Current Technical Designs for Tsunami Warning Systems: Sri Lanka Rohan Samarajiva

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

Physical world where hazards occur Symbolic world where action originates Mass media Mediated interpersonal Warnings The physical, the symbolic & their linking through ICTs, simplified

Physical world where hazards occur Symbolic world where action originates Mass media Mediated interpersonal Warnings Physical world of hazards, symbolic worlds, link technologies & institutions that work imperfectly Information & communication technology & institutions Warning Center Hazard detection & monitoring system Last mile: Our focus

Communities; families; individuals Effective warning: multiple pathways Tsunami hazard detection (International/regional) Assessment and issuance of warning (National center) Media First responders (incl. CBOs)

Tsunami waves & communication waves Point-to-point communication networks are inherently vulnerable to congestion No design can be congestion proof Congestion can be managed, not avoided Point-to-multipoint is the only real option Cell broadcast vs SMS

Tsunami waves & communication waves In a community-based (versus direct to households) model, avoiding congestion is essential Keeping ahead of the congestion by acting fast; if possible use priority channels Targeted point-to-multipoint media Addressable satellite radio (Disaster Warning, Response and Recovery) 10 second from activation to alert

Key elements of the LIRNEasia/Sarvodaya design Improve hazard detection & monitoring What can we do at village level? Not tsunami detection; but ability to identify & communicate abnormal phenomena Villagers as active participant, not just passive recipients Improve transmission of warnings Really up to the government But we can supplement How to alert a village when the radios and TVs are off and the police are far away

Key elements Improve preparedness to receive warnings and act appropriately Last-mile problem; fully within Sarvodaya’s Grama Swarajya concept Partly a communication problem Solutions are customized for each village Partly a question of the mind Preparedness through training and drills Identification of hazards and preparing responses through training and simulations Marking out evacuation paths, etc. Partly a law and order problem Village self governance in collaboration with police

First phase How village organization matters Can better organized villages take decisions faster and take right action? How training matters “Disaster preparedness through knowledge and participation” Availability of [two-way] ICT (free of congestion, with redundancy) is a necessary condition Need to know what works and what appropriate mixes are

TrainingNo Training Sarvodaya Village Stages 1, 2 & (3) (less organized) VSATMobile phone Fixed phone ASRVSATMobile phone Fixed phone ASR ASR + Ham radio ASR + Fixed phone ASR + Mobil e Phone Control Village ASR + Ham radio ASR + Fixed phone ASR + Mobil e Phone Control Village Sarvodaya Village Stages (3), 4 & 5 (more organized) VSATMobile phone Fixed phone ASRVSATMobile phone Fixed phone ASR ASR + Ham radio ASR + Fixed phone ASR + Mobil e Phone Control Village ASR + Ham radio ASR + Fixed phone ASR + Mobil e Phone Control Village

Partners and responsibilities LIRNEasia: Research design and project management IDRC: Funding TVEAP: Training of trainers; evaluation Sarvodaya Shanti Sena: Trainers and evaluators Sarvodaya DMC: Hazard info hub Sarvodaya tech services: Telecenters using VSATs; maintenance of equipment

Partners and responsibilities WorldSpace: DWRR Mobile operator (Dialog) and software partner (MicroImage): Multi-lingual SMS on Java; priority SMS? London School of Economics (Dr Gordon Gow): CAP and international best practices

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 All 15,000 Sarvodaya villages All ~30,000 villages in our country

Preparedness: the bulwark that saves lives