities.

“Strengthening community capacity to prevent and/or cope with the impact of disasters and crises is a concrete way to save lives and better protect livelihoods, and prevent such shocks from crippling development within the poorest countries. Early warning and early action is also more cost effective than traditional disaster response and saves more lives per pound spent: public money buys four times as much humanitarian ‘impact' if spent on preparation and risk reduction, rather than on relief items.”

In India, the 2004 tsunami was a clarion call for the government, NGOs and the civil society to effect a paradigm shift and realise that preparedness was the key to minimising the impact of natural disasters.

To enable better planning and preparedness, the India Disaster Resource Network [idrn.gov.in] was set up as a National initiative under the Govt. of India-UNDP DRM programme in collaboration with National Informatics Center, Government of India. The task of this Network was to create an online database for capturing the countrywide inventory of equipment and skilled human resources available for emergency response. The role of this ambitious, yet comprehensive database would be to help minimize emergency response time through effective decision-making on mobilization of human & material resources. The project was to ensure systematic data collection & collation from government line departments, public sector units, the corporate sector, etc at the district level. Other initiatives launched were:

• The Disaster Inventory Database (implemented in Orissa) that would allow vulnerability analysis through longitudinal study of geo-referenced inventories of local level data of past disasters (small, medium and large-scale).
• Community Contingency plans based on GIS technology that enable the visual presentation of critical data by location that can be used for coordination and implementation of relief efforts
• Development of communications infrastructure to ensure 100% coverage of disaster prone areas through satellite and ISDN linkages
• Community based ICT systems and
• Disaster/ incident surveillance system that will allow for quick, smooth, seamless data capturing and disseminating facilities.

Here is an example of implementation of this strategy/philosophy of preparedness by an NGO in Tamil Nadu following the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004:

In the next post in the series, we shall explore disaster warning systems and the various ICT-based tools and applications that have been, are being, and can be put to use as an early warning system to help reduce and or mitigate the severe damage to life and property in the wake of natural disasters across the globe.

For Vann's work, she was honored with the Frederick Douglass Award. The Frederick Douglass Award “honors the tremendous resilience of the human spirit and emphasizes that many of the survivors of modern-day slavery go on to help others to freedom.”

More of Vann's story is revealed in this video:

2009 Frederick Douglass Award Winner - Sina Vann from Free the Slaves on Vimeo.

Recently, the United Nations granted a one-year extension on its mandate addressing the humans rights situation in Cambodia. According to The Mirror, the U.N. Special Rapporteur, reporting to the Human Rights Council:

expressed concerns about the human rights situation in Cambodia. According to his report, the rule of law in Cambodia is weak…Also, he mentioned the case of a Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian – from the biggest opposition party in Cambodia – Ms. Mu Sochua, who had been sentenced by a court, controlled by the government of the Cambodian People’s Party, to lose her case unjustly, because she had dared to protest against the powerful in Cambodia.

Others urged the Special Rapporteur not to forget about the women and children who remain victims of sexual slavery in Cambodia, noting that it must remain a human rights priority even as other human rights violations, such as freedom of expression, surface.

In a Barcamp, there is no list of speakers, no VIP speakers. Everyone who attends a barcamp can talk.

Barcamp attendee thinking of a session.

All you have to do is post your topic on the schedule board and collect enough people who want to participate in your session.

Presenters, preparing for their session after pasting their topic on the board.

In South East Asia, like other parts of the world, Barcamps are becoming popular. People are attracted to an event where there is no hierarchy, and everyone is welcome to share knowledge.

Participants deciding what sessions to attend.

A Cambodian presenter running a packed session.

Sajal from Thailand talking about tweaking new sites for more visibility on Google.

Khmer language session

Record numbers of international attendees at Phnom Penh barcamp.

Cambodian bloggers and technology workers have been active in making friends with people in the region via the internet. The Cambodian youth is also comfortable with English and usually write in English, so they are able to reach out to more people outside the country.

Cambodia also has many non government agencies exploring the use of IT in development and healthcare. The Barcamps in Cambodia gives us an opportunity to look into their work.

Pagna, the master of ceremonies at Barcamp Phnom Penh, smiles at us between announcements.

An unique aspect of Cambodian tech events is the number of women participants. They are not just participating but also helping organize and present sessions.

Thomas, German podcaster and blogger, talking about MindMapping. The sessions were not just about technology. People spoke about volunteering, social media, education and games.

Thai-Japanese attendee 31o5 talks about a system where one can log their dreams and analyze them.

Vietnamese participant Hung talking about social networks in Vietnam

How is Cambodia able to attract so many people from neighboring countries? Other than the networking and outreach ability of the Cambodian youth, a notable factor is the growth of budget airlines that makes travel affordable. Cambodia also has plenty of affordable accommodation. In a Barcamp everyone pays for their travel and stay, so having economical options will encourage people to join in.

Some of the organizers taking a break. As you can see in this image, they are mostly young Cambodian tech enthusiasts. The youth in Cambodia are driving the IT revolution and they are very active in using Facebook, Twitter and blog tools.

Pagna (Cambodian) talking with SK (Thai) on why Cambodian youth are more comfortable with English compared to the Thai. In Thailand, they have had computing resources available in their languages for many years. Most Cambodians start their computing experience with English language tools and systems.

Thailand and Cambodia has had some friction relating to an issue over the ownership of a temple. It was nice to see the people from both the countries sitting together and discussing issues and learning from each other.

Thai attendees also talked about a regional IT camp, the Mekong ICT camp and sourced out ideas.

Tamas, Hungarian-Thai participant talking about grassroots IT evangelism.

Barcamp Phnom Penh is over but hope to see you next year.

See also: Tharum Bun's account of Barcamp Phnom Penh 2009

Last year's success inspired this small, growing technology community in Cambodia to discuss openly issues important to them. BarCamp Phnom Penh has now become an annual technology conference in this nation's largest capital city, inviting some participants from across the country and the region, many are tech enthusiasts from Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore.

In a blog post on CNNGo, technologist and traveler Preetam Rai, who visited this year's participatory workshop-event, wrote about Cambodian women in technology that:

It should be said that women are very prominent at Cambodian Barcamp events, and seeing such large numbers of women at tech meetings still surprises their male attendees. But the women aren't just showing up — they're running the show.

How BarCamp Phnom Penh ‘09 is run, organized and contributed is uniquely interesting. It does introduce Cambodians a new way, if not a breakthrough, in which learning, collaboration, sharing and networking can take place here in Cambodia.

Group photo of participants at the end of the weekend-long at Paññasastra University of Cambodia
Photograph taken by: Tharum Bun

A prolific Vietnamese blogger, Nguyen Anh Hung, who participated Cambodia's BarCamp last year, is traveling to the Cambodian capital with more of his fellow friends for this BarCamp Phnom Penh ‘09.

“It’s here again. We (the folks in Ho Chi Minh City) will be flocking to the capital of beautiful Cambodia once again to attend the largest technology unconference in the country to date. Last year it was a greatly successful event attended by some 300 people from around South East Asia.”

Not only this annual event plays a role to foster open communication in Cambodian society, but it helps build a strong foundation for Cambodia's future in the area of Information and Communication Technologies.

Going to conferences is about getting inspired. It’s about getting some new ideas swirl around in your head. During that event, we will see skilled speakers with a lot of experiences and confidence on stage giving a talk on a topic that they really want to share, wrote Samnang Chhun, a Phnom Penh-based Software Developer.

Like many other developing countries, debate on free/open source software as an alternative to propriety software will not end any time soon. Despite the two-day conference offered mixed results to every participant, online discussion has not finished yet.

Michael Smith Jr., from Yahoo Inc., wrote in an email:

[it] looks like a good turnout. I would hope that for any future ones Yahoo Inc. can get more involved to sponsor and maybe have a session.

A-two-minute video clip (taken by German new media consultant Thomas Wanhoff) of Cambodia's BarCamp can be viewed here.

BarCamp, an innovative “impromptu” gathering that began in 2005 in Palo Alto, California, helps “open source” enthusiasts share information about technology in an informal setting. The idea quickly spread from California to the rest of the world, arriving in Bangkok in 2007 and now in Phnom Penh.

“Ketsana” destroyed more than 300,000 homes, schools and other structures in Vietnam:

Since the ferocious storm struck the central coast on Tuesday, it has killed at least 92 people, left 19 missing, and injured 199, according to the latest statistics from the national flood and storm control committee.

Floodwaters from the torrential rain accompanying the ninth storm from the East Sea this year have submerged or destroyed nearly 337,000 homes, schools and other man-made structures.

It also forced the evacuation of more than 350,000 people:

The storm destroyed or damaged nearly 170,000 homes and flattened crops in six Vietnamese provinces, officials said, while more than 350,000 people were evacuated from the typhoon's path.

Residents describe “Ketsana” as “the most serious typhoon that’s hit here in four or five years.” They also fear that the “floods could reach the historic highs of 1964.”

Twitter reactions in Vietman about the storm:

jjlechau: Despite Typhoon Ketsana hitting central Vietnam, the southern part remains eerily calm. Just cloudy and a little windy.
quangdieu911: Storm devastating Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, do something good for they, please… South Vietnam is raining allnight, can't go anywhere in SG.
EmilyPham: The storm that brought heavy flooding to the Philippines, now ugraded to a typhoon, has battered Vietnam.
sereneyee: @mykelism Ketsana hasn't been to visit on this end yet. For now, it is state emergency at the central provinces of the country.

Flooding in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Photo from blog of Cambodia Calling

“Ketsana” also pummeled Cambodia which led to the flooding in many areas. Cambodia Calling notes that this is the first time that floods have been so bad in Siem Reap:

…it is the first time the floods have been so bad in Siem Reap.

The floods near the Siem Reap International School were bad and Thyda had to get off her motocycle and push it for 500m. Water got into the engine and it wouldn't start. She said the cars drove fast because drivers did not want to get stuck in the waters. When that happened, the ripples made it harder to push her motocycle.

Andy Brouwer mentions other flooded areas:

Overnight rain in Siem Reap has left the old market area under water including pub street and other areas including Wat Bo road and the roads in front of Hotel De La Paix, Amansara and La Residence Hotels. National Road 6 out towards the airport is also under water. In Angkor, the roads around Prasat Kravann and Banteay Kdei are flooded and the level of the water in the moat surrounding Angkor Wat is at its peak. At the moment Phnom Penh hasn't really been affected.

Church World Service lists the urgent supplies needed by Cambodians in evacuation centers:

Church World Service Cambodia reports that in one province, Kompong Thom, 223 villages–some 14,744 families–have been flooded out.

CWS Cambodia has conducted assessments and reports first priority needs in affected regions include food, shelter (plastic sheeting to protect family from the rain and heat), clean water, mosquito netting, and water and sanitation unit

(To view pictures of the damage caused by “Ketsana” in Vietnam and Cambodia, visit Vietnam Net Bridge and KI Media)

The southern part of Laos was damaged by “Ketsana.” There is widespread flooding in Xekong and Attapeu provinces. Authorities also reported that 50 hectares of agricultural land is flooded.

Accoridng to KPL Lao News Agency:

Road No.16 , bridges, villages, communication and electricity systems were cut and flooded immediately by the overflow of the Sekong River in Sekong Province since Wednesday’s morning.

At the same time, the water level of the Sedon River, under the influence of the storm, further swelled and submerged rice fields and some villages in two districts of Khongsedon and Vapy, Saravane province.

Thailand was not directly affected by “Ketsana” but the typhoon brought some rains in Bangkok. The Bangkok Bugle writes:

It's a wet and gloomy morning in Bangkok as the remnants of Typhoon Ketsana pass over the city.

There's been consistent, but not heavy, rain since around 8pm last night. The small canal in my soi (street) is high but not close to flooding, and my journey to the office this morning was uneventful. There was a noticeable wind in the city yesterday and this morning I'd estimate it is several degrees cooler than normal right now.

Ketsana is a Lao name, and referred to a tree that resembles agarwood.

To read more about the flood situation in the Philippines, Global Voices offers these articles: Flooding documented on citizen videos, Worst flooding in 40 years, 2.5 million people affected by flooding.

Flooded village in the Philippines. Photo courtesy of Migrante

The Power of Twitter

The role of social media in aiding flood rescue teams in the Philippines has been cited here in Global Voices. A specific case can further clarify the important role of microblogging sites like Twitter and Plurk in times of disaster.

A Twitter user asks for volunteers to deliver supplies to a relief center:

RT @tjmanotoc: 300 hard boiled eggs & 20 loaves of bread in Rockwell, Makati need help in delivery 2 Katipunan/Aurora drop-off point tonight

A few minutes later, the tweet received positive replies:

RT @tjmanotoc: Thanks for the RTs and offers. We have a volunteer na to deliver the eggs. :) once again, I love you Twitter

Several parts of Metro Manila are still flooded