Speakers from the governmental offices in the Philippines talked about how the use of ICT solutions are helping them to collect the data for immediate disaster relief and long-term disaster recovery process. Most of the applications are tailored for custom use-cases and cover very limited scope. I sensed that the offices are more attracted towards the mobile application that can be used to collect data in the field and sync back to the central repository in the office. I also felt that there is a lack of central system or platform that helps to bring all the government offices (from central to local level) under a common hood, exchange and share data.

This is where Sahana can fit in and provide a central hub for all the government offices (relief and recovery department, shelter department, disaster operation center, warning and alerting bodies, etc.) An example of this complex use-case is our very own Resource Management System which is used by multiple national societies and branches of IFRC.And since the evolve of the Sahana Mobile, it is possible to customize the form in a very easy way, download the form and collect data offline.

These were the discussions at the Information and Communication Technology Disaster Response Conference (ICT DRC), held in the city of Cebu, the Philippines from September 20 to 21, 2017. The two-day conference/workshop aim was to raise awareness in reducing the effects of disasters. Presenters showcased different Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions to serve as instruments in improving communication and response in the community. This was the  first edition of the ICT DRC with the theme: “Technology Saves Lives.”

The conference had a presence of national and international speakers. They were from various governmental as well as non-governmental organizations. More details about the conference are available on their website. I represented the Sahana Software Foundation. My presentation elaborated on the various applications and roles of Sahana solutions that were used in different stages of the Disaster Management Lifecycle.

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Specifically, the presentation was on seven different platforms from disaster resilience to disaster recovery, namely:

  1. Disaster Risk Reduction Portal,
  2. Community Resilience Mapping,
  3. Sahana Alerting and Messaging Broker (SAMBRO),
  4. Washington Common Operating Picture Incident Management System,
  5. International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC): Resource Management System (RMS),
  6. DRK Refugee Management System and
  7. People Locator Project.

 

I emphasized on the detailed case study of the SAMBRO implementation in Maldives, Myanmar, and the Philippines, one that I was directly involved in. I discussed the implementation strategy, methodology, and outcomes.

View the slides