What have we learned from the tsunami?

1. What have we learned from the tsunami? Rohan Samarajiva

2. 1. Failures of ICT use and of institutions occurred • Assumed ubiquity and power of ICTs not evident on December 26, 2004 • 1883: Krakatoa disaster carried by telegraph agencies 2 days later • 2004: Destruction of Aceh carried by satellite and Internet-equipped news organizations 2 hours later • News of inundation of East Coast coastal towns reaches Colombo, but is not broadcast; failing to save lives on other coasts

3. Physical and symbolic worlds, absent linking technologies Mediated interpersonal Physical world where hazards occur Symbolic world where action originates

4. The physical, the symbolic & their linking through ICTs, simplified Physical world where hazards occur Warnings Mediated interpersonal Mass media Symbolic world where action originates Warnings More time to run; more lives saved

5. The importance of ICT-based warning and evacuation Sri Lanka’s biggest natural disasters compared 1:1 1:34

6. What happened on December 26th, 2004:A world without ICTs . . . Mediated interpersonal Physical world where hazards occur Symbolic world where action originates One in 500 died in Sri Lanka without one minute of official warning

7. 2. Congestion matters, but broadcast is not panacea • All point-to-point networks including SMS were affected to varying degrees by congestion • They can play a role “ahead of the wave,” but . . . • Broadcast modes have difficulty alerting people • Radio and TV must be on • Cell broadcast does not alert

8. Multiple pathways make keeping ahead of the wave difficult Tsunami hazard detection (International/regional) Assessment and issuance of warning (National center) First responders (incl. CBOs) Media Communities; families; individuals

9. How to give alerts based on the lesson • Systems that can make people ready AHEAD of the congestion wave • Hazard information hub (HIH) • Community based system • Novel methods of alerting people • WorldSpace Disaster Warning Response and Recovery (DWRR) set, connected to HIH • Dialog-U of Moratuwa-MicroImage GSM based alerting device

10. 3. Government need not do everything; Sri Lanka’s strength is community • Government has hands full with • Hazard detection and monitoring systems • National disaster warning system • Why not build on the community strength to develop preparedness at the village level? • Making Sarvodaya’s 226 tsunami affected villages disaster resilient

11. 4. Sri Lanka can lead the way with community-centered disaster-preparedness • Community approach prioritizes training and preparedness • Cost-effective to provide mix of specially designed communication devices to community leaders, rather than households • Community focus also reduces negatives of panics and trust problems

12. Our objectives • Generate research findings as quickly as possible (even though project runs until November 2007) • Use those findings to provide appropriate ICTs and training to • All 226 tsunami-affected villages • 2,000 and then all 15,000 Sarvodaya villages • All ~30,000 villages in our country • Bay of Bengal and beyond

13. Where we are now • 7 day Train-the-trainer Workshop completed • Picture is from in-situ training at tsunami- affected village on west Coast • 28 trainers from all regions completed course

14. Where we are now • Locally developed alerting device demonstrated to villagers • Village level training underway • Equipment being Tested for HIH

15. For more information • www.lirneasia.net (search using “disaster”) • Rohan Samarajiva • samarajiva@lirne.net • +94 11 493 9992; +94 11 494 0290(f) • Gordon Gow • ggow@ualberta.ca • Nuwan Waidyanatha • waidyanatha@sltnet.lk