Mobile Learning for Disaster Relief

A presentation By Commodore (Retd) S Shekhar, I.N. Regional Director, National Maritime Foundation

and Joint Director, Centre for Defence Technology

Studies, Hindustan University Chennai, India

Introduction This presentation from India is in 3 parts and describes a proposal in which multichannel learning systems could be used effectively for designing and delivering a structured academic programme for disaster management, of which disaster relief would be one critical element. The institutions involved are: • Centre for Defence Technology Studies, Hindustan

University • Constituent College, University of Madras • National Maritime Foundation • Government of Tamilnadu

Structure of Presentation Part 1 Disaster Management overview Part 2 Data collection and dissemination aspects Part 3 Disaster Relief Response Exercise

Part 1

Disaster Management – an

overview

Disaster Management Proactive Strategy

Prevention

Mitigation

Preparedness

Response

Rehabilitation

Reconstruction

C A P A C I T Y

R E C O V E R Y

Fundamental to Prompt and effective response

Holistic and Continuous process

Disaster Management in India • A National Disaster Management Authority has been

established in 2005, directly reporting to the Prime Minister of the country, and thus has a well established system in place for Disaster Management

• However, there is considerable scope for enhancing the effectiveness of the system

• This is particularly true from the perspectives of: a. Creating a cadre of Disaster Management professionals

throughout the country through a structured academic cum training programme

b. Creating a data base of disaster relief essentials and disseminating such data through a web enabled programme

Disaster management – different approaches

• Though, all kinds of disaster require more or less similar skill-sets and rescue-efforts at least a few days after the event, it is important to understand various kinds of disasters.

• Depending upon the actual nature of disaster, the immediate reaction needs to be different.

Need to understand types of disasters

• The first few moments of disasters are distinctly different for each kind of disasters.

• Understanding of each kind of disaster enables trained persons to undertake some key actions, during the initial few moments.

• This could have a major impact on the final outcome in terms of amount of loss.

search & rescue

Disaster Management Components

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

MITIGATION RESPONSE

Risk analysis Prevention Preparedness

hazard assessment

structural measures

warning and evacuation

vulnerability assessment

non-structural measures

Planning of disaster response

rehabilitation

risk assessment

reconstruction

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

MITIGATION RESPONSE

Risk analysis Prevention Preparedness

hazard assessment

structural measures

warning and evacuation

vulnerability assessment

non-structural measures

Planning of disaster response

rehabilitation

risk assessment

reconstruction

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

MITIGATION RESPONSE

Risk analysis Prevention Preparedness

hazard assessment

structural measures

warning and evacuation

humanitarian assistance

vulnerability assessment

non-structural measures

Planning of disaster response

rehabilitation

risk assessment

reconstruction

Information Technology!

Resources needed for Disaster management

MANAGEMENT

MATERIAL

MEDICAL

MORALE

MANPOWER

Management

STRATEGY

POLICY

ORGANISATION COMMAND

AND CONTROL

ON SITE

IMPLEMENTATION

INTER AGENCY

COORDINATION

Material

SENSORS

CONTAINMENT EQUIPMENT

COMMUNICA

TION DEVICES

TRANSPOR

TATION

PROTECTION

SUSTENANCE

Manpower – the need to ACT

ADEQUACY

COMPETENCE

TRAINING

KNOWLEDGE

ATTITUDE

SKILL

HABIT

HARD

SOFT

REGULAR

NUMBERS

Morale

Disaster management team

Survivors

Next of kin

Public

Information dissemination

Media management

Medical aspects • Doctors • Para medicals • Medical equipment • Drugs • Ambulances • On site requirements • Off site requirements

Higher level needs • Conflict resolution skills • Decision making skills • Team work • Leadership

Communication concerns Need to “speak the same language”: • Within the Disaster Management Team • Up and down the authority chain • With outside agencies • With survivors and next of kin • With general public

Command and control imperatives

Need for established, promulgated , well understood and practiced chain of accountability and responsibility for:

• Analysis of inputs • Appreciation of on site situation • Conflict management • Decision making • Providing resources • Debrief and lessons learnt

Part 2

Data collection and

dissemination aspects

Disaster Management – role of Technology

• Considerable emphasis is now being placed on research and development activities in the area of information technology for disaster preparedness and prevention.

• While this would perhaps have no effect on the multitude and frequency of disasters in the country, it would certainly enhance the state of preparedness of all concerned to effectively deal with the aftermath of such disasters.

• Some of the areas which have opened up, particularly due to advances of Information Technology are, developing a suitable warning system, disaster preparedness and management of disasters through application of information technology tools.

• And of all these, the most important is the means of dissemination of information amongst the warning and prediction agencies, disaster management organizations, sources of relief and rehabilitation and of course the general public.

Geographical Information Systems

• GIS provides a tool for effective and efficient storage and manipulation of remotely sensed data and other spatial and non-spatial data types for both scientific management and policy oriented information.

• This can be used to facilitate measurement, mapping, monitoring and modelling of variety of data types related to natural phenomenon.

• The specific GIS application in the field of Risk Assessment is: Hazard Mapping to show earthquake, landslides, floods or fire hazards.

• These maps could be created for cities, districts or even for the entire country and tropical cyclone.

• Threat Maps are used by meteorological departments to improve the quality of the tropical storm warning services and quickly communicate the risk to the people likely to get affected by the cyclone.

Remote Sensing • Remote sensing makes observation of any object from a distance

and without coming into actual contact. Remote sensing can gather data much faster than ground based observation, can cover large area at one time to give a synoptic view.

• Remote sensing comprises Aerial Remote Sensing which is the process of recording information, such as photographs and images from sensor on aircrafts and Satellite Remote Sensing which consists of several satellite remote sensing system which can be used to integrate natural hazard assessments into development planning studies.

• These are: Landsat, SPOT Satellite, Satellite Radar System, Advanced Very High Resolution Radio.

Tapping the potential of the Internet

• What is the need of the hour is the availability of a dynamic, rapid, automatic, and global dissemination of not only disaster information ,but of the availability of resources for its management.

• This could be achieved by the launching of a well-defined web site, which could function as a very cost-effective means of making an intra-national and international presence felt.

UDHAVI – The Indian experience

• “UDHAVI” is a Tamil word which means ‘Help’

• It is also an acronym for ‘Universal Database for Humanitarian Aid and Voluntary Institutions’

• The concept for UDHAVI arose after the Tsunami of December 2004 which struck the coast of Tamil Nadu, one of the states of Southern India

UDHAVI – the rationale • The knee jerk response at the community level in

Chennai (formerly Madras) to the devastating Tsunami of December 2004 which ravaged the shore line of Tamil nadu was a series of fund raising activities.

• However there was complete ignorance amongst the lay public as well as voluntary institutions and a total disconnect between them and the state administration on the immediate relief and rehabilitation efforts

• This led to the conviction that the logical and vital next step, would be to begin compiling a Data Bank of information which will be necessary to react immediately in the event of any kind of natural or man made calamity.

UDHAVI – the scope • It is intended to start with Chennai as the bench mark

and then extend the Data bank to other locations in Tamil Nadu in the first instance, whole of South India and then India progressively:

a) Hospitals, first aid centres, facilities available in them, contact numbers b) Blood banks c) Fire stations d) Ambulance services e) Areas amenable for relief camps, such as schools, places of worship, marriage halls, community centres

UDHAVI – the scope (contd) f) Wholesale suppliers of medicines, drinking water, commodities, utensils, household articles g) Social service organisations h) Transportation facilities f) Public services like electricity, water supply, telephones g) Governmental organisations such as police control rooms, corporation offices

UDHAVI – the action plan The steps which need to be taken are: • List out the categories of aid which would

be needed • Identify the sources for such aid • Collect field data pertaining to such

sources • Constitute a framework for periodic

updating of such data

UDHAVI – the action plan (contd)

• Conceptualise a Data bank into which the data could be fed

• Develop a software to make the data web enabled

• Establish a system by which the data could be accessed through mobile devices

• Conduct training programmes on disaster relief and mitigation including mock drills using the collected data

Beyond UDHAVI • UDHAVI is merely the first step towards

enhancing the capability for disaster relief in India

• What we need is a ‘cadre’ of Disaster management professionals

• This ‘cadre’ needs to be multi disciplinary, multi level and multi locational

• This can be achieved only through an appropriate academic/vocational programme

Existing framework in India • Centre for Defence Technology Studies

(CDTS) is an autonomous institution of Hindustan University, Chennai

• Hindustan University is part of a group of academic institutions, which includes a vocational training institute

• Hindustan and Cranfield Universities are academic collaborators

• Cranfield University has a well established programme in Resilience management

Existing framework in India (contd)

• The Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government of India has established a National Programme for Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) encompassing 7 IITs and the IISc

• CDTS is able to tap into the resources of NPTEL

• See album

Existing framework in India (contd)

• CDTS is also collaborating with the Government of Tamilnadu, one of the maritime states of India for creation of a cadre of Disaster Management professionals

• The Government of Tamilnadu has recently been awarded a World Bank project in the Disaster Relief domain

• The scope of the project includes the conduct of studies and seminars

Existing framework in India (contd)

• CDTS is also associated with the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) of India (www.maritimeindia.org)

• NMF is conducting the third International Search And Rescue Conference (ISAR 2013) at Chennai in October 2013 in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority

• One of the plenaries at this conference will deal with technologies for Disaster relief

Existing framework in India (contd)

• And finally, CDTS, NMF and Government of Tamilnadu have tasked the Constitutent College of the University of Madras to conceive and conduct a Disaster Relief Response Exercise at Nemmeli, one of the villages which was worst affected by the Tsunami of December 2004

• Details of this will be given in Part 3 of this presentation

The Way Ahead • It is with this background that we need to

discuss and deliberate on how we could harness the potential of Multi Channel Learning Systems into the national Disaster Management effort in India

• If successful, this model could be developed into an international template

• Suggestions are welcome

Part 3

Disaster Relief Response Drill

at Nemmeli Village

Nemmeli – a background • Ten coastal villages come under the Nemmeli Panchayat

located on the East Coast Road, which is about 10 km from the World heritage site called Mamallapuram on the Tamil Nadu coast in Southeast India.

• Nemmeli is an important coastal “hot spot” on the north-eastern part of Kancheepuram District, which has a cluster of about 15 coastal villages with majority of fishing community.

Nemmeli – a background (contd)

• More than 15,000 population in this coastal region are more prone to disasters like tsunami and cyclone.

• During 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami majority of the coastal villages in this region was severely affected and subsequently by tropical cyclone and coastal flooding in variably every year since 2005.

Application of MLS to DRR at Nemmeli

As a first step towards this initiative the following sequence of activities are planned for implementation including obtaining funding / technology support from appropriate agencies in the near future: 1. Formation of a project team consisting of faculty and students with computer applications background, 2. A baseline spatial database by collecting information of infrastructure facilities especially the emergency and rescue facilities, which will be overlaid on the Google map of the study area, 3. Customizing the spatial database through user interaction workshop, and 4. Demonstration drills and evaluation of the effectiveness of MLS in the field

Application of MLS to DRR at Nemmeli (contd)

• An Indo-Australian bilateral workshop on “Spatially enabled nations: meta integrative framework towards effective implementation of disaster management practices in India and Australia” was recently conducted by the Constituent College jointly with the University of Melbourne and Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

• The workshop has highlighted the importance of mobile technologies and IT tools as best practices.

• Using citizens’ alliance as a foundation the Constituent College is aiming to transfer the concept of MLS into the study area as a new model study in the country.

Disaster Relief Response – A Mock Drill at Nemmeli

• Mock drills are essential to prepare local communities to best respond during an emergency and are key instruments for testing the workability of any emergency response plan.

• A well announced and an organized mock drill is being planned to conduct at few fishermen hamlets in and around Nemmeli Panchayat Union located on the East Coast Road of Kanchipuram District during September 2013 just before the onset of northeast monsoon in Tamil Nadu.

• This bottom-up approach will be conducted jointly by CDTS, NMF, and the students of UCC Nemmeli, with the support of local community to be mobilized by the NPU in coordination with other stakeholders especially the important emergency services like hospitals etc.

DRR – the five step planning process

1. Experts field visit to conduct an reconnaissance survey to assess the vulnerability, 2. Preliminary meeting with the community, local government and other field based NGOs, 3. Preparatory meeting with task force members / stakeholders with a clear understanding on their roles, 4. Prior intimation to the District Administration and important emergency services and 5. Count down and execute

The planned site of the DRR

DRR - Important Deliverables • Apart from enhancing the awareness level of

local community on DRR this field based exercise is expected to identify the constraints in effective delivery of emergency services including a clear understanding on the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders during a disaster situation.

• Independent observers especially media shall be engaged to identify the gaps in order to provide ample scope for identifying areas of improvement.

DRR and beyond The purpose of this presentation is to highlight the connectivity amongst the following: • A national need e.g Disaster relief • The necessity of creating a cadre of

professionals to meet this national need • The role of technologies such as MLS to achieve

this purpose • The importance of collaboration of various

agencies in this programme