Sri Lanka Ict Eews Goodsfwf
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Author: Kanchana Wickramasinghe Climate change is now increasing – and will further increase in future – both the frequency and intensity of natural disasters in Sri Lanka including cyclones, floods and landslides (MoE 2010). While a number of strategies are necessary to address growth in climaterelated natural disasters, an effective early warning system can play a crucial role in lessening the probable negative impacts. More generally, the need for such a system was highlighted following the huge devastation caused by the 2004 tsunami. After four years of research, development and piloting activities, the Disaster Early Warning Network (DEWN) was launched in Sri Lanka on 30th January 2009. It aims to provide timely, reliable and costeffective massscale disaster early warnings. DEWN represents a multipartite effort and a case for publicprivate partnerships in delivering ICTbased early warnings. CASE STUDY Category: ICTs, Climate Change and Disaster Management Climate Change, Innovation & ICTs Project Centre for Development Informatics (CDI), University of Manchester, UK With the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Initiative Overview Figure 1: Overview of the DEWN System Source: Wijesinghe et al (2008) DEWN's alerts are multimodal; that is, making use of multiple technologies to disseminate information to the last mile. As shown in Figure 1, the end devices are normal cellular phones and alarm devices which were specially developed for this initiative. DEWN can generate mass, personnel directed or locationbased alerts to the end devices using the two commonlyavailable mobile communication technologies: cell broadcast (CB) and short message service (SMS) 1 (Wijesinghe et al 2008). Application Description Role of ICTs in Early Warning of ClimateRelated Disasters: A Sri Lankan Case Study The DEWN server is located in Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Centre (DMC), the responsible agency on the island for all disaster management issues. The DMC receives early warning information from recognised technical agencies. Accordingly, information regarding floods, landslides, earthquakes and tsunamis is provided by the Irrigation Department, National Building Research Organisation, Geological Survey and Mines Bureau, and Meteorological Department, respectively. The DMC holds the responsibility for verifying the emergency situation and then issuing alerts. Emergency personnel are alerted first in the case of a potential disaster and public alerts are issued after the threat is further verified (DMC 2009). 1 CB is pointtomultipoint / broadcast technology by which messages are broadcast to all handsets which are ‘listening’ to the appropriate CB channel. CB can reach millions of handsets in a matter of seconds if they are listening. In contrast, SMS is point topoint, where messages are individually sent to a known number, one after another. CB remains entirely functional even in the case of network congestion where SMS services are impossible to use (O2M 2010).
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Transcript of Sri Lanka Ict Eews Goodsfwf
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Author: Kanchana Wickramasinghe
ClimatechangeisnowincreasingandwillfurtherincreaseinfutureboththefrequencyandintensityofnaturaldisastersinSriLankaincludingcyclones,floodsandlandslides(MoE2010).Whileanumberofstrategiesarenecessarytoaddressgrowthinclimaterelatednaturaldisasters,aneffectiveearlywarningsystemcanplayacrucialroleinlesseningtheprobablenegativeimpacts.Moregenerally,theneedforsuchasystemwashighlightedfollowingthehugedevastationcausedbythe2004tsunami.Afterfouryearsofresearch,developmentandpilotingactivities,theDisasterEarlyWarningNetwork(DEWN)waslaunchedinSriLankaon30thJanuary2009.Itaimstoprovidetimely,reliableandcosteffectivemassscaledisasterearlywarnings.DEWNrepresentsamultipartiteeffortandacaseforpublicprivatepartnershipsindeliveringICTbasedearlywarnings.
CASE STUDY Category: ICTs,ClimateChangeandDisasterManagement
Climate Change, Innovation & ICTs Project
Centre for Development Informatics (CDI), University of Manchester, UK With the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Initiative Overview
Figure1:OverviewoftheDEWNSystem
Source:Wijesingheetal(2008)
DEWN'salertsaremultimodalthatis,makinguseofmultipletechnologiestodisseminateinformationtothelastmile.AsshowninFigure1,theenddevicesarenormalcellularphonesandalarmdeviceswhichwerespeciallydevelopedforthisinitiative.DEWNcangeneratemass,personneldirectedorlocationbasedalertstotheenddevicesusingthetwocommonlyavailablemobilecommunicationtechnologies:cellbroadcast(CB)andshortmessageservice(SMS)1(Wijesingheetal2008).
Application Description
Role of ICTs in Early Warning of ClimateRelated Disasters: A Sri Lankan Case Study
TheDEWNserverislocatedinSriLanka'sDisasterManagementCentre(DMC),theresponsibleagencyontheislandforalldisastermanagementissues.TheDMCreceivesearlywarninginformationfromrecognisedtechnicalagencies.Accordingly,informationregardingfloods,landslides,earthquakesandtsunamisisprovidedbytheIrrigationDepartment,NationalBuildingResearchOrganisation,GeologicalSurveyandMinesBureau,andMeteorologicalDepartment,respectively.TheDMCholdstheresponsibilityforverifyingtheemergencysituationandthenissuingalerts.Emergencypersonnelarealertedfirstinthecaseofapotentialdisasterandpublicalertsareissuedafterthethreatisfurtherverified(DMC2009).
1CBispointtomultipoint/broadcasttechnologybywhichmessagesarebroadcasttoallhandsetswhicharelisteningtotheappropriateCBchannel.CBcanreachmillionsofhandsetsinamatterofsecondsiftheyarelistening.Incontrast,SMSispointtopoint,wheremessagesareindividuallysenttoaknownnumber,oneafteranother.CBremainsentirelyfunctionaleveninthecaseofnetworkcongestionwhereSMSservicesareimpossibletouse(O2M2010).
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CASE STUDY Category: ICTs,ClimateChangeandDisasterManagement
Figure2:AnAlarmDevicePlacedinaHospital
Inaddition,alertscanbesenttothespecialisedDEWNalarmdeviceswhicharedesignedtobekeptinthepublicplacessuchaspolicestations,religious/communitycentres,markets,hospitalsetc.(seeFigure2).ThealarmdevicecanbetriggeredeitherbySMSorCBandincludesanumberoffunctionalitieswhichareessentialinemergencycommunications.Theseincludeanaudiblealarm,visuallightalert,callbackfacilitytoahotlinenumber,backupbattery,remotelyandlocallytunableFMreceiver,andtheabilitytobeusedasaportableradioindaytodaylife.Itsdesignthusprovidesafunctionalitybefore,duringandafteradisastereveninsituationswheretherearepowerdisruptionsandtherequirementsforpopulationmovement(ibid).Thedevicehasbeensuccessfullytested,thoughfurtherstudyandimprovementsareongoingsothatthedeviceisnotyetoperationalatnationallevel.
DEWNwasspecificallyinitiatedinresponsetoabsenceofaneffective,lastmilewarningsystemforSriLanka,followingthetsunamidevastationin2004.However,itwasalsodesignedtoaddressclimaterelateddisasterscyclones,floods,landslidessinceitwasexpectedthatclimatechangewouldaggravatealloftheseintermsofintensityandfrequencyovercomingyears(Parryetal2007,Solomonetal2007).Inallcases,themostimportantmissinglinkindisastermanagementwasseentobethedifficultyofgettingearlywarninginformationouttokeyemergencypersonnelandtothegeneralpublic.Thiselementoftheinformationsystemisseenastheonemostabletominimisethenegativeimpactsofclimaterelated(andother)disasters.
SMSbasedalertsaresenttothecontacts,mainlyemergencypersonnel(currentlynumberingaround1,500people).SinceSMSisnotimmunetopossiblenetworkcongestionthatmayoccurduringdisasters,itisnotusedformassalerting.InsteadCB,whichisimmunetonetworkcongestion,isusedtosendmassalerts.ThecontentofthemessagefollowstheinternationallyacceptedCommonAlertingProtocol(CAP).Customisedmessagesaretrilingual(English,Sinhala,Tamil)andcanfollowanumberofformatsincludingalert,orderforevacuationand'nothreat'1.Theycanbesenttoindividualorgroupsortothegeneralpublicinidentifiedareas.
2 'Nothreat'messagesareusedtoinformpeoplethatthedangerfromthedisasterisover.
Formal Drivers
ThetraditionalwaysofdisseminatingdisasterearlywarningsinSriLankahavebeenthroughradioandtelevision,militaryforcesandearlywarningtowers.However,duringadisastersituation,thereareimportantlimitationsmassmediachannelsarenotalwaysswitchedon,andotherchannelshavelimitedreach.IndesigningDEWN,then,theintentionwasviathecombinationofcellphones(manyofwhichareconstantlyswitchedon)andalarmdevicestoenableearlywarninginformationtoreachthelastmilemoreeffectivelybutalsoatrelativelylowcost.
Objectives/Purpose for ICT Usage
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TheDEWNinitiativeisamultiagencycollaborationwhichincludesthegovernment'sDisasterManagementCentre,DialogTelekomLtd.(aprivatemobiletelecommunicationoperator),Microimage(Pvt)Ltd.(aprivatesoftwaredevelopmentcompany),andtheUniversityofMoratuwa(UOM).ThemobileoperatorinitiatedresearchanddevelopmentactivitiesincollaborationwiththeuniversityintheDialogUOMMobileCommunicationResearchLaboratory.Allfundingandsometechnicalassistanceforthiswasprovidedbythecompany.Mostsoftwaredevelopmentactivitieswereundertakenthesoftwaredevelopmentcompany.LikeDialogTelekom,Microimagegotinvolvedintheinitiativeonnoncommercialgrounds.Theultimatestakeholdersaretheemergencypersonnelandgeneralpublicwhowillbenefitfromthewarnings,thoughcellbroadcastalertmessagestoindividualphonesareonlyavailabletothosewhoareDialogTelekomsubscribers.
DEWNisexpectedtobeasuccessfulexampleofanearlywarningsystemsuitableforaddressingthegrowingthreatofclimatechangerelatednaturaldisasters.However,sincenosuchmajordisasterhasbefallenSriLankasinceDEWN'simplementation,nofullevaluationcanbegivenonlytheassessmentofpilotandtrialexerciseswhichhaveshownthevalueofmobiletelecommunicationsinthisareaofclimatechangeadaptation.
GiventheinnovativenessofDEWN,itreceivedanumberofpreimplementationawardsincludingaNationalBestQualitySoftwareAwardandNationalAwardforScienceandTechnologyinSriLankain2006,aVodafoneWorldAroundUsWorkshopAwardinCairoin2006,andCommendationattheGSMGlobalAwardsin2007.Thealarmdevicehasalsobeenpatented.
ThecostsoftheDEWNinitiativeareveryhardtoestimatesincetheyhavebeenundertakenasanintegralpartoftheactivitiesofallthestakeholders,withoutseparateandexplicitcosting.Oneofthefewcoststhatisknownisthatofthealarmdevices,withinitialversionscostingaroundUS$190eachtoproduce.Atthetimeofwriting,DEWNhadnotbeenusedinanactualdisasterincident.However,thebenefitscanbeexpectedtomuchhigherthanthecosts.Themainbenefitofanyearlywarningsystemisthesavingofhumanlife.Itishardtoprovidemonetaryestimatesforthisandsuchestimatesasexistvaryconsiderably.However,usingfiguresfromHongKongandadjustingfordifferencesinGDPpercapitagivesaveryroughestimateofUS$150,000perlifesavedinSriLanka(Siebert&Wei1998).Therewillalsobebenefitsintermsofanymovablegoodsandassetsthatmightbesavedfromdisasterduetotheearlywarning,withestimatesofa1:7ratiobetweenoverallcostsandbenefitsofinvestmentindisasterearlywarningsystemsandotherpreventivemeasures(DT2010).Therearealsosomemorequantitativebenefits,fromgreaterfeelingsofsecuritywithincommunitiesthatcanaccessthewarnings,toreputationalandotherbenefitsforthemobileoperator.
Impact: Cost and Benefits
Publicprivatepartnershiphasanimportantpartofthesuccessofthisproject.ThepublicsectormustbeinvolvedsincetheDMCistheresponsibleagencyforearlywarning,anditprovidesthesolelegitimatenodethatcandrawonotherpublicagenciesfortheearlywarninginformation.However,itlacksmanykeyresourcesmoney,knowledge,skills,andanationwidemobileinfrastructure.ItwasallofthesethattheprivatepartnersDialogTelekomespeciallycouldprovide.
CASE STUDY Category: ICTs,ClimateChangeandDisasterManagement
Stakeholders
Evaluation: Failure or Success
Enablers/Critical Success Factors
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CASE STUDY Category: ICTs,ClimateChangeandDisasterManagement
Thetechnologyhasbeenachallengeinthreeways.First,thecostofthealarmdeviceswasinitiallyquitehighforadevelopingcountrycontextlikeSriLankamorethanUS$400limitingitsdiffusion.Ongoingdevelopmentworkhasreducedthiscostbymorethanhalf,butthemoneyforthisascomparedtousingtheexistingmobilenetworkhastobefoundfromsomewhere.Inaddition,therehavebeenproblemswithsomephonesinuseintheSriLankanmarket,whichdonotadheretointernationalstandards.Asaresult,ithasbeenverydifficulttogetCBmessagesdeliveredtothesephones.Technologyhasalsoprovenachallengetonetworkinterconnection.Atpresent,onlyDialogsubscribersreceivethealertmessages.Discussionshavebeenheldwithothermobileoperatorstoenablecrossnetworkconnectivitybutthiswillonlybepossiblewiththenecessarytechnologyandinfrastructure(andpoliticalwill)toenablethisinterconnection.
NotyetaprovenissueinSriLanka,buttherearereportsthatmassalertsincertainothercontextshavegeneratedpanicandchaosamongtherecipientsattimesofdisaster(Jayasingheetal2006).
Thefollowinglessonswerelearnedfromthiscasestudy:
1)Publicprivate partnerships can play a valuable role in ICTenabled climaterelateddisastermanagement. ThesituationwithDEWNisnotuntypicalwhereearlywarningsystemsareneededduetoclimatechangeandothercauses:thepublicsectorhaslegitimacy,institutionalcapitalandreachtheprivatesectorhastechnology,innovativecapacityandotherresources.Eachprovides what the other lacks and if collaboration is well thoughtthrough each can bemotivatedtosuccessfullyworktogether.
Buildingonexistingtechnologieshasbeencentraltotheproject.Ratherthantrytosetupanew,separateinformationsystemtodealwithclimatechange/disasters,DEWNwasbuiltontheexistingmobilenetworkinSriLanka.Thishasbroughtmanyadvantages.Ithasreducedcosts.IthasensuredlongtermviabilitysincethemobilenetworkanditsphonesexistirrespectiveoftheDEWNproject.Ithasensuredstrongpenetrationofthewarningsgiventhatmobilesubscriptionrateshavebeengrowingbynearly50%peryearduringthefirstdecadeofthe21stcentury,with82subscriptionsper100citizensby2011accordingtodatafromtheSriLankanTelecommunicationsRegulatoryCommission.(MorespecificallyDialogisthemarketleaderwitha39%shareamountingtomorethan7millioncustomers,andcoverageof75%oftheisland'slandareaand95%ofitspopulation.)ThehighpenetrationrateandhighmarketshareforDialogandthefactthatmanypeoplehavetheirmobilesonatanygiventimedayornight(unlikeradioandTV)meanthatvirtuallyallcommunitiesarelikelytoreceiveatleastonewarning,andmostwillreceivemany.
Integratingclimatechangeintobroaderapplicationshelps.Thiswasnotasystemdesignedspecificallyforclimatechange.Instead,itintegratesthedangersofclimatechangeitsexacerbationofnaturaldisastersintoamoregenericinformationsystem.Indeed,DEWNisbroaderalsothanjustanearlywarningsystemsinceitcanalsobeusedtocontradicterroneousmessagesaboutdisasters,andtodisseminateinformationonpostdisasteroperations.
Specificdisasterrelevantdesigncomponentshavebeenincluded.SounlikesomeotherearlywarningsystemsDEWNincludesanaudiblealarmwarning.Bybeingtrilingual,italsominimiseslanguagebarriersthatwouldoccurif,forexample,warningswereonlysentoutinEnglishorinSinhala.
Constraints/Challenges
Recommendations/Lessons Learned
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CASE STUDY Category: ICTs,ClimateChangeandDisasterManagement
2)Mobiletechnologycanbeusednowwithlimitedadditionalinvestment.Although,asseen,technologyremainsachallengeforearlywarningsystems,thosechallengeswouldbefargreaterifprojectsrequiredinvestmentsinnewinfrastructuresandrequireduserstomakeuseofnew,unfamiliartechnologies.Mobilenowprovideaready,increasinglyubiquitous,increasinglyfamiliartechnologyindevelopingcountriesaroundwhichtobasenotjustearlywarningsystemsbutotherICTsandclimatechangeapplications.
3)Multioperatorcollaborationisnecessaryforfullercoverage.Already,DEWNlikelyreachesintovirtuallyeverycommunityinSriLanka.However,toensurethefullestpossiblecoverageandtoavoidconcernsabouteconomicorothergainsbeingsoughtbyoneoperator,itwouldbesensibleformobilebased,climatechangerelatedICTapplicationstobebasedaroundamultioperatorcollaborationsomethingonwhichgovernmentpartnerscouldinsist.
4)Technologymustbecomplementedbyotheractions.Justrollingouttechnologyisnotsufficientforearlywarningsystems.Instead,theremustbeawarenessraising(viamassmediaand/orviaphone)amongthegeneralpublictheremustbespecifictrainingforthoseusingspecialistdeviceslikethealarmandallthismustbepartofmuchwidertrainingofemergencypersonnelforbothearlywarninganddisasterinterventionresponse.
5)Buildclimatechangeintoexistingdisasterapplications,don'tbuiltstandaloneapplications.DEWNdoesnotgiveanyseparateconsiderationtoclimatechangeitfocusesoneffectsandisthus"causeblind".Itthusaddressestheeffectsthatclimatechangemayexacerbatebutwithinageneralpurposeapplication.Considerationofclimatechangethuscomesatinitialplanningstagesforearlywarningapplications,toensurethatthetypeofdisastersclimatechangemayexacerbateareincorporatedintotheoverallsystemdesign.
ThecasestudyisbasedonpublishedmaterialspluskeyinformantinterviewswiththeDMC,mobiletelecommunicationoperator(Dialog),softwaredevelopmentcompany(Microimage)andthemobiletelecommunicationresearchlaboratory,whoarethestakeholdersofDEWNwhich,inturn,isseenasanintegralcomponentoftheclimatechangeresponseprocessinSriLanka.
Author:KanchanaWickramasingheInstituteofPolicyStudiesofSriLanka100/20,IndependenceAvenue,Colombo07SriLanka
Forfurtherinformation:Email:[email protected]
Data Sources & Further Information
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EDITORS:
RichardHeeksAngelicaValeriaOspina
PhotoCredits:DT(2009)
2011
TheClimateChange,InnovationandICTsProjectisaninitiativeledbytheCentreforDevelopmentInformatics(CDI)ofthe
UniversityofManchester,UK,withfundingsupportfromCanadasInternationalDevelopmentResearchCentre(IDRC).
Furtherinformationabouttheprojectandrelatedresourcescanbefoundat:http://www.niccd.org
DMC(2009)Newsletter,SecondQuarter,DisasterManagementCentre,Colombo.
DT(2009)InnovationforInclusion,DialogTelekom,Colombohttp://202.69.200.131/en/responsibility/dewn/dewn.html
DT(2010)DisasterandEmergencyWarningNetwork,DialogTelekom,Colombohttp://www.dialog.lk/about/responsibility/outreachcr/dewn/
Jayasinghe,G.,F.Fahmy,N.GajaweeraandD.Dias(2006)AGSMAlarmDeviceforDisasterEarlyWarning,paperpresentedattheFirstInternationalConferenceonIndustrialandInformationSystems,811Aug,Peradeniya,SriLanka
MoE(2010)NationalClimateChangeAdaptationStrategyforSriLanka:2011to2016,MinistryofEnvironment,Colombo
O2M(2010)CellBroadcastSystem,one2many,Deventer,Netherlandswww.one2many.eu/content/bestanden/faqcbspwso2mv1.2.pdf
Parry,M.L.,O.F.Canziani,J.P.Palutikof,P.J.vanderLindenandC.E.Hanson(eds)(2007)ContributionofWorkingGroupIItotheFourthAssessmentReportoftheIntergovernmentalPanelonClimateChange,CambridgeUniversityPress,Cambridge,UK
Siebert,W.S.andX.Wei(1998)Wagecompensationforjobrisks,AsianEconomicJournal,12(2),171181
Solomon,S.,D.Qin,M.Manning,Z.Chen,M.Marquis,K.B.Averyt,M.TignorandH.L.Miller(eds.)(2007)ContributionofWorkingGroupItotheFourthAssessmentReportoftheIntergovernmentalPanelonClimateChange,CambridgeUniversityPress,Cambridge,UK
Wijesinghe,L.,P.Siriwardena,S.Shanmugarajah,S.Wijeratne,R.Wijesinghe,M.deSoyza,H.PurasingheandD.Dias(2008)DEWNII:ATrilingualDisasterAndEmergencyWarningNetwork,paperpresentedattheInternationalInformationTechnologyConference,2829Oct,Colombo
References
CASE STUDY Category: ICTs,ClimateChangeandDisasterManagement
