2 Formation of a Network for Sharing Information on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

2-1 Formation of a Human Network

1) Formation of a Network with Counterparts (ADRC member countries and others)

We started by identifying contact persons and supervisors in member countries, advisory countries and an observer body and getting to know them personally through investigations of each member country and on other occasions.

At the International Expert Meeting in February, 1999, 30 attendants from 22 countries gathered to compare notes. (Table 2-1-1, 2-1-2 and 2-1-3)

Table 2-1-1 Member Countries

Classification: (1) Supervisor (2) Contact person

Table 2-1-2 Advisory Countries

Table 2-1-3 Observer

Classification: (1) Supervisor (2) Contact person

2) Formation of a Network with Disaster Management Officers in Countries other than Counterparts

We proceeded with the formation of the network through exchange of information with the following: embassies in Tokyo, consulates general in Osaka, Japanese embassies in overseas countries, disaster-reduction research institutes, universities, NGOs and other private organizations, in the case of ADRC member countries; U.N.-affiliated organs (UNCRD, WHO, UNDP, IDNDR Secretariat), disaster-reduction research institutes, universities, NGOs and other private organizations and overseas press, in the case of non-member countries and concerned organs; and ministries and agencies, prefectural and municipal governments, disaster-reduction research institutes, universities, the mass media, NGOs and other private organizations in Japan.

2-2 Formation of a Network for Sharing Information on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

2-2-1 Formation of a Network

The ADRC aims to develop a system for sharing information on natural disasters and disaster reduction by taking full advantage of networking technology. The system, it is hoped, will ultimately hold all the related information by putting it onto database accessible anytime, anywhere, for reasons of information preservation and greater availability.

2-2-2 Guideline for the Sharing of Information on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

To realize the sharing of information on natural disasters and disaster reduction, we have designated the following two functions as a guideline for the information dissemination system of the Center.

* A Portal to Information on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

We will be able to unify information indexes physically located at different places by not only providing the information on natural disasters and disaster reduction the Center gathers but also establishing itself as a gateway to such information through aggressive efforts to import information from other institutes.

* Communications among the people relating Disaster Management

We will facilitate the exchange and sharing of information so as to reduce damage from natural disasters and put information accumulated in the system to more advanced use, by setting up and managing a community of users of the Center's information sharing system.

Only when the above two functions are incorporated will the ADRC's information sharing system become more than a mere list of disaster-related information and begin contributing to the reduction of damage caused by natural disasters.

2-2-3 Designing the System for Sharing Information on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

1) Introducing Database system

The Center accumulates a variety of disaster-related information, including disaster cases, disaster-related laws, organizational setups, plans, manuals, human resources, educational materials and training. Country information, classification of information, duration of disasters, classification of disasters are linked to each piece of information before they are put onto the database. This makes it possible to provide users with information on specific countries and classifications (judicial system, organizations, cases, training dates, human resources) and reduce the burden of maintaining the system.

2) System Configuration

Shown in Fig. 2-2-4-1 is the system configuration of the ADRC. A desktop PC, which servers as a web server and name server, is the key of the system. The database server stores information in database form and provides information in the appropriate form upon request from outside. The mail server controls e-mail. The GIS server provides geographical information on natural disasters and disaster reduction. The printer scanner server controls peripheral devices such as the printer, scanner, MO and CD-RW.

The Center's computer is connected to the Internet via a Fire Wall, assuring the system of a high degree of security against unauthorized access.

2-3 Consideration of How Advanced Technology Can be Utilized to Gather Information on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

2-3-1 Background and Policy

The Asian Disaster Reduction Center began by identifying current technical challenges to be tackled in setting up a Disaster Information Clearing House and an Internet GIS (Geographical Information System), which employ technologies designed to meet future requirements for high-speed, high-capacity computers and networks with a wider bandwidth.

2-3-2 Disaster Information Clearing House

The disaster information clearing house provides information on the location of information resources upon request from users to encourage the effective use of these resources which are found at many different locations. The system greatly facilitates searching for the types of information users need.

Replies to users take diverse forms: some are as simple as information on the location of database, whereas others contain a combination of more advanced information such as the location of primary data needed for data analysis by users, or the location of web sites describing analysis methods or case studies of analysis. In addition, we will introduce other types of information for which the system will carry out elementary computing, such as information on the location of a satellite necessary for obtaining the latest remote sensing data of a specific region.

In this project, we will carry out an actual proof test of a prototype system to identify challenges for practical use and necessary specifications. In fiscal 1998, we designed the system's functions and platform, based on which equipment was introduced and the basic part of the system was developed.

2-3-3 Internet GIS

The Internet GIS has the following two functions:

1. To control from a remote machine a geographic information system running on the server via the Internet and receive the result at the remote location

This will facilitate the formulation of disaster reduction plans and emergency measures when a disaster occurs by categorizing various data on disaster-reduction and fundamental geographic information (political maps, topography, waters and population) and making it possible to perform analysis using the data from a remote location.

2. To develop a new index by adding geographic information to information on natural disasters and disaster reduction provided on the Internet

This aims at achieving a more advanced user interface through the creation of a new information sorting measure by adding a 2-dimensional index of geographical information to the existing indexes, most of which are currently based on alphanumeric characters.

This project aims at developing the Internet GIS, on which disaster-management-related geographic information concerning actual disasters is provided in real time to help gain an understanding of associated problems, and developing and evaluating a user interface which uses geographic information as an index. In fiscal 1998, we designed the system, introduced equipment and constructed the system.

2-3-4 Future Policy

We will start constructing a full-scale system to act as a disaster information clearing house to complete our prototype. We will then reconsider what information to deal with, and will then re-evaluate the user interface, hardware and software, to make the system more practical.

The basic portion of the Internet GIS has already been completed, and system evaluation will commence soon. At the time of writing, we are planning to evaluate the system by gathering, analyzing and providing real-time information on one domestic case using aerial photographs and one overseas case using satellite data.