This presentation was done at the 1st ICT Disaster Response Conference in Cebu, the Philippines by Biplov Bhandari.

1. Biplov Bhandari
GIS Application Developer, SERVIR Mekong Project, ADPC
Member and Software Developer, Sahana Software Foundation
Independent Consultant, Practical Action
biplov@sahanafoundation.org
Sahana Disaster
Management System

2. www.sahanafoundation.org
Outline
● Introduction
○ What is Sahana?
○ History
○ Operational Structure
○ Architecture and Hosting Options
○ Deployments
● Relevant Sahana Solutions
○ Disaster Risk Reduction Portal
○ Community Resilience Mapping
○ Command and Control - Sahana Alerting and Messaging Broker (SAMBRO)
○ Command and Control - Washington Common Operating Picture (WACOP)
○ Relief Hub - Resource Management System
○ Shelter Management - DRK Reception Center
○ People Locator Project
● SAMBRO - Case Study
○ Sequence of Operation
○ Implementation Strategy
○ Control Exercises Participation
○ Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
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● Sahana is free, open source and Rapid
Application Development (RAD)
platform.
● Built upon the global community.
● No licensing fees or restrictions to use.
● You have “ the rights to study, change,
and distribute the software to anyone
and for any purpose.”
● Sahana uses MIT license
What is Sahana?
Mission: To save lives by providing
information management solutions that
enable organizations and communities to
better prepare for and respond to disasters.
More than 65 deployments over more than 25
countries around the world.
Learn more about our various deployments at
https://sahanafoundation.org/eden/deployments/
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History: Trigger - 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
● At least 226,000 dead
● Upto 5 million people lost
their homes, or deprived
of food and water.
● 1 million people left
without means to make a
living.
● At least $7.5 billion
worth of damages.
Facts and figures: Asian Tsunami
Disaster, 20 Jan 2005
During Indian Ocean Tsunami
2004, Sri Lanka IT developers
get together to solve the key
problem of the time: Missing
Persons
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History
2004: Indian Ocean Earthquake
● Initiated by IBM’s Crisis Response
● Developed by Sri Lankan Center of
Humanitarian Agencies (CHA).
● Funded by Swedish International
Development Agency (SIDA).
2005-2008: Sahana PHP deployed
throughout Asia, the Americas by NGOs
and govts for disaster cycle.
2009-2017: Python-based EDEN platform
launches as enterprise-grade solution.
Functionality expands to incorporate over
20 modules driving adoption in over 25
countries.
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Operational Structure
Operations
Community
Project
Council
Board of Directors
EDEN
Code
Sahana
Research
& Action
Disaster
Response
President
Secretary
Treasurer
Members
Volunteers
Product
Management
Committee
Professional
Service
Providers
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Open Source Architecture and Hosting Options
Build upon popular open source platforms Sahana can be hosted locally in a command center
on a stand-alone Laptop
Hosted on a server in the Cloud or a Datacenter
Server
<--- OR --->
All instances can
Synchronize with each
other...
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Disaster Management Lifecycle & Sahana Solutions
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Alerting and Messaging Broker
First Response
Shelter Management
Missing Persons Registry
Logistics Management
Damage and Loss Assessment?
Project Management
Delphi Decision Support
Disaster Risk Reduction Portal
Community Resilience Mapping
Resource Management
Alerting messaging Broker

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Disaster Risk Reduction Portal
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Community Resilience Mapping (CRM)
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Command and Control - SAMBRO
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Command and Control - WACOP Incident Management
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Relief Hub - Resource Management System
“The RMS isn’t just a piece of
software. For the first time in the
history of the Red Cross and Red
Crescent, RMS enables National
Societies to view and analyze
hazards and vulnerabilities together
with their material and human
resources like volunteers, staff,
offices and warehouses on a digital
up to date map to examine how well
its people and resources are
positioned.”
- John Gwynn, Head of
Organisational Development
IFRC Asia Pacific zone
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Shelter Management - DRK
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People Locator Project
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SAMBRO - Case Study
Using for Interoperability
BROWSER APP
Red Cross Hazard APP
MOBILE APP
Federation of Internet Alerts AccuweatherGoogle Public Alerts
SAMBRO Server (Browser
App) and Mobile APP talk to
each other through RESTful
APIs
Google, IFRC, FIA,
Accuweather and any other
CAP Alert Hubs can talk to
SAMBRO through RSS
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Implementation Strategy
User
Centered
Design
Rapid
Prototyping
Agile
Software
Design
Action
Research
Method to
Implement
SAMBRO
1. User Centered Design
a. Designing for users
b. Involving users
2. Rapid Prototyping
a. Realistic models of the interfaces and functionality
b. Users involved early in the design
c. User models, workflow and information needs.
d. Iterating the testing and revising until agreed.
3. Agile Software Design (SCRUM)
a. SCRUM lightweight software engineering
framework.
b. Tightly-knit teams, close collaboration.
c. Business side user stories.
4. Action Research
a. Knowledge generation with planned actions.
b. Understand the problem and provoke change,
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Control Exercises Participation
Publishers Subscribers
Myanmar 13 38
(DMH, RRD) (Kunyangon, Nyuangdon)
Philippines 19 21
(PAGAS, PHIVOLCS) (Manila Bay, Subic Bay)
Maldives 06 10
(NDMC, MOH, MRC) (Thulusdhoo)
DMH - Department of Meteorology and Hydrology RRD - Relief and Rehabilitation Department PAGASA - Philippines Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Service
Administration
PHIVOLCS - Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology NDMC - National Disaster Management Center MOH - Ministry of Health MRC - Maldives Red
Crescent
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Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
Ease of Use Usefulness
While Myanmar has a slightly lower opinion,
users from all three countries, are inclined
to, AGREE that SAMBRO is easy to use and
useful for their warning practices
The attitude of the users from all three
countries is that, all things considered
SAMBRO is QUITE a GOOD, Beneficial,
Wise, and Positive tool
Attitude
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Sahana Partners, Collaborators and Clients
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