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Session on Conducting National Level Emergency Communications Drills and Exercises: Guidelines for Small Island Developing States (SIDs) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs)

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Time and place: Monday, 7 October 2019, 09:30 – 15:45 (Room K)​​

This session on Conducting National Level Emergency Communications Drills and Exercises: Guidelines for Small Island Developing States (SIDs) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) took​​ place at ITU Headquarters (ITU Montbrillant building, Room K) in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday, 7 October 2019, from 09:30 to 15:45 followed by the ITU-D Study Group 2 Question 5/2 meeting dedicated to “Utilizing telecommunications/ICTs for disaster risk reduction and management​”.

Photos from the session can be found here​
​(Contact devSG@itu.int​ for any question)

Background information

A majority of ITU Member States understand that Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) play a critical role in all phases of disasters, and understand the importance of preparing National Emergency Telecommunications Plans (NETPs). However, the concept of conducting drills and exercises to test and update plans and policies may be daunting. There is a need for guidance that is adaptable/scalable for developing countries, and in particular, to the unique needs of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Without a means to test national communications readiness, plans remain theoretical and might not be suitable in a disaster.​

Goals:
  • ​​Highligh​t the priority of conducting drills and exercises and their importance to implementing and updating a national emergency telecommunications plan, which is scalable for SIDS and LDCs;
  • Create a draft document on “Guidelines for Conducting National Level Emergency Communications Exercises and Drills for SIDS and LDCs”;
  • Enhance the Final Report for Question Q5/2 on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) exercises and drills. ​​
​​

Return to the main meeting page

[09:30 – 09:35] Workshop Opening

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[09:35 – 09:45] Setting the stage: The priority and Importance of Drills and Exercises to National Emergency Communications Planning

Ms Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), International Telecommunication Union

[09:45 – 10:45] Session 1: Experiences of planning disaster drills for Small Island Developing States and Lesser Developed Countries:

​Session discussion topics - getting started and planning for success:
  • Starting from scratch: building a program of drills and exercises from the ground up, that is scalable to SIDS and LDCs
  • Defining the objective and scope of a disaster drill
  • Considering the range, frequency, and duration of emergency communications exercises and drills
  • Tailoring drills and exercises to national conditions and complex emergencies
  • Existing resources, such as exercise and National Emergency Telecommunications Plans (NETP) tools and templates, and how they can be tailored ​
Moderator: Mr Joseph Burton, Co-Rapporteur for Question 5/2, Cyber and International Communications and Information Policy (CIP), United States of America

​Speakers:
  • Mr John Jack, Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), Vanuatu (Republic of)​
    Vanuatu's experiences in exercises and drills [Presentation]​​
  • Mr Gregory Domond, Conseil National des Télécommunications (CONATEL), Haiti (Republic of)
    Earthquake and tsunami drills and exercises in Haiti​ [Presentation]​
  • Mr Joseph Burton, Cyber and International Communications and Information Policy (CIP), United States of America
    The role of the regulator in disaster management, table-top simulation exercise [Presentation]​
  • ​​​​Ms Maritza Delgado, ​Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union​
[10:45 – ​11:00] Coffee/Tea Break

[11:00 – 12:30] Session 2 - Conducting Drills: a guided discussion with panellists and participants

Session discussion topics: 
 Coordination:
  • Whole of government coordination, including with national disaster authorities. Initiating and expanding coordination. 
  • Improving stakeholder coordination across government, industry and civil society, including internal and external stakeholders ​ 
Conducting the drill/exercise: ​
  • Common disaster scenarios and “injects” 
  • Increasing flexibility to change or adapt, plans and policies
  • The technologies in play most frequently in drills by SIDS and LDCs
  • Use of innovative technologies in preparedness exercises as well as use of old technologies in innovative ways to support preparedness and response
​Moderator: Mr Joseph Burton, Co-Rapporteur for Question 5/2, Cyber and International Communications and Information Policy (CIP), United States of America

​Speakers:
  • Mr Antwane Johnson, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), United States of America
    IPAWS - utilizing alert & warning in drills and exercises [Presentation]​​
  • Mr Rod Stafford, International Amateur Radio Union (IARU)
    Amateur radio - prepared for drills and exercises ​[Presentation]
  • Mr Justin Williams, Network Disaster Recovery, AT&T (United States of America)
    Leveraging ICTs for disaster and response: ​​what have we learned? [Presentation]​
  • Mr Dulip Tillekeratne, Mobile for Human​itarian Innovation, GSMA
    Engaging with mobile network operators on drills and exercises
  • Ms Ria Sen, Global Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC), World Food Programme (WFP)
  • Ms Maritza Delgado, Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union​
[12:30 - 14:30] Lunch Break

[14:30 - 15:45] Session 3 - The wrap up: Capturing and Turning Lessons Learned into Action

Session discussion topics:
After actions and lessons learned:
  • Guidelines for conducting after action discussions and reports
  • Translating after action lessons learned from post-drill after actions into updates of policies and plans, including NETPs ​
Moderator: Mr Joseph Burton, Co-Rapporteur for Question 5/2, Cyber and International Communications and Information Policy (CIP), United States of America

​Speakers:​
  • Mr Rod Stafford, International Amateur Radio Union (IARU)
  • Mr Justin Williams, Network Disaster Recovery, AT&T (United States)
  • Mr Dulip Tillekeratne, Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation, GSMA
  • Ms Ria Sen, Global Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC), World Food Programme (WFP)
    Introducing the ETC-ITU table-top simulation exercise guide [Presentation]​​
  • ​Ms Maritza Delgado, Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union

​Debrief, takeaways and conclusions

Useful references

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​​Return to the m​ain ITU-D Study Group 2 page​​

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