1. ICT4D Annotated Bibliography
HOW THE APPLICATION OF ICT’S CAN AID IN DISASTER PREVENTION AND
RECOVERY
CATHERINE VINCE
This bibliography is intended to provide the reader with a large range of different
information relating to the use of ICT in disasters. I have chosen to only include web
based information as my target audience are unlikely to have accessibility to books
and other sources of information. I feel that this is more appropriate as the people I
intend to reach with this are those in countries where information on disasters is
limited. Therefore the entire bibliography is fully interactive and complete with
hyperlinks to allow the reader to directly connect to the sources. Also I acknowledge
a very limited source of information on this subject in published books and journals in
the ICT4D field. Specific attention however has been made to include a variety of
information ranging from academic publications to organisations and educational
programmes.
GIS AS AN ICT FOR DISASTER PREDICTION AND MANAGEMENT
1.http://www.gisdevelopment.net/application/natural_hazards/overview/
This web site 'GIS Development' is a company that 'aims to promote and propagate
usage of GIS and related technologies in various areas of development'. The actual
site provides links to a wide range of papers and articles written explaining and
focusing on the application of GIS to aid development. Particular reference is given to
the study of natural hazards in Asia. A large number of papers can be accessed here
providing ranging from rough overviews to specific hazard papers such as
earthquakes and volcanoes. The majority of sites are well references and come from
a variety of sources including academics, governments and companies.
2.http://www.itc.nl/unu/dgim/unedra/workshop/_docs/session2/karatunga.ppt#24
This link directs the user straight to a power point presentation displaying how GIS
can be used and it’s effectiveness in natural disaster management. A vivid display
with clear bullet pointed information for the less advanced user which clearly
addresses the important issues through a basic approach. The presentation explains
both basic knowledge of natural hazards and a degree of GIS methods. Detailed
images portraying how GIS can be used to map varying types of risks are displayed
eventually being combined into a layered effect to assess the areas at highest risk.
The presentation is extremely user-friendly providing good visual imagery combined
with factual information suitable for users with both none or good knowledge of GIS
capabilities.
3.http://www.gisdevelopment.net/technology/gis/techgi0030pf.htm
This site emphasises the importance of integrated GIS mapping solutions with
internet communications. It suggests how it is possible to integrate the two so that
such mapping can be carried out in the field without the need for specialist software
which can be extremely expensive. It suggests how previously gathered information
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2. ICT4D Annotated Bibliography
can be accessed through the internet on sites such as the web site of the Geographic
Data Technology (GDT). This type of data can then be combined with field data
collected by NGO’s to produce detailed maps and risk analysis. Included is a case
study of how the Red Cross used internet based GIS to aid over 4,000 families by
placing their services in the neediest areas according to mapping which they
produced according to previously published and field data.
4.http://www.gisdevelopment.net/aars/acrs/2000/ts8/hami0001.shtml
A article written by Dr Alok Gupta from the NCDM (National centre fro disaster
management). This article focuses on the use of GIS and remote sensing in the
prediction and forecasting of natural disasters. Focus is particularly paid to disasters
in India as well as including chapters on various disasters such as flooding,
earthquakes and hurricanes. Gupta argues that the correct use of GIS and remote
sensing can significantly reduce the devastating effects of a disaster through the
provision of early warning systems encouraging evacuation procedures. Attention is
also paid to the aftermath of disasters and how GIS can aid this for example how
satellite imagery can be used to locate specific areas possible to draw water from in
a drought that may not have been acknowledged from the ground. Generally this is a
very detailed and specific article which requires no need for a previous background in
GIS techniques.
EDUCATION AND E-LEARNING ASSOCIATED WITH DISASTERS
5.http://www.esri.com/news/releases/04_1qtr/disaster.html
ESRI is a GIS virtual campus which allows people to take a course in GIS from their
own computer anywhere in the world. It has been designed as a form of e-learning to
educate those whose do not have access to courses although it does require the
user to have purchased the software. One of the newly introduced courses available
on the site is a course in disaster management through the application of GIS. While
also providing valuable e-learning this course focuses on disaster prevention to
migration and mapping of such disasters. It appears to be an extremely beneficial
site as once software has been installed on a computer even in a developing country
many can benefit from accessible knowledge which ESRI make widely available.
6.http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/emergencytelecoms/doc/brochure.pdf
A broacher produced by the ITU to emphasis the importance of telecommunications
in saving lives in the event of a natural disaster. It is a very useful accompaniment to
seminar or presentations for educational purposes or for distribution amongst
students studying related topics. The focus is largely on how telecommunications can
prevent such devastating effects and also how they can aid in disaster migration. It’s
simply form makes it easily accessible and suitable for most readers.
7.http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/intro.shtml
Hurricane preparedness week aims to educate its users on the effects and necessary
procedures should a hurricane occur. It is also an extremely useful site for those in hurricane
regions with little knowledge on the subject. It’s motto ‘preparation through education is less
costly than learning though tragedy’. It is a very easy site to navigate and therefore would
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also be highly accessible to children and also provides learning material such as posters
which can easily be downloaded and printed for display. A special section is designated
specifically for children including weather games and posters. The site also provided
information on survival kits for families which can be extremely useful in the wake of a
disaster.
PARTICULAR INITIATIVES RELATING TO ICT’S IN DISASTERS
8.http://www.communityradionetwork.org/news_item.2005-11-15.5056560705
The Website the Community Radio Network set up as a project of the UNDP has
vast amounts of information on the effectiveness of radio communication in disasters.
In particular is an article focused on the effectiveness of radio communication in
Pakistan following an earthquake. The article focuses on how private radio stations
banded together to broadcast programmes to those affected. The entire website is
dedicated to the use of Community Radios and the impact they can have in
development. Many useful links, articles and general discussion around the topic are
also available.
9.www.freeplayfoundation.org
The Freeplay Foundation is a charitable organisation which has produced and
distributed lifeline radios. Lifeline radios are radios which are designed specifically for
humanitarian aid in the form of education, health and in times of disasters. Despite
being specifically designed for children these radios have been key in many natural
disasters. The web site describes the technology which has enabled the creation of
the lifeline radios as well as explaining projects which are being run with them. The
site also acts as publicity for the radios and encourages its viewers to donate a
lifeline. The site in general has some truly amazing images and stories emphasising
the huge impact and aid the lifeline radios have become in many cases. Particularly
useful is the article on the use of lifelines in the recent Tsunami located in the
projects section in the dropdown menu of the lifeline radio button.
10.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3020146.stm
This news article dated 26th
June 2003 published on the BBC website explains a new
form of mobile telephony in disasters which phone companies are currently
experimenting with. The idea is that mobile phones could be fitted with a device or
alarm which would sound in the event of a disaster leading rescuers to precise
locations faster. It would be possible to activate all the alarms of mobile devices
which could be considered to be in the disaster area.
EDUCATING CHILDREN ONLINE ABOUT DISASTERS
11.http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/bringbring/phoneworld.htm
The Cool Planet site operated as part of the Oxfam site has been particularly
designed for children however provides basic information about the use of mobile
phones in developing countries and specifically by NGO organisations in the event of
a disaster.
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12.http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/eduinfo/colorbk.pdf
This site provided an online colouring book all about disaster preparedness. It is fully
printable providing a useful form of education for children while being fun. It also
includes a letter to parents explaining the content of the colouring book and outlining
some of the things and topic with they should explain and support their child learning.
This site is extremely useful to those children who have no access to formal
education who would learn from a fun exercise.
13.http://www.fema.gov/kids/
A website designed in educating children in disasters and how to prepare or recover
from them. Also FEMA is an American organisation the content is clearly relevant to
children all over the world. The site is extremely colourful and attractive to children of
all ages providing interactive games, quizzes, homework and a library. It also offers
children the chance to become a disaster action kid gaining a certificate and further
education in disaster management. This site should be recommended to all children
living in disaster prone areas.
ORGANISATIONS FOCUSING THE USE OF ICT’S IN DISASTERS
14.http://www.unesco.org/science/earth/disaster/rapca_disaster.shtml
UNESCO’s disaster web site outlines several programmes using the application of
GIS to manage and reduce the risk of natural hazards. It states ‘The original
objective of the programme was Capacity Building for Natural Disaster Reduction
(CBNDR)’ The site usefully explains project outlines and objectives including
information about pilot surveys in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
Guatemala and Honduras. A small summery of results outlines how successful GIS
can be if properly applied in the context of development. Perhaps the most useful tool
UNESCO produced as a result of this project was a training pack consisting of two
CD ROMs containing information and GIS mapping of the specific areas studied to
be used in education and hazard management. Information on these packs is also
available on the site as well as other links relating to ICT in development.
15.http://info.worldbank.org/ict/WSIS/docs/mdg_Enviro.pdf
This paper states ‘ICT improves the ability to obtain, store and integrate large
volumes of environmental data and to conduct stimulation and analysis in real time’.
Produced by the World Bank the paper emphasises the importance of raising
awareness of environmental issues through the use of ICT. It focuses on several
ICT’s which can have substantial effects on environmental polices such as
communication between governments and the public. A project known as ANFAS
(Data fusion for flood analysis and decision support) is among one of the projects
mention which aims to produce and information system which will provide new
solutions for flood prevention and management. Also outlined is the World banks
Natural Disaster Risk Management project which involves the invention of a private
sector driven risk management scheme. Generally this is a very useful website
providing information on ICT’s use in a broader environmental context.
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16.http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTINFORMATIONANDCO
MMUNICATIONANDTECHNOLOGIES/EXTEDEVELOPMENT/0,,contentMDK:2068682
2~menuPK:828158~pagePK:64020865~piPK:51164185~theSitePK:559460,00.html
This site associated with the World Bank hosts a number of articles relating to
education in the field of ICT and disasters. The site has been designed to advertise
seminars and conferences available to educate people in disaster management. It
also holds publications of material from the seminars as well as project descriptions.
Perhaps the most useful is the presentation at the World Bank for ICT for Disaster
Management and Post Conflict Reconstruction which is included. This presentation
outlines the key targets of the World Bank in a very simple yet effective form suitable
for a large number of users. Also available is an online video of the seminars for the
education of users. A site which is very user-friendly containing a large amount of
multimedia to aid addition textual information.
ARTICLES AND PUBLICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH ICT’S AND DISASTERS
17.www.col.org/05natdisasters.htm
This article published in the Feb 2005 issue of COL’s news publication focuses on
the effects of the Asian Tsunami in Dec 2004. It discusses how the implementation of
relevant ICT’s could have reduced the impact. However it also acknowledges how
use of media and communication systems enabled the disaster to be dealt with world
wide following such emotive media coverage. ‘Ironically, although there was no
warning system in place to reduce the lost of life along the shores of the Bay of
Begal, word of the disaster spread around the globe instantly thanks to modern
technology (video cameras, cell phones, the world wide web, e-mail, text messaging)
and dominated the news for weeks’. The article stresses the need for radio initiatives
and open based education analysing the effects this could have on disaster
management. COL’s article is extremely relevant in light of the recent Tsunamis while
also raising positive suggestions for the application of ICT and programmes in the
future.
18.http://www.ifrc.org/publicat/wdr2005/index.asp
This site allows the user to view summarised section of the World Disaster Report
2005 published by the International federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
societies. The report emphasises strongly the need for information as aid. Although
the report pays little focus specifically on natural disasters chapter 6 relating to the
events of the Tsunami and the importance of humanitarian media coverage in the
digital age is particularly relevant. Other ITC initiatives are mentioned such as the
use of radio and the internet although not so explicitly relating to natural disasters.
The site overall consists of very valuable information assessing the appropriateness
of IT and its relevance in disasters as well as providing critical analysis of previous
projects and initiatives. It allows the user to purchase the full copy of the report and
links to many other useful sites.
19.http://www.ndmindia.nic.in/wcdr_official_documents.htm
link to below
http://www.ndmindia.nic.in/WCDRDOCS/ICT%20for%20Disaster%20Risk
%20Reduction.pdf
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6. ICT4D Annotated Bibliography
This website provides documents and articles relating to the use of ICT’s in disaster
reduction and management. One of particular interest is the PDF file given above
which can be easily navigated to via the site. It outlines specific case studies which
have taken place in India.
20.http://topics.developmentgateway.org/ict/sdm/previewDocument.do~activeDocumentId=1
002161
This site contains an informative article written by Dr. Michael Gurstein currently a
Visiting Professor in the School of Management at the New Jersey Institute of
Technology. Gurstein is writing in the context of the recent Tsunami disaster
questioning whether ICT are really capable of delivering. The article questions the
reliability of the internet and its current role in disasters arguing its use for missing
persons etc is highly functional yet where is the actual factual information the people
need to know. Although highly critical of some ICT initiatives it is a well structured
argument. The Development Gateway web site also contained many links to other
ICT related programmes and information in the disaster field of development.
21.http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/resources/sites.html
This site titled the Natural Hazard Centre is an extremely constructive site containing
a wide range of links for further reading. It is in essence a much larger annotated
bibliography dived into sections according to the hazard type. Each reference is fully
interactive and accessible leading the user to further sites of interest. A brief
summary of each site is also given in much the same way as the present
bibliography has been compiled. The bibliography contains not only articles and
websites but also a large range of images and multimedia data forms.
22.http://www.ict4djamaica.org/content/home/detail.asp?
iData=38&iCat=283&iChannel=2&nChannel=Articles
ICT4 Jamaica is a website specifically designed for ICT4D initiatives and progression
which has been made in Jamaica. The web site itself has a number of useful
functions such as online chat facilities, country information, case studies and a news
and events section. There is not a huge amount of emphasis placed on how the role
of ICT’s can implement disaster management and strategies although focus is paid to
reducing the risk. This is largely done through an article which explains and
analysis’s the rise of telecities. The main line of argument posed is that with the
invention of telecities possible though increased telecommunications and the reverse
of a trend towards mega cities it is possible to reduce the risk associated with
disasters and terrorist attacks. ‘We need to reverse the trend toward mega cities,
which puts vast numbers of people at risk for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.
Telecities are one solution’. In general a useful website however for all aspects of
ICT although particularly specific to Caribbean solutions.
23.http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN019540.p
df
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This article written by Dr Suvit Yodman and David Hollister directors of ADCP (Asian
disaster preparedness centre) fully available online discusses communication
technology in disasters using Asia as a case study. It discusses the role of
communications and the social and technical aspects. This paper is extremely
informative previding information on disaster mitigation, recovery and aspects of
prediction through the use of ICT. It considers a large number of case studies and
focuses on many aspects of communication technologies.
24.http://www.sfu.ca/~gagow/capcom/thesis.htm
This site leads the user to an undergraduate thesis from the University of Calvary
titled New approaches in disaster communications: Towards a global communication
lifelines structure. The full text of the thesis is fully downloadable although a detailed
abstract is given on the opening on the site. The main body of the thesis focuses on
computer mediated networking on disaster communications for example using the
internet as a valuable tool in disaster prevention and recovery. Due to the academic
content this paper may be considered a difficult read to those without a previous
knowledge in the field of development however a very useful source.
WEBSITES PROVIDING WEATHER INFORMATION
25.http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
The national hurricane centre site part is part of NOAA (National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s). Although this site is maintained and managed by
NOAA an American organisation it is accessible all over the world providing weather
related information particularly relating to tropical storms and hurricanes. It acts
partially as a prediction site providing advance warnings and mapping of weather
systems before they strike world wide.
26.http://www.worldweather.org/
Designed and managed by the WMO (World Meteorological Organisation) this site
provided up to date world weather reports and predictions. Severe weather warnings
are published here however its most useful tool is to allow the user to navigate a
world map to portray weather and climate information in any part of the world a vital
tool in disaster prone areas.
27.http://www.nws.noaa.gov
This site leads the user to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s
weather forecasting. This site is simply a large online weather forecast which is
capable of portraying up to date weather all round the world. It also has links to
various pages including those relating to disasters and weather warnings and
prediction systems.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO SPECIFIC MEETINGS, CONFERENCES AND
SUMMITS
28.http://www.aptsec.org/meetings/2005/apg07-2/ict.htm
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This site outlines the agendas and discussions hosted at the APT-ITU meeting on the
Role of ICT For Disaster Reduction. As a result of the recent Tsunami disaster which
affected many APT member countries this meeting addressed key issues on the role
of ICT to prevent disaster occurring in the future. Available on the site are useful links
and button leading the user to other pages outlining programmes and initiatives as
well as downloadable material from the meeting. It is generally a very useful site
including lots of telecommunication and disaster information.
29.http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/pc3/plenary/apt-itu-disaster-relief.pdf
The website outlines the outcomes of the WSIS regional thematic meeting on ‘Role
of ICT for Disaster Reduction’ which was co-organised by the ATP and ITU in Feb
2005. The meeting recognised the importance of ICT’s in disaster reduction and
confirms several possible ways this can be achieved. It also acknowledges the
importance for these issues to be continued at the next WSIS meeting for progress to
be successfully made in the future.
30.http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2005/NP03.html
A press release published on the ITU site (International telecommunication union)
describing how post Tsunami telecommunication links have been strengthened. It
outlined how the recent Tsunamis have been a wake up call in the field of ICT4D
especially concerning telecommunications in disasters. Drawing on information
gathered at the recent summit in Geneva 2005 the ITU propose further work and
initiative which they aim to carry out in the future.
31.http://www.reliefweb.int/telecoms/tampere/index.html
This web site allows the user to access the Tampere Convention document
(Tampere (Finland) Convention on the Provision of Telecommunication Resources
for Disaster Mitigation). Useful links from this page are ‘telecommunications in the
service of humanitarian aid’ and some of the localised case studies such as the Sri
Lanka pilot study.
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