GK3 Session Making Communities Disaster Resilient: Key Messages

1
GK3 Session Making Communities Disaster
Resilient Key Messages

• How can communities organize themselves and
  integrate ICTs to become disaster resilient?
• Natasha Udu-gama
• 11 December 2007

2
Decision and Message Relay in Community-based
System
Sarvodaya Community Disaster Management Center
(SCDMC)
Communications Providers
Sarvodaya Communities
3
Hazard Information Hub Standard Procedures
The HIH will not issue messages that provide
specific instructions to local first responders,
except those that might be relayed directly from
the government.
HIH-Monitors at HIH creating and issuing Alerts
4
Performance of the Hazard Information Hub

• Benchmark
• 95 Reliability and Effectiveness

• Current Performance
• Reliability 78
• Effectiveness 83

• Recommendations
• Need to setup better system to force HIH Monitor
  to acknowledge receipt of alert
• Develop a single input multiple output software
  application to speedup relaying of alert via
  multiple ICTs to the communities i.e. P2P
  Multilanguage CAP Broker

5
Community Organization ICTs
6

• Current Performance
• Reliability 64
• Effectiveness 10

• Given the complexities in communities 65
  reliability is tolerable but bench mark should be
  85
• Effectiveness can be improved if and only if
  entire community participates in training and
  simulations effectiveness is low because very
  few participated
• Effectiveness can be improved if community is
  prepared for all-hazards communities prepared
  for only tsunami evacuations

7
Visions, Innovations and Trends

• Vision in Sri Lanka Active, empowered
  disaster-resilient communities
• Vision for South Asia A consistent, streamlined
  regional system for communities to receive and
  process hazard information
• Innovation Community resiliency can be achieved
  through a combination of training and technology
• Trends
• Resiliency puts the onus on community
• Bottom-up approach
• How can a community-based system strengthen
  national systems?

8
Lessons Learned

• Interactive training is essential
• Community organization is advisable especially
  with more advanced ICTs
• Participation is integral to a community-based
  hazard warning system
• With these communities will become disaster
  prepared

9
Priorities/Potential for Action

• Determine a viable, continuous funding
  sourceinternal revenue gt sustainability
• Build upon community capacity created through
  this pilot continuity gt sustainability
• Strengthen Hazard Information Hubreliable
  information source gt sustainability
• Sustainability Resiliency!

10
Questions for Further Investigation

• Are there other factors essential to achieving
  community disaster resiliency?
• How can ICTs best promote community disaster
  resiliency?
• What specific ways can sustainability be
  achieved?
• How can a community-based hazard information
  system be regionalized?