Page 169 - ITU Kaleidoscope 2016

ICTs for a Sustainable World

level category of disaster. The system adopts a set of rules SAMBRO also acts as an Alert Hub. The advantage of
for each event type, such as filtering the set of relevant CAP using any protocol is the standardization of the
message templates, warning classification, predefined alert disseminated message from the system. So any CAP 1.2
areas, and message recipients. The warning classification implemented system can interact with SAMBRO system.
are for message recipients to summarize the severity, Each published CAP compliant warning from other
certainty, and urgency CAP properties of the warning organization can be imported into the local database. More
message. The warning classification is not to be confused exciting is that those warnings coming from other
with the scale of the hazard such as the Saffir-Simpson organization can be relayed to the respective organization.
4
Hurricane wind scale . Here SAMBRO has bridge the gap between the inter-
CAP message templates are predefined CAP messages. It organizational communications.
allows for the Implementers to generate consistent messages
that can be changed to suit the context at the time of issuing 2.3.5. SAMBRO Web
the warning. SAMBRO CAP templates are generally
defined for Cyclone, Flood, Heavy Rain, Earthquake, Figure 3 show the Common Operating Picture gives an
Tsunami, and Landslide, so on and so forth. While most of overview of “What is happening and Where and When”.
the CAP elements would carry predefined text some The GIS enabled mapping provides more interaction with
elements such as the CAP message “description” would the audience. The warnings can be filtered to move into the
contain blanks that need to be filled in based on the event area of interest. Each warning has its own main profile that
specifics. overview the associated alerting qualifiers, detailed
information relating to warning, any instructions,
2.3.3. Workflows descriptions and many more.
The SAMBRO Web Application is localized allowing the
There is a two stage workflow for warning message user to choose their choice of the Graphic User Interface
dissemination. The Editor (or CAP message author) (GUI) language. The localization is fairly easy under
creates/edit the alert, and requests for an Approver to verify Sahana because of the multi-language capabilities the
the message and approve for dissemination. Approvers Web2Py platform offers.
receive an Email and a SMS with a URL pointing to the
message awaiting approval. The Approver does not need to
be at an office table to use a Personal Computer. They can
be anywhere and use their Smartphone, provided they have
Internet connectivity, to approve the warning message.
Relying warnings is a common practice among NDMOs and
Response Organizations. CAP makes it easy to implement a
warning message relay workflow with SAMBRO. When a
NWC issues a bulletin (alert) or a warning, the NDMO can
relay that message. SAMBRO is capable of subscribing to
National and International CAP feeds. These are, typically,
through RSS feeds but has the option of integrating specific
APIs. When a message is received through an external
source, SAMBRO offers a feature to relay the message
allowing the Authority to make changes to the original
message before disseminating through the SAMBRO
communications engine.

2.3.4 Communications

The single entry of a CAP message can be disseminated, to
the end recipients, through multiple channels. Short
Message Service (SMS), Email, File Transfer Protocol
(FTP), Real Simple Syndication (RSS), Google Cloud Figure 2: SAMBRO Mobile App for the first responders
Messaging (GCM), Websites, and social media like
Facebook, twitter are the available communication 2.3.6. SAMBRO Mobile
channels. SAMBRO uses a simple Extensible Stylesheet
Transformation (XSLT) to produce the text outputs for the The SAMBRO Mobile can run on both Android and iOS
various media channels. Smartphones. The mobile application was developed with
the Cordova based “PhoneGap” with HTML, CSS and
JavaScript; allowing the mobile-app to be independent of
4 "Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale - National Hurricane the operating system: Android, iOS or Windows. The
Center." 2012. 5 Jul. 2016 mobile-app adopt GCM for pushing messages in real-time
<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php>

– 151 –