11 ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July 2009 ITU Activities on Emergency Telecommunications (including disaster detection, early warning and relief) Alexandre VASSILIEV ITU Radiocommunication Bureau phone:

22 ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July In 2008, 354 natural disasters were recorded in the EM-DAT database. The death toll was three times higher than the annual average of for , mainly caused by two major events: Cyclone Nargis which killed people in Myanmar and the Sichuan earthquake in China which caused the deaths of people. In 2008, China (29), the United States (22) and the Philippines (20) were most often hit by natural disasters. These three countries, together with India and Indonesia, have occupied the top ranking of disaster occurrence during the last three years.

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July ITU ITU-T Telecommunication standardization of networks and service aspects ITU-R Radiocommunication standardization and global radio spectrum management ITU-D Assisting implementation and operation of telecommunications in developing countries Committed to Connecting the World ITU Overview 191 Member States, 700+ Sector Members and Associates Plenipotentiary Conference Radiocommunication Assembly & World Radiocommunication Conference World Telecommunication Development Conference World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Role of ITU in TDR/ETS/EWS In 5 words, Committed to connecting the world: even more so in distress situations! Long-time work on telecom for emergency situations Morse code …(it was a long time ago…) radio was used for the first time for saving the lives of sailors aboard the battleship General-Admiral Apraksin at the end of 19th century GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress and Safety System) Three recent examples Tampere Convention to facilitate exchange of telecom equipment in disaster relief operations WRC-07: allocated additional spectrum for radiocommunication systems involved in disaster prediction/detection and emergency communications Standardization work on call priority & alert message delivery

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July ITU Role in Emergency Telecommunications Legal basis for Emergency Telecommunications removing barriers to the deployment of telecommunication equipment; providing access to radio spectrum; providing necessary conditions for operation of radio and telecommunication systems; Technical basis developing ITU technical standards for telecommunication networks, systems and equipment (radio and wired) used ; developing guidelines for the use of specific systems/equipment for disaster prediction, detection, and disaster relief; Organizational basis and operations developing awareness about the use of telecommunications/ICTs in emergency situation; assisting Member States as regards emergency telecommunications needs; developing guidelines for emergency telecommunication.

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July ITUs Role in Disaster Reduction (1) Prediction and detection - using radio-based remote sensing systems/applications Mitigation Damage assessment for planning relief operations Spectrum management Establishment of globally/regionally harmonized frequency bands Application of terrestrial and space (satellite) radiocommunication services Global circulation of emergency equipment Support to emergency broadcasting, maritime and public safety signals All types of networks

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July ITUs Role in Disaster Reduction (2) Preparedness Radio spectrum to be used for relief operations Standards for public telecommunication services International emergency for preference scheme for disaster relief Message broadcast Global network security Interoperability of telecom networks

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July ITUs Role in Disaster Reduction (3) Response Appropriate project management techniques Legal and regulatory issues (Tampere Convention + Constitution, Radio Regulations) Universal access (early warning) Capacity building (preparedness) Relief (response) Reconstruction Partnerships (e.g., INMARSAT, WMO, WGET, OCHA, IARU)

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Scenarios for Emergency Communications Four communication scenarios: 1.Citizen to citizen 2.Authority to authority 3.Authority to citizen 4.Citizen to authority ITU has worked in scenarios 1, 2 and 3. More work could be done Could work on scenario 4 (more relevant to day-to-day emergency situations: fire, police, call for medical assistance, etc)

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July How the work progresses? ITUs work is contribution-driven: contributions progress Governments, users (including intergovernmental agencies and NGOs), manufacturers need to bring in proposals to enhance the features of existing systems Trend for initial focus to be on improving what already exists, in order to be implementable in a short time-frame How the work progresses?

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Decisions of ITU Forums (Conferences and Assemblies) Governing ITU Activities Related to Emergency Telecommunications National laws and regulations can sometimes hamper – or, even prohibit – the transport and use of telecommunication equipment at disaster scenes.

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Resolution 36 (Rev.Antalia, 2006) Telecommunications/information and communication technology in the service of humanitarian assistance Resolution 136 (Antalia,2006) Use of telecommunications/ICTs for monitoring and management in emergency & disaster situations for early warning, prevention, mitigation and relief Resolution 136 (Antalia,2006) Use of telecommunications/ICTs for monitoring and management in emergency & disaster situations for early warning, prevention, mitigation and relief ITU Treaty Status Decisions Plenipotentiary Conference 2006

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Resolution 646 (WRC-03) Public protection and disaster relief WRC-07 decisions: Extension of spectrum and adoption of protection criteria for the services involved in disaster management and emergency situations. Several new Resolutions requesting studies related to the further development of these services. Modification of parts of the Radio Regulation related to the global maritime distress and safety system (GMDSS). New Resolution 647 Spectrum management guidelines for emergency and disaster relief radiocommunication. New Resolution 673 Radiocommunications use for Earth observation applications ITU Treaty Status Decisions – ITU-R World Radiocommunication Conferences

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Radiocommunication Assembly 2007 RA-07 adopted 2 new ITU-R Resolutions: Res. ITU-R 53 The use of radiocommunications in disaster response and relief (see at: ) Res. ITU-R 55 ITU studies of disaster prediction, detection, mitigation and relief (see at: )

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July World Telecommunication Development Conference 2006 Decisions (WTDC-06) Resolution 34 Telecommunication resources in the service of humanitarian assistance Resolution 2 Establishment of study groups requested ITU-D to study Question 22/2 Utilization of ICT for disaster management and active and passive space-based sensing systems as they apply to disaster prediction, detection and mitigation

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July ITU Documents Providing Legal Basis for ET – International Treaties Constitution and Convention and Resolutions (e.g. Res. 36, 98, 136) adopted by the Plenipotentiary Conference; Radio Regulations (e.g. Chapter 7 Distress and safety communications and Resolutions of World Radiocommunication Conferences (e.g. Res. 644, 646, 647, etc.);

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Developing the Technical Basis for Emergency Telecommunications (Recommendations, Reports, Handbooks, Guidelines) The ITU global standards (ITU term Recommendations) play a vital role in ensuring an effective emergency response in times of crisis.

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Some ITU Recommendations on ET (1) Rec. ITU-T X.1303 Common alerting protocol (CAP 1.1) – a global standard for simple structured exchange of alerting messages (also accepted by WMO); Rec. ITU-T H Gateway control protocol: Multi- level precedence and pre-emption package; Rec. ITU-T H Call priority designation and country/international network of call origination identification for H.323 priority calls; Extension of support for Rec. ITU-T E.106 IEPS in various signalling protocols (BICC, SS7, etc); Rec. ITU-R BO./BT Use of satellite and terrestrial broadcast infrastructures for public warning, disaster mitigation and relief; Rec. ITU-R M Disaster communications in the amateur and amateur-satellite services;

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Some ITU Recommendations on ET (2) Rec. ITU-R M Disaster communications in the amateur and amateur-satellite services; Rec. ITU-R M.1826 Harmonized frequency channel plan for broadband public protection and disaster relief operations at MHz in Regions 2 and 3; Rec. ITU-R RS.1803, RS.1804 related to development and use of Earth exploration-satellite systems employed for environment including disaster monitoring.

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Some ITU Reports/Handbooks Handbook on Emergency Telecommunications (ITU-D) plus special supplements Emergency and Disaster relief (ITU-R) Manual for Use by the Maritime Mobile and Maritime Mobile- Satellite Services (ITU-R). Report ITU-R M.2033 Radiocommunication objectives and requirements for Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) ITU Handbook on Best Practice on Emergency Telecommunications (based on studies in 12 countries) (ITU-D). Compendium of ITUs Work in Emergency Telecommunications (covers work of all ITU Sectors ITU-D, ITU-R, ITU-T).

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Organizational Basis and Operations

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Meetings on Emergency Telecommunications ITU regularly organizes forums/seminar/workshops related to emergency telecommunications. It is being done by ITU-D in cooperation with other Sectors and host region/country. Few samples of events held in 2009: Using ICT for Effective Disaster Management Pacific forum, Apia, Samoa (7-9 July, 2009) ; Workshop on Use of Telecommunications/ ICTs for Disaster Management: Saving lives, Harare, Zimbabwe ( June, 2009) Joint ITU – Greece (Ministry of transport and communications) Workshop on Emergency Telecommunications, Greece (8 April 2009); Workshop on Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Disaster Management, Dakar, Senegal ( March, 2009) ; ITU Workshop Emergency Telecommunications for Disaster Management in Maldives: Developing a National Emergency Telecommunications and Ratification of Tampere Convention.

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Global Forum on Effective Use of Telecommunications/ICT for Disaster Management (1) In December 2007 ITU organized this Forum attended by representatives from174 governments, 18 international organizations, 27 private sector entities, and 53 non- governmental organizations (NGOs). Global Forum: adopted ITU Framework for Cooperation in Emergencies (IFCE); established High Level Panel and ITU Network of Volunteers for ET (VET); adopted Forum Declaration on ICT role in reduction of natural disasters effects, etc. See details at:

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Other ITU Meetings Relevant to Emergency Telecommunications Three ITU symposia ICT and Climate Change organized by ITU-T (in cooperation with other ITU Sectors): April 2008, in Kyoto, Japan June 2008, in London, United Kingdom 8-10 July 2009, in Quito, Ecuador. There were discussions concerning the use of telecommunications/ICTs for mitigating of negative effects of disasters initiated by climate change. See details at:

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Practical Assistance Using Partnership Agreements with ICO, Inmarsat, Teledeisic, Thuraya, etc., ITU-D (BDT) delivered satellite terminals (providing basic telecommunications and telemedicine applications via satellites) to Bangladesh, Uganda, Peru, etc. for disaster relief operations. BR is currently creating a special database of frequencies which could be used in a country for emergency radiocommunications (see at: R/index.asp?category=information&rlink=res647&lang=en) R/index.asp?category=information&rlink=res647&lang=en ITU (BDT) provided consultants to undertake the study and prepare projects (including designing National Emergency Telecommunications Plans and formulating Standard Operating Procedures) related to emergency telecommunications to many developing countries....

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Partnering for Humanitarian Work UN Agencies/UNWGET (UN Working Group on Emergency Telecommunications)

ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change Quito, Ecuador, 8-10 July Conclusion ITU has historically played an important role in telecommunications/ICTs for disaster prediction, detection, relief and emergency telecommunications; In cooperation with the Member States and the key players in industry ITU is very active in defining technical standards applicable for ET; ITU also provides support on demand to the ITU Member States in emergency situations; The ITU Deputy Secretary-General Mr. H. Zhao, the Chairman of the Intersectoral Emergency Communications Team (IECT), coordinates all ITU activities related to emergency telecommunications. See also the main ITU Web on emergency telecommunications at: