World Dialogue on Regulation

The recent tsunami disaster in Asia would have been much less severe if modern ICTs had been employed in an effective disaster warning system. Yet the research and policy discussions on universal access, the digital divide and network development rarely even mention disaster warning as a service for which there should be universal access. Why not? A special dossier compiled by the World Dialogue on Regulation answers this and other questions on the role of regulators and policymakers in ensuring that adequate emergency communications are available.

Disaster warning as a universal service
 
Q&A is a regular feature in which WDR experts answer your questions related to the current research theme, WDR activities, or telecom regulation in general. In the latest Q&A, William Melody, managing director of WDR, examines the question of why disaster warning is not a universal service.

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Question: The recent tsunami disaster in Asia would have been much less severe if modern ICTs had been employed in an effective disaster warning system. Yet the research and policy discussions on universal access, the digital divide and network development rarely even mention disaster warning as a service for which there should be universal access. Why not? Will the WDR Dialogue Theme for 2005 include disaster warning as part of network development? What about the World Summit on the Information Society?

Answer: The disaster in Asia has highlighted the separate and often inconsistent treatment of different types of communication networks.  Universal access, digital divides and even network development have been viewed as essentially matters of supplying a "private service" to individuals, i.e., access to a basic communication service.  Although such a service has some true "public service" characteristics, e.g., benefits to people other than those directly involved in a conversation, the focus has been on individual access.  This has been measured in terms of a standard calculation of main lines (now with mobile, communication paths) per 100 population, reported annually by the ITU and other organizations.

Individual access to disaster, or perhaps more accurately, emergency communication services has been an important element of network development in most countries. An emergency telephone number is designated for reporting individual and local disasters, e.g., accidents, fires, etc. However, this is after-the-fact disaster mitigation and recovery, not disaster warning, and assumes that the public services essential to mitigate and recover, e.g., ambulances, hospitals, doctors, fire trucks, trained fire and police, etc., are established and functioning.  In performing their duties, these agencies often establish their own communication networks, based partly on available telecom network capacity and partly on special equipment.
 
Read the rest of Melody’s comments.
http://www.regulateonline.org/content/view/248/40/
 
Regulatory Design for Disaster Preparedness and Recovery by Infrastructure Providers: South Asian Experience - The Missing Link

The dramatic impact of the Tsunami on the shores of the Indian Ocean demonstrates the crucial importance of effective, all-embracing communication systems and very soon after the disaster hit articles began to appear arguing that many people could have saved their lives, if they had received a timely warning, via telephone, email or radio… Most of these focused on the technical aspects, ignoring the manner in which communication infrastructures are embedded within public policy frameworks and economic regulation. In his review of a study by Leena Srivastava and Rohan Samarajiva, Aad Correljé examines the missing link.
| Read the review | | Read the Srivastava & Samarajiva article |
 
Emergency Telecommunications and Mitigation-Oriented Policymaking
In an article prepared for the World Dialogue in Regulation, Gordon Gow, author of a forthcoming book Policymaking for Critical Infrastructure writes:

As one might expect for a field that evolved in close conjunction with national security and civil defence planning, ‘emergency telecommunications’ continues to embody many of the features of the military models that set the original tone for policy and program design in the field of emergency management. In most countries around the world, much of the effort in emergency telecommunications is therefore confined to addressing needs that arise in conjunction with preparedness, response, and recovery operations. In other words, the field is typically concerned with the envelope of actions directly related to critical incidents or disasters.  This means that the field of practice has been concerned primarily with hardening vital facilities, restoring essential services and maintaining essential communication channels during an emergency, rather than with the long-term management of critical infrastructures in society. In short, the history of emergency telecommunications has been reactive rather than proactive. The recent and largely needless tragedy around the Indian Ocean basin highlights this legacy.

Read the rest of the article

Consultation Process for Disaster Warning System for Sri Lanka

In response to the catastrophe of December 26th 2004, LIRNEasia, a WDR partner based in Sri Lanka, is collaborating with the Vanguard Foundation to help better prepare Sri Lanka to face disasters that may come its way. This project will produce a "people’s concept paper" based on international best practice and wide local consultation, for a disaster warning system, while educating policy makers and the general public.

Read more about the project on the LIRNE.NET site

An Assessment of the B.C. Tsunami Warning System

Tsunamis and Coastal Communities in British Columbia: An Assessment of the B.C. Tsunami Warning System and Related Risk Reduction Practices, was the title of a study by Peter S. Anderson, currently collaborating with LIRNEasia’s disaster warning initiative, & Gordon A. Gow for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada.

The Canadian province of British Colombia (BC) has more than 1,000 kms. of Pacific coastline and a very real tsunami threat. This study evaluates BC's tsunami preparedness and offers a series of conclusions that could be used to strengthen it.

Read more and download the full report

Online Resources on Emergency Communication

In our research we have come some good resources related to emergency communication, policy and regulation. A few of these are below. We will be expanding this section of the website over the next few months. Please send any relevant links to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
 
Go to the emergency communication resources page