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Pitch

Technology to anticipate climatic disasters alerting authorities and settlers to implement action protocols reducing damages.


Description

Summary

Peru, a country located to the south of the American continent, majestically adorned by the Andes Mountains, the Amazon Rainforest and the Pacific Ocean, has a great variety of climates that give its own identity to each city or town of its three major regions: Coast, Mountains and Jungle. Year to year these same peculiarities generate extreme climatic events that go from heavy rains, frost, snow, flood, etc.

According to reports from the National Risk Management Council of the El Niño Phenomenon, last year this phenomenon left more than 8,000 people affected and more than 100,000 were affected by the ravages of this event, in addition to leaving more than 1,200 homes uninhabitable while a similar number of houses collapsed. In terms of frost and snow, the National Civil Defense Institute determined that during the year 2015 more than 150,000 people were affected, more than 1,000 hectares of crops were affected and more than 350,000 were affected, while more than  20,000 of them died.

In spite of being events that are repeated cyclically, our country remains reactive, acting when the disaster occurs impacting on the population, crops, livestock, etc. We have not yet developed an effective mechanism to reduce the terrible consequences of nature's blows.

This project seeks to implement a technological solution that allows the timely implementation of appropriate actions in order to reduce human and material damages.

This system will bring the latest technology to the most remote community and allow them to be prepared to front facing a frost or a flood, as the case may be.

We will develop a system that feeds on forecasts generated by scientific organizations to emit

Immediate action alerts In order to put in place protocols that we will develop with communities and safeguard our resources and the lives of settlers.


What actions do you propose?

2017 has turned out to be a devastating year for Peru. Heavy rains and floods struck our country with a force that had not been seen since 1982/83 or 1997/98, where, as now, whole villages, roads, basic facilities for the population were destroyed, Worse, we lost more than 100 lives.

Approximately a month before the disasters began, the scientist had observed the sea surface temperature was increasing in addition of the rains, which showed clear signs, however a weak institutionalization of preventive policies had as consequence the terrible disaster and the heavy damages that this year we had to face the Peruvians.

We are aware that the Peruvian central government has not learned lessons from the past by not structuring preventive plans and policies due, among other things, to the fact that our governments have focused on visible short-term and national measures with great media impact, but in Many cases of lack of relevance in the long term, neglecting for many years the aspects of disaster prevention mainly in those communities potentially at risk.

Therefore, for this project to be successful, it will have two lines of execution: technological aspect and social aspect.

Technological aspect:

1. Development of communication software that is fed with information obtained from local scientific entities, which will be conditioned to reach established thresholds according to the characteristics of each community and the type of climatic disaster that occurs there. This software will have the following characteristics:

a. The software will receive daily observation and forecasts issued by national and regional scientific entities, which in some cases can be reached up to 5 days in advance.

b.  It will cross information received by various institutions, depending on the thresholds established by the specialists.

c.  Sending alerts to various interest groups: Support groups (Red Cross, local and municipal agencies, NGOs and others), Security organs (national police, municipal security, etc.), media (radio, tv, internet ), Population of the affected area and visitors to it.

d.  Using a previous registry we can alert registered residents who do not have a smartphone and using geolocation to human groups that are in the area and have a smartphone.

e. The system will also be linked to social networks like Facebook and twitter; in this way, when issuing the option "I´m ok", this message will be published on these social networks so that the general population is aware of the facts.

f. The system will also have an APP version compatible with Android and IPhone, which when downloaded will not only issue alerts, but also show evacuation maps (connecting with goggle maps), previously developed, measures to take for the predicted disaster.

g. The system will provide the warning service: "I'm ok", which will allow both basic cell phones and smartphones to notify a local database and relatives that the person is healthy and safe.

h. The notice: "I'm OK", can also be posted on Facebook from the Smartphone APP, so friends and family can know the welfare of the affected.

 

2. Standardized operational procedures will be developed, establishing protocols of action of the communities and support organizations, in order to reduce the damages of the climatological phenomena.

 

3. All stakeholders, villagers, communities leads, local governments, aid agencies, etc., will be trained on the software's functionalities, the different types of messages that will be received and the actions to be taken in case of an alert.

 

4. Pilot plans will be developed with different types of phenomena and in diverse communities to fine-tune the system and protocols developed.

 

Social aspect:

We know that the aspects of commitment and active participation in the project by the villagers and authorities is fundamental for obtaining the expected results, so we propose to carry out a work that contemplates the following:

1. For the development of this project, those who form HERSE Consultores we approach a community located in the interior of the country and we discover that the structures of district and provincial government have a greater predisposition to plans like these, because they can see the results immediately , we mean, the tests and trials will be experienced by themselves and their settlers, which gives a real character to the project, unlike some massive proposal developed by the government.

As a result of this experience, we know that people are highly valued and appreciated to be involved in solving their problems, because they do not feel that they have to wait for the government to reach them, but they themselves are actors of their well-being.

 

2. It is important to emphasize that people living in small communities (who are the most vulnerable to disasters) do not often access technological solutions, and knowing and seeing that their community and their families benefit from technology, is developed in They feel a sense of integration into the global society, which encourages the spirit to collaborate and be part of the solution.

 

3. The disasters experienced in the country, has generated in the population a need for prevention. The people who have suffered most are the poorest and most vulnerable, who will continue to see in the same places, because the great majority not only lives but works the land where they live and do not have the resources to transfer their life and their source Of income to other places, so they will always be in the areas of risk and feel fear and concern that a new disaster will cause them new damages.

 

It is important to emphasize that at present the central government is engaged in a series of social commitments, where issues related to national reconstruction and resupply of products and services in general will prevail; We know that it is the population and local authorities who will watch not only to repair the damages suffered but will have to deal with other post-disaster impacts, as well as new rains and floods.

We know that the ideal is to involve the authorities at the national level, as the issue of climate disasters is an aspect of national interest, however, and in the first instance, the approach of interaction and commitment between people and authorities of our proposal is as follows:

 

a. Communities:

Communal associations are the smallest social organizations made up of small groups of populations who cohabit in a given geographic space and are organized for the development of activities for the common good, so social work will start from the cell of the Social organization: the community, in order to gradually scale the various organizational levels and their respective authorities.

The communities will play a fundamental role in the creation of a network of volunteers, installed in each commune, trained and equipped to guide their neighbors in disaster prevention processes, in their pilot mode, simulations and, of course, in cases Real disasters.

The software allows the execution of multiple simulations of potential disasters, extremely useful for the development of methodologies of education and neighborhood preparation, seeking to have families prepared to handle risk situations due to climatic disasters, through the implementation of community brigades.

 

b. District government

As we all know, not all inhabitants of a district have optimal access to the various media and / or information, so it is fundamental to involve the population by becoming actors in a structured and efficient communication network, according to the resources of The inhabitants and their district authorities.

By developing indirect district communication plans, it is possible to organize its inhabitants and maintain the communication structures of the projects to be implemented; Since the main element of our proposal is the use of information; That is to say the timely interpretation of it (carried out by the system) and the diffusion of this one through different channels (which will be activated by the software); However, if there is no adequate district communication network that organizes the various communities and villages in the sector, the expected results would not be obtained.

We emphasize the importance of keeping the communication structures in place for the disaster, to function optimally and to flow naturally among the inhabitants; To achieve this, we propose to maintain the communication networks in place, seeking to use them in collective benefits for interaction between the communities of the district (whether for reasons of commerce, agriculture, livestock, health, etc.); This would keep them alive and in force until the alarm situation requires them.

 

c. Regional government

As a political entity with greater geographical projection, it is responsible for the development of a general work plan for disaster prevention and preparedness, to define agencies and / or persons prepared for the general coordination of the actions to be carried out, as well as the formation Of a regional support network that is interconnected through the implemented software, which would provide alerts for the deployment of resources.

 

 

Appealing to the communal and district instances, we will develop small pilot plans in those community spaces where community brigades can be formed by developing their own contingency plans, which are very specific according to their resources, capabilities and characteristics of their environments.

These plans will allow each inhabitant to have the knowledge and preparation to know what to do before, during and after the emergency and thus be more resilient to extreme weather events; Capabilities that would be tested and evaluated through software simulations; In addition, clear of a real implementation before a disaster alarm.

We believe that this project is scalable and can go as far as national level, but in the long term. Our proposal refers to a scalability that goes from the smallest instances in the communities where the greatest damages cause a climatic disaster, and to develop pilot plans, accumulating experiences of success, which will open the doors to us to more communities, districts and regions.

Impediments to the activation of early warning protocols are generally due to the central governments hesitating to implement a mechanism that may cause them some political harm in case the event does not occur, or in case it does not generate the alert, our Proposal involves an inverse to conventional development; That is to say, instead of waiting for the central government to take the initiative, we propose that it be the smaller organizations that carry out the pilot plans, and thus with success cases, to appeal to the intervention of the national authorities for pilots to big scale. The idea of ​​this project is to appeal to the current need for prevention of our local authorities, given the recent events and work hand in hand with public and private entities that have autonomy in their management.

We know how important it is for this project to have the collaboration of the local or regional scientific technical institutions, so we will appeal to the direct interaction with the decentralized units that have autonomy in the regional management, in addition to the public information that, by legal mandate, the National bodies disseminate for free and for public consumption. It has also been contemplated to develop alliances with universities specialized in data analysis and interpretation, meteorological training centers or with research units.


Who will take these actions?

The software will be developed by a team of Information Technology professionals with experience in early warning system development as well as mobile phone software experts, all with knowledge of User Experience for technological applications.

Thresholds will be defined by a team of climate scientists, hydrologists, meteorologists and GRD (Disaster Risk Management).

For the definition of standardized operational procedures, the preparation of evacuation maps and training of involved, we will have a multidisciplinary team made up of: local authorities, experts in disaster risk management, health sector specialists, agriculture, support entities and the rest.


Where will these actions be taken?

These actions will develop in areas prone to climatological disasters in Peru such as Puno (snow and frost), Tumbes (floods caused by the phenomenon of the child, and Iquitos (floods of the Amazon River)

Likewise, they can be implemented in countries around the world, which have institutions that provide meteorological readings and forecasts.

This project adapts to any country and every type of region.


What are other key benefits?

It is important to consider that this project is not limited to aspects of human evacuation due to imminent disasters, it can also be used to alert on climatological situations of interest or care to sectors such as agriculture, health, transportation, etc. This is due to the fact that it can alleviate risk or care conditions for sowing / harvesting, possible epidemics or temporality of infectious diseases, road or weather situation for the transport of merchandise, etc.

Overall, the community as a whole would benefit from an early warning system, as the benefits extend to food supply, improved health and health services, and so on.


What are the proposal’s costs?

For this proposal to be implemented, the economic aspect is fundamental, as is the participation of the state and local governments.

The software, which forms the backbone of this project, costs $ 98,000 and will be ready to be used anywhere in the world.

In the case of the implementation of the pilot programs, the cost of the operation would depend on the support that can be obtained from the government and from financing entities. This will depend on the coverage to be achieved and the type of assistance to be provided.

On the other hand to get the most out of these projects, the active participation of government institutions is very important, as they will support the actions to be carried out.


Time line

The development of the software would take approximately 7 months, while the implementation of the first 4 years would allow to evaluate the results and contrast the social improvement by measuring the reduction of the effects of natural disasters.

The idea is that each year new communities and more forecast providers can be incorporated in such a way that the scope of the software is greater.


Related proposals


References

The Importance of Early Warning Systems - United Nations Information Center

http://www.cinu.mx/noticias/asia/los-sistemas-de-alerta-tempran/

 

Frost and Snow Season - Peru 2016

http://elcomercio.pe/sociedad/peru/catorce-regiones-estado-emergencia-heladas-y-friaje-noticia-1903204?ref=flujo_tags_519847&ft=nota_10&e=titulo

http://elcomercio.pe/sociedad/pais/declaran-emergencia-sanitaria-14-regiones-intenso-frio-noticia-1911593?ref=flujo_tags_519847&ft=nota_9&e=titulo

http://elcomercio.pe/sociedad/pais/mas-257-mil-afectados-intenso-frio-sierra-noticia-1913066?ref=flujo_tags_519847&ft=nota_8&e=titulo

http://larepublica.pe/impresa/economia/795077-alpaqueros-afectados-por-friaje-demandan-ayuda-al-gobierno

http://larepublica.pe/impresa/economia/795077-alpaqueros-afectados-por-friaje-demandan-ayuda-al-gobierno

 

Floods on the Coast - 2017

http://elcomercio.pe/sociedad/peru/indeci-se-registraron-19-emergencias-lo-que-va-ano-noticia-1963755

http://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2017/01/27/inundaciones-y-derrumbes-en-peru-dejan-al-menos-13-muertos/

http://peru21.pe/actualidad/fenomeno-nino-inundaciones-y-destrozos-diversas-zonas-pais-2240053

http://elcomercio.pe/sociedad/lima/cierran-ramiro-priale-desborde-rio-huaycoloro-video-noticia-1964867?ref=flujo_tags_330652&ft=nota_22&e=titulo

http://www.americatv.com.pe/noticias/actualidad/chiclayo-inundaciones-han-dejado-3-muertos-y-mas-57-mil-damnificados-n264229

http://diariocorreo.pe/edicion/lambayeque/chiclayo-damnificados-claman-por-ayuda-ante-inundaciones-videos-728536/

 

Intense rains and floods in the jungle - 2016

http://www.diariosinfronteras.pe/2016/02/23/inundaciones-en-casas-y-desprendimientos-en-carreteras-por-las-fuertes-lluvias/

http://www.americatv.com.pe/noticias/actualidad/inundaciones-selva-central-dejaron-mas-200-damnificados-n220611

http://www.caaap.org.pe/website/2016/05/05/loreto-declaran-en-emergencia-por-inundaciones-a-17-comunidades-de-contamana/