Standardization work behind early-warning systems and disaster relief

The experience of ITU in mitigating natural disasters and aiding recovery spans most of its history. Creating disaster-resistant telecommunication networks, for example, has always been a strategic imperative of ITU through the development of the telegraph, then radio and television broadcasting and most recently, the internet. In this work, an essential role has been played by ITU’s production of standards that range from SOS signalling to reducing degradation or disruption of communication networks when a disaster strikes. ITU was also instrumental in the development of the Tampere Convention on the Provision of Telecommunication Resources for Disaster Mitigation and Relief Operations that was adopted in 1998 and ratified by a number of countries in January 2005. This convention should ease the deployment of life-saving telecommunication equipment in emergencies.

The Indian Ocean tsunami: A wake-up call

The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 (see article “Sending out an SOS”) was a notable instance of the international community being spurred into action following a tragedy. Very recently, another sea disaster — the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004 — also led to calls for the introduction of better early-warning systems. So, in the 21st century, ITU again finds disaster relief high on its agenda and is committed to cooperating with its Member States, as well as other United Nations organizations, the private sector, the scientific community and civil society to develop an integrated early warning system.

Most of the problems faced in designing early-warning systems today arise from the need to integrate existing systems. Although such concerns as types of sensor, their location, and the required data and models are usually well understood, they are not yet well coordinated. Other issues that need to be taken into account include understanding the hazards and traditional solutions at a local level, dissemination of information, and capacity building. These have important telecommunication components, and in terms of standardization, could lead to new framework Recommendations or system-specific additions to existing Recommendations.

Action Plan for an early-warning system

ITU participated in the forming of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, which was held in Kobe, Japan, in January 2005, very soon after the tsunami disaster. ITU also took part in the Ministerial Meeting on Regional Cooperation on Tsunami Early Warning in Phuket, Thailand, later the same month. And substantial effort has since been put into coordinating and working with other bodies. Motivated by the need for new telecommunication standards in the wake of the disaster, ITU–T also developed its Action Plan for Standardization on Telecommunications for Disaster Relief and Early Warning. The Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) agreed to this plan in March 2005.

At a TSAG meeting in Geneva in November 2005, ITU–T Study Group 2 was designated as the Lead Study Group for Telecommunications for Disaster Relief/Early Warning. In addition, all study groups were encouraged to increase their activities in defining Recommendations and other materials (such as handbooks) and to provide feed-back to TSAG and Study Group 2 on actions taken and proposals for improving the Action Plan.

Partnership Coordination Panel

ITU–T Recommendations already produced in the field include specifications that allow for preference to be given to emergency calls in a disaster. Additionally, ITU–T established in 2003 a Partnership Coordination Panel on Telecommunications for Disaster Relief (PCP-TDR), providing a channel to exchange views and experiences. PCP-TDR gathers people from various bodies working on relevant standardization fields, as well as representatives of such relief organizations as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF), which is a partner in ITU’s Connect the World initiative.

A workshop will take place in October 2006 that will bring together such organizations to review current developments in early-warning systems and telecommunications for disaster relief, covering all areas that can benefit from standardization and ensuring that activities in this area are well coordinated.

Crucial Recommendations

A number of ITU–T Recommendations for call priority schemes seek to ensure that relief workers can get communication lines when they need to. For example, E.106 defines the International Emergency Preferential Scheme (IEPS), which aims to give emergency personnel a higher probability of successful communication using the public network at times when it is in high demand, such as in emergencies. There are also Recommendations that extend call priority to internet protocol (IP)-based systems designed by ITU, such as IP-Cablecom, as well as Recommendations covering telecommunication network management in emergencies (M.3350) and a framework to support emergency communications in a next-generation network (Y.1271).

Complementary to the need to provide call priority during emergencies is the ability to deliver warnings. The new Recommendation H.460.21 provides a message broadcast mechanism in H.323 systems, which are deployed worldwide for voice over IP (VoIP) communications. This mechanism is akin to that of cell broadcasts for mobile systems and can be used by network operators and service providers to deliver early warning messages via the short message service (SMS) to a large number of users without overloading the network infrastructure.

SOS by SMS

Raising money to help disaster victims is an important area of activity. In December 2005, ITU–T Study Group 2 agreed on the allocation of an international SMS number (+979 0767) to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It allows the two organizations to launch relief campaigns across national boundaries, using a recognizable and non-changing number. Texting emerged as a popular way to contribute to relief efforts following the 2003 earthquake in Bam in the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well the Indian Ocean tsunami.

Challenges for the future

ITU–T has taken note of the report from the Second Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society in November 2005, in particular paragraph 91 of the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society. This paragraph highlights the important role of information and communication technologies (ICT) for disaster early warning, management and emergency communication. ITU–T will contribute to international efforts to implement those aims. In particular, ITU–T standards will be essential to make international early-warning systems practical and effective.

	Simon Gray
	Emergency workers need to be sure that their communications will be given priority

Also, it is necessary to disseminate advice on “best practice” regarding actions to be taken from when a warning of a natural disaster is issued to relief operations, including the crucial question of information flows among all those concerned. In deploying telecommunications for this purpose, the most effective approach is to make sure it is highly focused, taking into account four distinct communication channels:

    Citizen to authority: Last-mile solutions are important here. Examples include special numbers, such as 911 in North America or 112 in Europe, which provide instant connections to emergency response teams. While this may provide some regulatory challenges, these can be overcome with conditions on telecommunication licensing.

    Authority to authority: Ways must be found to facilitate communications between the national and international agencies involved in disaster management so as to maximize and coordinate relief efforts. For example, radio communications between police and fire brigades should be made easier, as well as between field health workers and monitoring centres.

    Authority to citizen: This may be the most critical communication step of all, if citizens are to be warned of an impending disaster and get clear instructions on what they should do. Radio and television broadcasts, internet websites, and perhaps text messages sent en masse to mobile phones, can all play important roles.

    Citizen to citizen: The social concerns of those in the affected regions must also be addressed, as well as the anxieties of their relatives seeking news. Again, radio and television, the internet and mobile telephony could be used for this purpose.

In general, it is necessary to define, together with relevant partners, the need for extensions or add-ons to globally accepted standards, so that early warning and disaster relief capabilities can be introduced into already deployed telecommunication systems and networks. New systems such as next-generation networks (NGN) should have built-in features that support emergency communications, using globally defined standards. ITU–T will continue to pursue one of its core missions of delivering standards that allow systems developers to add, in an interoperable and consistent fashion, facilities to their systems that can reliably respond in emergencies.