Disaster

What is the Role of ICT for Disaster Management in Indonesia?

By: Nana Sutisna

INTRODUCTION

Indonesia: The most disaster prone region area

Indonesia is the disaster[1] one of the most vulnerable country, this is because Indonesia is located in the line of volcanic pacific ring of fire. That is the most active chain of volcano in the world. Indonesia has about more than 240 Volcanoes, among of them there are 70 volcanoes is still active. The Indonesia geographical position is rounded by Eurasia plat, Indo-Australia plat, and Pacific plat, sometimes plat will move to be broken that affect the earthquake. The volcanoes active and earthquake zone in pacific circum very popular, because every high earthquake potentially affected the tsunami and this very dangerous for people, because if it happen will be many victim.[2] The Volcano logy and Mitigations Directorate of Geological Disaster in energy and Mineral resource department indicates that there are 28 location of the earthquake and tsunami prone area in Indonesia.

Beside the disaster affected by natural process (Natural Disaster), the disaster potential in Indonesia also affected by the human (Man made Disaster). The head of Geodynamic division, National Mapping and Coordination Survey Agency Cecep Subarya, stated that disaster happen because the human error or mistakes, like Flood, landslide, drought, and forest fire.[3] The man made disaster is 53% they are affected by The Flood, Drought, landslide, forest fire. If compare by the others disaster, but disaster affected by the earthquake only 7,5%, nevertheless it will destroy and will take the a load of victims.

In Environmental Look WALHI 2003 was revealed that Indonesia could not be proud anymore by the Jamrud Country title, because in the fact that Indonesia is the thousand’s disaster. In the year 2002, notes at least 14 natural disaster happen especially flood and landslide. The disaster affected the victim human being, damage infrastructure, agriculture.[4] National Disaster Management and Coordination agency (Bakornas PB) note that since 1998 to 2003 had happen 647 natural disaster in Indonesia, 85% where flood and landslide.

Natural Disaster in Indonesia (1998-2003)

Type	The Number of even	Human Victims	Loss (juta rupiah)
Flood	302	1066	191.312
Landslide	245	645	13.928
Earthquake	38	306	100.000
Volcanoes	16	2	n.a
Strom	46	3	4.015
Total	647	2022

Source: Bakornas PB

In Indonesia disaster still continue in 2004, beginning by the earthquake in Alor NTT, Papua and tsunami in Aceh in the and 2004 destroy all the life sector and killed 220, 000 people. While Indonesia still rehabilited the life affected by tsunami in Aceh soon the coming earthquake happen in Yogyakarta in the mid of 2006 also kill 3098 people and destroy 3824 building, infrastructure and cut the telecommunication network.

The Importance of Disaster Management

The impact is affected by the disaster is giving loss to the people. The losses not only material but also mentality that affected the long trauma in to the lowest point to be pessimistic life or the low quality of life. Impact and losses the human resource quality is the most threaten of human being, shortly that disaster can affect the need access of human life closed and soon decreasing the quality of human life.

Natural disaster can happen accidentally or through long process. In the different disaster like earthquake almost impossible predicted accurately where and when it happen and the frequency of rectare, but some others disaster still can predict and estimate like flood, volcano eruption and landslide. Although we can predict the disaster even always give the surprise impact that affected much losses of material and people. In the sustainability of human life quality by minimizing of the impact that affected by disaster so that is needed and disaster management strategy. Is known as disaster management. Principally the disaster management can give the preparations to anticipate the hazard and risk so that it can minimize the material risk and victim.

This is one can affect the big impact if the disaster happen are 4 factors;

1. the less of understanding of the hazard characteristic
2. Attitude and practice that can decrease the quality of natural resources (vulnerability)
3. Less of information or early warning because of not prepared
4. Disability in anticipating the hazard

The 4 factors above give the high influence to the risk of the disaster. The factors are something could be loss by good disaster management. The good disaster management by managing disaster to eliminate the factors to make the risk to become lower.

The disaster management is an effort to reduce the disaster risk by doing the holistic activity is done related to the cycle of disaster management so every phase could be done by some activity to minimize risk of the disaster happen.

Source: http://www.apdip.net/publications/iespprimers/eprimer-dm.pdf

The phases of the disaster management cycle, which are described as follows:

• Mitigation: any activity that reduces either the chance of a hazard taking place or a hazardturning into disaster.

• Risk reduction: anticipatory measures and actions that seek to avoid future risks as a resultof a disaster.

• Prevention: avoiding a disaster even at the eleventh hour.
• Preparedness: plans or preparations made to save lives or property, and help the responseand rescue service operations. This phase covers implementation/operation, early warning systems and capacity building so the population will react appropriately when an early warning is issued.

• Response: includes actions taken to save lives and prevent property damage, and topreserve the environment during emergencies or disasters. The response phase is the implementation of action plans.

• Recovery: includes actions that assist a community to return to a sense of normalcy aftera disaster.

Disaster management (also called disaster risk management) is the discipline that involves preparing, warning, supporting and rebuilding societies when natural or man-made disasters occur. It is the continuous process by which all individuals, groups and communities manage hazards in an effort to avoid or minimize the impact of disasters resulting from hazards. Effective disaster management relies on thorough integration of emergency plans at all levels of government and non-government involvement. Activities at each level (individual, group, community) affect the other levels.[5]

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) integration in Disaster Management

Daniel stauffacher and Sanjana Hottotuwa said; disaster management is an imperfect science. It is impossible to predict accurately when and where disaster will occur. The Hazard that area rife in Asia pacific area pose huge challenges, political as well technical.[6] The arguments give an explanations ability of disaster management must be support by others discipline which can give deep knowledge and supporting disaster risk reduction in all phases on disaster management cycle.

Disaster management can’t separate an sich to solving problem, but must be integrated with other discipline, one of is a Information and communication Technology. Tsunami even at the and 2004 had emphasized other component for more integrated disaster management with ICT, Since the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) together with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have taken initiatives to study the current situation of emergency communications in the Asia-Pacific countries and to give recommendation on national emergency telecommunication and national early warning system setups. For Indonesian Government ICT have a significant role if reflection on 2004 Aceh Tsunami experience, thousand of victim make disaster response must be quick action, the damage of infrastructure make management handling is not easy, but ICT has can give the most practical evacuation in Indonesia history. With the mini and practical satellite hardware, evacuation process, giving donation and monitoring of the disaster victim is to be practical to do.

ICT on Indonesian Disaster Management

The role of ICT on disaster management in Indonesia become significant, itcould be proved when emergency response in Tsunami Aceh. Base on the experience role of ICT can be primaries all phase in disaster management. To seeing disaster characteristic in Indonesia so that ICT will role in highlighting risk area, vulnerabilities and potentially affected populations by producing geographically referenced analysis through, for example a GIS.

Disaster Management try to reduce disaster impact, in the first step roe of ICT is in Early Warning system, its very significant because all that related with EWS in disaster doing with the technology tools so that can help people in disaster preparedness.

ICT tools which support disaster management is GIS. Before disaster come, GIS is used for managing the large volumes of data needed for the hazard and risk assessment, and in the preparedness phase it a tool for a planning of evacuation routes. In the relief phase, GIS is extremely useful in combination with GPS in search and rescue in area that have been devastated and where is difficult to orientate. The others tool is a remote sensing, it used for make a hazard and risk modeling for Disaster, remote sensing based early warning system for natural disaster and it can be use to damage assessment using satellite and airborne sensor. Satellite is a important tools on ICT, and use for disaster management in phase preparedness and response. Satellite used for emergency communication, hazard forecasting, EWS and monitoring. Satellite also used for information exchange about disaster. Other tools in ICT like; internet, television, hand phone, community radio, and sirens it’s very significant to help people in Disaster management for reducing disaster impact.[7]

ICT in Indonesia Disaster management can be used in all phase disaster management, because Indonesia is vulnerable country. Learning from tsunami in Aceh, earthquake in Yogyakarta, and flood disaster in Jakarta using ICT must be integrated on disaster management in Indonesia. Application ICT in EWS, hazards and risk mapping area can be help community to reduce impact of hazard, and in emergency response can be fast to help community with using spatial data on GIS, distribution the information.

Base on experience to face disaster that happen in Indonesia, especially tsunami in Aceh and earthquake in Yogyakarta, role of ICT it important in disaster management. Information and communication Technology can play an important role in different phases of disaster management. Integrated program between ICT and disaster management continuously and rapid development of ICT is essential for the protection of the people from the destructive effect of disaster.

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[1] Disaster is situation and condition will happen people life. Depend on cover area, disaster can change term of life and normal condition people, eliminate material and human, damage social structure and affected the increase basic needs (Bakornas PB) Idep Foundation, “Panduan Umum Penanggulangan Bencana untuk Masyarakat, Bali, 2004.

[2] The data about Volcanoes in Indonesia is got from Center of Data and Tempo Analysis through the sites www.pdat.com access on date July, 1 2008, times 11.00 wib.

[3] Yayat Ruchiat, researcher from Center for International forestry Research (CIFOR), in the research paper with he title “Penyebab dan dampak Kebakaran Hutan dan Lahan” to analyze forest fire that main factor cuase by fire affected from shifting cuktivatian activity and illegal logging.

[4] www.walhi.or.id in the article “Sejuta Bencana Terencana Di Indonesia” accses on date 1 July 2008.

[5] http://www.apdip.net/publications/iespprimers/eprimer-dm.pdf, Chanuka Watagemma, “ICT for Disaster Management”. Access 1 July 2008.

[6]http://www.ict4peace.org/view_files-1-v-135.html, Commonwealth Ministers handbook ‘ICT for Disaster management in the Asia-pacific region”. Access in 30 June 2008.

[7] Er.A.K. Sabat, “Application of ICT in Disaster management-An Overview”