Localised Decision Support Systems and Common Access Protocol key for Disaster Communication

http://www.ekgaon.com/dcs-idmc09/

Localised Decision Support Systems and Common Access Protocol key for Disaster Communication

07^th November, 09

New Delhi

“Decision Support Systems” and “Common Access Protocols” are key for institutionalising Disaster Communication recommended the experts participating in the “Early Warning and Disaster Management Communication” session in the Second India Disaster Management Congress, which concluded on 06^th November, 2009 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The congress inaugurated by the Mr N C Vij, Vice Chair Person of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on 4^th November, 2009 and had experts and speakers from across the world presenting technology innovation, experience and action research on disaster management.

The session was co-organised by ekgaon technologies, a New Delhi based IT service provider and National Institute of Disaster Management. The session was chaired by Director General, India Metrological Department (IMD), AVM Dr. Ajit Tyagi and co-chaired by Mr Rohit Magotra, Chief Operating Officer, ekgaon technologies. Dr Tyagi highlighted the role of IMD in provision of early warning communication and shared strategies of IMD for early warning of Tropical Cyclone to maximize relevance and effectiveness over India and mitigate loss. The session also brought into focus relevance and importance of mobile phones in disaster communication which included experiences in use of Cell broadcast and voice based SMS services. Experiences and innovations in rapidly deployable communication systems for disaster management and communication support for disasters were shared by speakers in the session. The case studies on role of social networks and there increased relevance for disaster management were discussed by participants, and emerged a important area of social communication action research.

Mr Rohit Magotra emphasised that decision support systems that are localised and based on localised hazard mapping are of prime importance for effective disaster communication and disaster response. There is broad gap between capacities of local communities to interpret early warning provided by scientific institutions which needs to be bridged through capacity building, development of comprehensible communication products and evolving Common Access Protocol (CAP) to ensure standardisation and clear understanding by user community. Mr. Magotra emphasised that technology interfaces across hardware and software should enable both asynchronous and synchronous data transmission to ensure cross-system relay both by push as well as pull mechanism in comprehensible forms and languages was critical requirement for disaster communication.

The role of technology, policy and institutions is to enable this facilitation for building "Alive" communication systems. Policy level changes required for increased sharing of information between South Asian countries was also brought into focus as disaster knows no boundaries and the region shares geo-demographic context which exposes its populations to similar hazard risks. The existing global/national/regional/state/village level communication policies, systems and guidelines and their role in early warning, disasters and building adaptive capacities are to be understood contextually to evolve effective institutional support for building effective disaster communication systems. Institutional cooperation framework is required for channelling information across reliable communication systems and cascades of interfaces for better response to disasters.

The session panellist recommended greater thrust towards policy dialogues in South Asia for evolving common understanding on disaster communication needs. The session recommendations included setting up dedicated TV and radio channels for disaster information, evolving common access protocols for better adaptation and effective disaster response.

The panelists for session included AVM Dr Ajit Tyagi, DG IMD, Prof Chandan Ghosh, NIDM; Dr G S Mondal, Specialist NDMA; Dr Pramod Sarpotdar, Director SATCOM and Mr Rohit Magotra, COO, ekgaon. The main recommendations of session were summarised by Dr Tyagi. Vote of Thanks was presented by Mr Biswanath Dash, Faculty NIDM.

The Congress, organized by NIDM, got underway on November 4 and was attended by over 1200 delegates from India and abroad. Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam presided over the valedictory session.

Media Contacts

Rohit Magotra | ekgaon technologies | M: +91 9868501826 | Email: info@ekgaon.com

Biswanath Dash | NIDM | Tel: +91 11 23702443 | Email: dashvishy@yahoo.com, idmc@nidm.net

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