Tsunami : January 2005 Issue by i4d magazine

Vol. III No. 1

January 2005

The first monthly magazine on ICT4D

Predicting tsunamis The how and why of tsunami Information for development www.i4donline.net

Disaster recovery and ICT in Sri Lanka The day after

Recommendations from MSSRF Life beyond tsunami

ISSN 0972 - 804X

Tsunami

Introducing ICTD project newsletter

Courtesy: Matichon Public Co., Ltd.

April 2004 | www.i4donline.net

Contents

i4d Vol. III No. 1

Features Tsunami special

January 2005

Mailbox Mail

info@i4donline.net

23 News Columns recovery and ICT in Sri 10 Disaster Lanka The day after Maithri Jansz

Predicting tsunamis The how and why of tsunami Himank Kothiyal

Seventh UNICT Task 41 Report: Force annual conference

44 AISECT ICT mobile vans in India A silent revolution

role in disaster relief and 15 ICT’s warning

19 Tsunami relief and rehab Lending their hands

27 Amateur Radio

A potential tool in emergency operations Mahesh Acharya

for 31 Recommendations rehabilitation from MSSRF India Life beyond tsunami

11 Tsunami

Jayalakshmi Chittoor

39 Interview

Richard Fuchs, Director ICTD Division, IDRC

42 Bytes for All... 45 What’s on 46 In fact Webbing disaster

35 ICTD project newsletter

Photo Feature

i4donline.net News Search ICT4D news by date in the sectors of governance, health, education, agriculture and so on. E-mail Subscribe to daily, weekly, monthly newsletters online or send request to info@i4donline.net Research e-Learning projects from India. www.i4donline.net/elearn.asp

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Learn more about FLOSS www.i4donline.net/floss/introduction.asp Print edition The past issues of the magazine is available online www.i4donline.net/archive/archive.htm

It was really very exciting and prestigious matter for you and all of us who are associated with i4d for being selected as the best and the first monthly magazine on ICT4D at the AISECT event in Bhopal. I should congratulate you. It is my expectation that the magazine i4d should go to the top position globally. Prof. Lutfor Rahman Vice-Chancellor Pundra University of Science and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh lutfor@agni.com Congratulations on winning the best magazine award recently. It is a reward to your vision and the mission you are committed to. But, I trust the real reward for you is in the ‘changes’ you are making in the ICT policy domain. I think your magazine is a good influence on various policy-makers and an eye-opener to many sceptics. Please accept my sincere wishes as you continue your march. Basheerhamad Shadrach One World South Asia basheerhamad.shadrach@oneworld.net Found the i4donline.net a good initiative. But, a major segment of Development is not focused yet - Urban and Regional Planning. Drawing parallel to URISA in USA and Australia, the i4d should have a News Focus on Urban and Regional Information for Planning and Development. I am a Planner with 15yrs of international with working exposure on ICT for these areas. I am keen to contribute to this section. Ajay kr Sankaran ajay@go2citynet.com

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i4d | January 2005

Editorial Information for development

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Advisory Board M P Narayanan, Chairman, i4d Amitabha Pande Department of Science and Technology, Government of India Chin Saik Yoon Southbound Publications, Malaysia Ichiro Tambo OECD, France Karl Harmsen Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific, India Kenneth Keniston Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA Mohammed Yunus Grameen Bank, Bangladesh Nagy Hanna Information Solutions Group, World Bank, USA S. Ramani Research Director, H.P.Labs, India Walter Fust Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Switzerland Wijayananda Jayaweera UNESCO, France Editorial Board Fredrick Noronha, Akhtar Badshah Editor Ravi Gupta Editorial Consultant Jayalakshmi Chittoor Programme Officers Anuradha Dhar, Gautam Navin, Saswati Paik Research Associates Sejuti Sarkar De, Naveen Kaul, Jhinuk Chowdhury, Tanzeena Ghoshe Mukherjee Designers Deepak Kumar, Bishwajeet Kumar Singh Web Programmer Zia Salauddin Group Directors Maneesh Prasad, Sanjay Kumar i4d G-4 Sector 39, NOIDA, UP, 201 301, India. Phone +91 120 250 2180-87 Fax +91 120 250 0060 Email info@i4donline.net Web www.i4donline.net Contact us in Singapore 25 International Business Park, #4-103F, German Centre, Singapore - 609916 Phone +65-65627983 Fax +65-656227984 Printed at Yashi Media Works Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, India i4d is a monthly publication. It is intended for those interested and involved in the use of Information and CommnicationTechnologies for development of underserved communities. It is hoped that it will serve to foster a growing network by keeping the community up to date on many activities in this wide and exciting field.

At i4d, we had scheduled an issue dedicated to Disaster Management and the role of ICTs in mitigation, and awareness generation in the last year. Several agencies with whom we were talking were not quite sure how relevant this theme was, and suggested that we do more research on this subject. But December 26, 2004 turned out to be the darkest day for nearly 200,000 people (and perhaps more) when the world’s worst earthquake triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean. Tsunami added a new word to the Asian lexicon and at a huge human and material cost. Technology was there to warn at least four hours ahead. But, on a full-moon day at the early hours of the morning, those countries that did have the warning systems could not take timely evacuation decisions and measures. Recently, one of our colleagues was in Chennai, and heard from the survivors, that a lot more deaths occurred during the second wave when people heard from others that a huge stormy wave had struck the coast and many had been washed. The sea had calmed down a bit (for about an hour), and curious people went towards the beaches to see what really had hit the shores? “What was this beast called tsunami?” they wondered. The second storm was mightier and engulfed many thousands of curious people with it. Natural disasters are not something that the humans have learnt to control. But, the information technology, and innovative ways of sharing news and information did save many lives as well as millions of dollars, that needs to be spent in relief and rehabilitation. International agencies committed to improve the lives of the poor have to take into consideration that while rehabilitation and support will be a mammoth exercise, farsighted actions also needs to be initiated to make ICTs work for development. UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, called on donors to convert aid pledges into $1bn in cash for urgent use. “Governments have donated and they have indicated to me that they will do more,” Annan said. “I am satisfied with the response so far. The only thing I want to stress is that we are in this for the long term.” We hope that i4d’s this year’s focus on how ICT4D is helping to reach and better the lives of the poorest of the poor will help donors and implementers alike. We will continue to monitor the progress made in bringing respite to the affected people and aim towards better preparedness in future.

i4d does not necessarily subscribe to the views expressed in this publication. All views expressed in this magazine are those of the contributors. i4d is not responsible or accountable for any loss incurred directly or indirectly as a result of the information provided.

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November 2004 | www.i4donline.net

Ravi Gupta Ravi.Gupta@i4donline.net

P REDICTING T SUNAMIS

The how and why of tsunami The tsunami catastrophe that struck several South Asian nations on December 26, 2004, has left behind a trail of widespread destruction. Image courtesy: New York Times online

Himank Kothiyal Press Information Bureau (PIB) India hkothiyal@yahoo.com

The tsunami that struck South Asia on 26th December caused waves to rise to a height of 9 metres at some places and was undoubtedly one of the most devastating tsunamis in recent history. The earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale struck at 6.58 a.m and is believed to have led to a sequence of 15 quakes across Andaman and Nicobar islands. It is believed to be the fourth most destructive tsunami in history. The basic mechanism behind tsunamis is the displacement of a large volume of water, which also displaces the sea floor. Just as in the case of earthquakes on land, tsunamis are dictated by plate tectonics. A displacement of the tectonic plates will always generate a wave at the surface of the ocean known as tsunami. In the present case, the tectonic plates are estimated to have been displaced by as much as 30 metres. Actually, a tsunami is not a single wave, but a series of waves and is therefore, sometimes called a ‘wave train’. In the case of the tsunami that struck on December 26, 2004 too, there were three waves, which

struck at an interval of approximately 20 minutes. Usually, the first tsunami wave is the least destructive too, as is corroborated by survivors of tsunami waves in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Tsunami waves can cross entire oceans without losing their intensity and energy and can rattle up speeds upto 800 km per hour. Survivors of tsunamis say that the sound of a gushing tsunami is quite similar to that of a freight train. Tsunamis, as is by now widely known, are ‘harbour waves’. The word is essentially made up of two Japanese words - ‘tsu’, meaning harbour and ‘nami’ meaning waves. Though tsunamis were generally considered to be a Pacific phenomenon, the tsunami that struck on December 26, 2004, has proved that natural phenomena cannot be restricted to a single area or region. Tsunamis have often erroneously been termed as ‘tidal waves’. The reason behind is the fact that tsunamis can be caused even by disturbances other than seismic, such as landslides taking place under the water, meteoric disturbances and also of human activity. i4d | January 2005

Harbour waves ‘Tsunami’

Image courtesy: ABC news online

Tsunamis can be generated by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, nuclear explosions and major landslides or even by the impact of meteorites. Earthquakes occurring on the ocean floor, measuring more than 6-6.5 on the Richter scale, usually cause tsunamis. Interestingly, an earthquake is in itself the first natural warning of an impending tsunami. However, tsunamis themselves are determined not by the magnitude of the earthquake, but by the type of fault through which the earthquake is generated.

Is tsunami prediction really possible? This really is million-dollar question, as of today. Though tsunamis do follow a certain pattern, it is not uniform for all regions and areas. As the epicenters of most of the tsunamigenic earthquakes take place deep below in the oceans, an accurate measurement of its geophysical and geochemical precursors, which could act as a warning for an impending tsunami, is a difficult and indeed a far-fetched proposition, given the technology existing as of today. If proper parameters of historic tsunami determinism are drawn up, it is possible to predict a reasonable time frame for the recurrence of a tsunami. However, even then, given the fact that earthquakes on lands too can be predicted only with a reasonable degree of accuracy, accurate prediction of a tsunami is still some distance away. Of course, the loss of life and property can be minimised. To accurately predict a tsunami, various parameters of the source of the tsunami have to be drawn up in ‘real time’. The time lag between the prediction of a tsunami based on a study of these parameters would effectively leave very little time to act on the warning of an impending tsunami. Seismic parameters - viz the earthquake’s magnitude, the depth of the water, parameters of the fault line, besides a host of other factors like data connected to the sea level have to be taken into account. Tsunamis have been a rare occurrence in the Indian Ocean, as the seismic activity is relatively lesser than in the Pacific Ocean. There have been only seven instances of earthquake-triggered tsunamis near Indonesia, Pakistan and one in the Bay of Bengal in the last 100 years. It is in this context that the demand for aligning with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) based in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, has to be understood in the proper context. Though it has been pointed out by the national and international media that the colossal damage inflicted on India as a result of tsunami could have been avoided, had India joined the PTWC, what is being ignored is the fact that Thailand and Indonesia, two of the other nations which were devastated by the tsunami are signatories to the PTWC. January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

Despite a three-hour warning of the impending tsunami, the fate of Thailand and Indonesia is equally bad, if not worse than that of India. Surprisingly, there has been little or no talk of ‘Project Thrust’ - a low cost and a reliable regional programme aimed at those countries that have inadequate or an absence of PTWC. Moreover, what holds good for the Pacific Ocean system may not necessarily hold good for the Indian Ocean. Researchers at the ‘Laboratoire de Geosciences Marines and Centre de Recherches Petrogaphiques et Geochemiques’ have reported that the earth’s mantle in the Indian Ocean is entirely different in its chemical composition from that of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The mantle of the Indian Ocean is characterized by a lack of titanium. Titanium is highly resistant to heat with a melting temperature as high as 1668°C. Its melting point is higher than that of steel. Deep inside the Earth, the high temperatures in mantle cause convective currents. However, with the help of latest dredging methods, researchers have found that the temperatures below the earth under the Indian Ocean ridge are the coldest, with the temperature being around 1,200°C and the hottest being about 1,460°C. Hence, while undertaking any study to forecast earthquakes, or tsunamis, such changes have to be accounted for in the chemical composition of the mantle beneath the Indian Ocean. What should be understood thoroughly is that our knowledge about the secrets of nature is still woefully inadequate. Modern technology can never fight with nature. The emphasis has to be on co-existing with nature. Nature has its own ways and for it, human existence, or the lack of it, does not have any implication for the nature. For, nature has existed much before mankind made its first appearance on this planet and would continue to exist long after mankind is wiped out from the face of this planet. This is an essential difference between the Occidental and Western philosophy and style of thinking too - West propagates its technology for commercial benefit and the technology is aimed at competing and equating with nature, whereas the Indian philosophy has always stood for harmonious co-existence with nature, as exemplified by concepts such as ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’ and ‘Shanti Paath’.

Asian tragedy: Confusion compounded by media? These days when information travels at the speed of light, the impact of any event, or tragedy increases manifold due to latest

Jetties damaged in Tsunami in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Image courtesy: PTI

Tsunami Warning Centres The Richard H. Hagemeyer Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, serves as the national/international warning center for tsunamis that pose a Pacific-wide threat. This international warning effort became a formal arrangement in 1965. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System (PTWS) is composed of 26 international Member States that are organized as the International Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service also operates two tsunami-warning centers. The Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (ATWC) in Palmer, Alaska, serves as the regional Tsunami Warning Center for Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California. The function of PTWS is to monitor seismological and tidal stations throughout the Pacific Basin to evaluate potentially tsunamigenic earthquakes and disseminating tsunami warning information. To accomplish this, it continuously receives seismographic data from more than 150 stations around the Pacific through cooperative data exchanges and sea level data from more than 100 stations. The Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) Project developed by NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) and operated by NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) is an ongoing effort to maintain and improve the capability for the early detection and real-time reporting of tsunamis in the open ocean. PMEL has at present seven DART buoys which are in operation in the northern and eastern Pacific and available for use by the tsunami warning centers. Source: The Times of India

communication tools and devices at the disposal of the media. However, it also behoves the media to act responsibly and with restraint in the event of such a monumental tragedy in the history. However, the media has shown itself in poor light in the wake of the December 26 tsunami tragedy. When 9/11 happened, American authorities did not allow even a single dead body, or a single droplet of blood to be beamed on television. Contrast this with the photographs and visuals of rows of dead bodies piled up in the wake of the tsunami tragedy in our national media. The media then went on to howl about the damage to the Kalpakkam nuclear reactor. Though the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) website had posted a release on December 26 itself that the Kalpakkam reactor was safe, no newspaper or channel bothered to check with the DAE website and was assured only when the National Security Advisor, Shri J.N. Dixit and Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, Dr. Anil Kakodkar briefed the mediapersons. Our media seems to believe in the adage - ‘the proof of the pudding is in eating’. Again, our channels and newspapers cried hoarse about the extinction of the native tribes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands like Onges, Sentinelese, and Jarawas, only to eat back their words a couple of days later, saying that the tribals were safe and had survived by ‘instinct’. Even on the controversy over the ‘alert’ issued by the Home Ministry was blown out of proportions. The ‘alert’ was actually put out by a US agency and was picked up from the Internet by

Government agencies. Though it is true that the ‘alert’ should have been issued only after careful deliberations, it was actually precautionary in nature. The Western media is taking delight in creating confusion even in this hour of grief and our media is willy-nilly adding fuel to the fire. The Western media has also been spreading all sorts of canards about December 26 tsunami and has been in fact getting vicarious pleasures from it. It was propagated that as a result of the earthquake of December 26, the impact on our Earth was so great that it has affected the axis (on which the Earth rotates) and as a result, days have been shortened by a few seconds. Our media, instead of checking out the facts, spreads such rumours like a forest fire. Firstly, the axis is itself an imaginary line. Even if, one assumes - for argument sake, that the axis has been affected, one should try to delve deep into the matter. The Earth revolves on its axis just like a playtop. Now imagine disturbing the revolving top with a slight touch. The top wobbles for a few seconds and then regains its original momentum, if not disturbed further. Similarly, even if the axis has been affected, the Earth will finally resume its momentum after a few days! And this is what is finally emerging and being reported by the media, of late. Moreover, if the national media cannot stand by the Government even in such an hour of national crisis, it must not at least needlessly create and add to the confusion. Did anyone in the media ever spare a thought to offer their services for doing volunteer work alongside discharging one’s professional duties? Does i4d | January 2005

Why India was not a part of the Tsunami Warning System?

Widespread Destruction

such a tragedy ask only for professional work and no humane thought for fellow citizens and their families? It is high time that the media collectively pondered over what constitutes “news”, more so in the wake of a monumental tragedy in the history of the nation and the world.

Suggested solutions The recurrence of another earthquake of such a strong magnitude is most unlikely in the near future. The reason being that it takes several years for the build up of energy to trigger another event of similar magnitude. So, hopefully we would have time to update our technology and be ready - just in case. We cannot wait for another tragedy to strike to put us on our feet. Also we need to put more stress on pre-disaster warning rather than post-disaster relief works. However, people should also be encouraged to settle on higher grounds and not near the seacoasts and beaches, just in case another tsunami strikes. Efforts should also be made to monitor the behaviour of animals and birds, as it is widely known that their behaviour undergoes perceptible changes before an earthquake. This could indeed come in handy in possible prediction of an impending tsunami. Technology should no doubt be updated, but the old should be blended with the new. Ancient tribes like Onges and Jarawas survived the tsunami and are safe in the higher reaches of Andaman and Nicobar islands. They did not have any of the modern technology at their disposal. It is time that modern man learns a lesson or two, in survival from these so-called primitive tribes!!!

Conclusion Thus, the Tsunami tragedy has exposed not only our lack of preparedness in dealing with natural calamities, but also a lack of national character. Even in the face of a national tragedy we take pleasure in highlighting the ills and the shortcomings rather than glossing them over for the time being, at least till the effects of the tragedy are mitigated. The Tsunami of December 26, 2004 has thus left in its trail of destruction, among other things one ponderable poser - “how prepared really are we?” in every sense of the term in dealing with such tragedies. January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

‘‘Revised magnitude based on analysis of mantle waves (8.5). This earthquake is located outside the Pacific. No destructive tsunami threat exists for the Pacific basin...There is the possibility of a tsunami near the epicentre.’’ Within 15 minutes of the earthquake, scientists of PTWS had issued this tsunami warning from their Hawaii hub to 26 participating countries. But India was not among them as India is not a part of the International Co-ordination Group that receives warning about potentially deadly waves. “That’s because,” according to Kapil Sibal, Minister for Science and Technology and Ocean Development, “Nearly 75 per cent earthquakes occur on the ocean floor in the Pacific. Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, which is a network of 26 countries, generates information on the Pacific region, which is really not relevant to our region. About 25 per cent earthquakes are generated in the Alpine Himalayan region. This region stretches from Java-Sumatra to the Myanmar coast. To extend Pacific system to India would mean Rs 1,000 crore, by way of investments and contributions. Forget the cost, even the information made available is not relevant to us. So, does it make sense for India to join the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre?” He also reasons that, “If tsunamis were anticipated in India, I don’t think the nuclear plant would have been located at Kalpakkam!”

Indonesia and Thailand’s ill response Of the 11 countries affected by last week’s calamity, only Thailand and Indonesia belong to the Pacific Ocean tsunami warning system. These countries received warning messages from PTWC. Also, seismologists in Thailand registered the Sumatran earthquake soon after it took place. Thai Meteorological Department officials were attending a seminar when the news came in. They immediately convened an emergency meeting, which was chaired by the department’s director-general, Supharerk Tansrirat-tanawong but the gathering decided not to issue a warning. Scientists said that without sensors in the region’s seas to track the path of tsunamis, there was no way to determine the direction a wave would travel. Moreover, they knew there would be repercussions from both government and business if they issued a false warning because of a peak tourist season. In the case of Indonesia, the huge earthquake was so close to the Indonesian island of Sumatra that it took only a few minutes for the towering waves to reach the shore. No warning system could have alerted the population in time. Also the country did not seem to be prepared to resist this type of tsunami disaster. “Unfortunately, we have no equipment here that can warn about tsunamis,” said Budi Waluyo, an official with Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency. The only seismological equipment in Indonesia capable of providing an early warning was on the island of Java. According to Nanang Puspito, head of the earthquake laboratory at the Bandung Institute of Technology, officials in Jakarta were alerted to the earthquake, but the absence of data from the specialised Java station prevented them issuing a tsunami warning.

D ISASTER R ECOVERY

AND

ICT I N S RI L ANKA

The day after On 26 December 2004, the world’s most powerful earthquake in more than 40 years erupted deep under the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Sumatra, triggering massive tsunaMaithri Jansz ICT Agency mis, which led to devastaSri Lanka tion in villages and seaside maithri@icta.lk resorts in more than 10 countries. In Sri Lanka, one of the worst hit countries, the statistics are staggering and still on the rise. Over 30,000 individuals are dead, thousands are missing and a significant proportion of the population are left homeless. The survivors left behind must now piece together the shattered remains of their lives. At this time of crisis, information and communication is as important as any other basic need. No dispute there. But what about technology? Does technology have a role to play? Skeptics limit ICT to only PCs and the Internet or even worse, dismiss it as science fiction. Yet most people use ICT everyday and are quite unaware of it. For example, even using a loudspeaker to relay information is ICT in action. Events taking place days following the disaster, as recorded below, exemplifies how ICT can work to meet the need of the hour. Sri Lankan mobile operators together with HelloCorp (a BPO company offering call centre and other business process services) were geared into action on the very next morning, issuing Short Messaging Service (SMS) alerts to mobile phones with international roaming on Sri Lankan networks, asking users to call in and register their presence. A toll free number was issued for this purpose, and this number could be used from any mobile phone to reach an information centre. Information collected was then passed onto the call centre manned by about 100 volunteer teenagers who conveyed the information to next of kin or employers abroad. Many people calling in

had no idea where they were, but the calls they made enabled the phone companies to track their locations. This is because when a call is originated, the call is transmitted through the closest cell-tower (to the mobile in use) and the tower location gets registered on the network. According to reports, this effort initiated by the Sri Lankan mobile operator Dialog GSM helped rescue many stranded tourists. One story in particular tells of 36 British tourists being rescued because one of them had a mobile phone with him at that time. The mobile operators

Image courtsey: Charkha, New Delhi

also broadcasted warning messages to all mobile phones active in the coastal belt. The tsunamis totally devastated connectivity infrastructure in Hambanthota. ICT Agency (ICTA) mobilised the volunteers of the Amateur Radio Society of Sri Lanka who were on site the following day with High Frequency (HF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) equipment providing a vital link between victims, relatives and concerned parties. These volunteers initiated a communications link between affected areas and

the Prime Minister’s disaster management office until the Hambantota police was able to establish connectivity once again. Since the disaster, the ICTA has been working with the Sri Lankan ICT industry to build a web based solution which will connect those who want to assist with those who are in need and ensure that needs are addressed in a fast and efficient manner. Appropriately named ‘Sahana’ or ‘aid’, this system allows you to register yourself as either an organisation willing to help or an organisation (e.g. a camp) with a specific need. The system then manages requests and tracks pledges, enabling proper utilisation and distribution of resources. This system also contains a People’s Registry that allows you to register and search for missing persons. Work is currently underway to bring all missing persons’ information collected by various other organisations into this single point. The system is now online and can be accessed at http://relief.cno.gov.lk It is clear that ICT will play a significant role in both recovery and rebuilding of Sri Lanka. Rising to the challenge, the ICTA has fast tracked its VSAT connectivity project and hopes to deploy it, not only in the areas originally envisioned but also in the other regions affected by the tsunamis, in the very near future; with it the Vishwa Gnana Kendras (global knowledge centres) or VGKs. ICTA firmly believes that the VGKs will play a crucial role in the rebuilding of the communities, uniting the community around itself and providing vital information to reconstruct, sustain and safeguard lives. e-Sri Lanka Project envisions a better future for all of Sri Lanka; it is time Sri Lanka opens her eyes to the new opportunities and new hope ICT can bring. The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) is the Government body responsible for implementing e-Sri Lanka Project. It is the apex body involved in ICT policy, direction and development for the nation. i4d | January 2005

P HOTO F EATURE

ACEH Province Indonesia

Pre-tsunami Satellite image taken on January 10, 2003. Post-tsunami Satellite image taken on December 29, 2004. When compared to the previous image, it is apparent that most of the village structures and landmass upto 1 km inland were washed away. The shoreline has been altered and eroded, bridges destroyed.

Photo credit: IKONOS Space Imaging

January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

Kalutara, Sri Lanka Kalatura is a resort town located 40 km south of Colombo.

Pre-tsunami Satellite image taken on January 1, 2003. The image shows the beach before tsunami.

Post-tsunami Satellite image taken on December 26, 2004. The image shows receding waters and beach damaged from tsunami.

Photo credit: Digital Globe

i4d | January 2005

Khao Lak, Thailand

Pre-tsunami Satellite image taken on January 13, 2003. The image shows the Pankarang Cape (upper left), the Blue Village Pankarang Resort (upper center) and the Sofitel Magic Lagoon Resort (lower center), and Khao Lak, a popular tourist destination on the southern coast of Thailand.

Photo credit: IKONOS Space Imaging

Post-tsunami Satellite image taken on December 29, 2004. When compared to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;beforeâ&#x20AC;? image, it is apparent that most of the lush vegetation, beaches and resorts were destroyed by the tsunami. Breaches to the coastline are apparent and new inlets have been carved into the shoreline.

Photo credit: IKONOS Space Imaging January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

Katchal, Nicobar Island, India Pre-tsunami Satellite image taken on July 10, 2004.

Post-tsunami Satellite image taken on December 28, 2004. On comparing it with the pre tsunami image, it is easy to grasp the extent to which tidal waves penetrated inland.

Photo credit: Spot Images

i4d | January 2005

ICT’s Role in Disaster Relief and Warning This section brings about diverse, interesting stories where ICT tools like Internet, Ham radio, community radio, mobile phones have played some role in disaster warning, relief and reuniting survivors. It also tells how ICT can become a major component in disaster management and a few lessons, which should guide us in future. We might have missed some important ones. If you have any such story to share, we would like to hear from you. Telecommunication lines broken down

Image courtesy: www.amimorphix.com

Instant blogging brings information wave! One big consequence of tsunami on ICT sector can be witnessed by the sheer increase in number of blogs on Internet. Following tsunami, blogs have become an important means of communication. Blogs from around the world are offering instant witness reports from the region affected by the tsunami that the traditional media cannot match, as well as links to relief groups for readers seeking to provide immediate help. The phenomenon has now reached global proportions with the explosion blogs and sites dedicated to the South-West Asian disaster. Such spontaneous generation of enormous content on Internet and the way people are recording electronic diaries to tell their story has not happened ever before. A blog by definition means frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links. People maintained blogs long before the term was coined, but the trend gained momentum with the introduction of automated published systems, most notably Blogger at blogger.com. Thousands of people use services such as Blogger to simplify and accelerate the publishing process. Blogs are alternatively called web logs or weblogs. A list of 106 links in more than a dozen nations is available at Wikipedia, the free encylopaedia site. On Google’s home page, there is a link that shows surfers exactly how they can contribute to tsunami relief funds. January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

There are even blogs that allows people with access to Internet to post appeals for help, search for missing friends, donate money to an organisation. Not only information and heart wrenching stories, these blogs are also giving rise to many speculations. One such example is ‘The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami blog’. It is wonderfully structured giving latest news, information about resources, aid, donations, and volunteer efforts at one place. This was set up collaboratively by a set of individuals coming together from different corners of earth. This blog though created under blogger.com has taken the form and nature of a website accessed by 200,000 plus people in 3 days. The urgency with which huge amount of information has been nicely pooled up at one place is striking. Another blog, which needs a mention here is jlgolson.blogspot.com. It is a video blog. It is just one of dozens of locations on the Internet hosting amateur videos of the Indian Ocean disaster. Another video blog hosting tsunami videos is waveofdestruction. org. This has more than 25 amateur videos of the Tsunami impact. Both these blogs have received more than 600000 hits in 3-4 days. These blogs not only show the information revolution that has ushered in World Wide Web (www) era. It brings to light that disasters and pressing situations like this can

get a lot of people from all parts of globe come and work together through Internet for a single cause. People form groups and contribute in their own ingenious ways. People want to reach out to each other, share their stories, more particularly in emergency circumstances. It leads them to discover newer modes of connecting and communicating. ‘Blogs’ are just a beginning and still evolving. Disasters too can bring great innovations! Source: http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com www.wavesofdestruction.org

Largest online aid This tsunami has shown that Internet has become a preferred channel for charity. At least half of private donations arrived through the Internet and it is now the largest online outpouring of aid for a single relief effort. CARE USA has received $6.8 million in online payments. Of the $35 million received by the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in New York, $25 million is in Internet donations. Amazon.com set up a donation system within two days of the December 26 disaster and has received more than 187,000 contributions, providing more than $15 million for the American Red Cross. Auction site eBay has collected more than $790,000 for UNICEF.

Global community action unites survivors Hundreds of websites and blogs worldwide are playing a crucial job of reuniting the survivors to their families. They have become announcement boards where one can post a message, giving details and picture of the missing family member or friend. Since tourists from all over the globe have gone missing in Tsunami ravaged South Asia, their families are finding Internet as the global platform to reach out. Moreover with the breakdown of phone lines, more and more people sitting in countries in Europe or United States are finding it easier to turn to Internet to seek news of their missing loved ones. Official websites have been launched to provide information of the Tsunami victims too. Thailand has developed a website, www.csiphuket.com for the purpose of searching relatives and friends killed or injured in the tsunami disaster. The system has been set up in a police squad room by volunteers, including programmers and

website developers with the aim to put all data available on the dead and missing in one place instead of 80 different sites. Similarly the Tamil Nadu police in India also

Disaster preparedness and Internet Effective telecommunication capabilities like phones, Internet access and wireless are imperative to facilitate immediate recovery operations for serious disaster events, such as, hurricanes, floods, etc. The commercial telecommunications infrastructure is rapidly evolving to Internet-based technology. Therefore, the Internet community needs to consider how it can best support emergency management and recovery operations. Three examples of emergency communications include: • Conveying information about the priority of specific phone calls that originate in a VoIP environment through gateways to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). • Access and transport for database and information distribution applications relevant to managing the crisis. • Interpersonal communication among crisis management personnel using electronic mail and instant messaging. Initially, the working group for the development of this emergency communication system will develop the ‘Requirements for Internet Emergency Preparedness in the

Internet’ which will detail the specific functions and technologies needed to provide support for Emergency Preparedness systems in the Internet. The working group may also develop the ‘Framework for Supporting Internet Emergency Preparedness in IP Telephony’ if it is determined that IP telephony requires special treatment. The working group will stretch across a number of Areas and Working Groups and will co-operate closely with various telephony signaling working groups, Differentiated Services, Protocol for carrying Authentication for Network Access (pana) and various other operational groups such as various ITU-T study groups. Source: http://www.ietf.org/proceedings/ 03mar/225.htm

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has launched a website called www.tsunami nagapattinampolice.com to provide information about the dead and the missing in Nagapattinam district.

Tsunami warning at the click of a mouse In a move that gives a boost to people power, the UNESCO Ingovernmental Oceanographic Commission’s (IOC) tsunami warning system in the pacific, ITSU, has set up a ‘public tsunami warning listserve’ so that anyone who wish to can receive by email tsunami warning centre information message. To subscribe to this email warning one needs to visit http://ioc.unesco.org/itsu/ contents.php.

Sify comes forward to help tsunami affected areas In India, Sify Ltd. is establishing Internet centres at the tsunami-affected areas of Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Kanyakumari, and Chennai in response to the need for reliable communications between these areas. These will offer free Internet access facilities to the public, NGOs, officials and anyone who wishes to use the Internet to communicate to their loved ones, according to a company release. The first centre in Cuddalore is up and running, and the centre in Kanyakumari is expected to be on stream soon. Source: Deccan Herald i4d | January 2005

Wireless: Links the unlinked

Net Relief Kit

When a disaster strikes a place, the communication link in the region dies first. To start with the relief operations then, restoration of communication becomes vital. This emphasises the need of multiple independent methods of communication available to assure that if there is a failure, other means of communication are available. Cisco Systems have come up with NetRelief Kits (NRK) to provide wireless communication helpful for relief agencies and NGOs engaged in disaster relief efforts.

Mobile tales The tsunami that struck the coastal communities of several Asian countries on 26th December has been made even more tragic as news begin to break of how a handful of technicians, monitoring the progress of the waves across the seas using the latest ICT systems, had found themselves unable to warn affected communities. This was not the case with Vijayakumar Gunasekaran, a 27-year old son of a fisherman from Nallavadu village, Pondicherry on the eastern coast of India, who works in Singapore. He had access only to a radio and television on the morning of 26 December. Vijayakumar followed the news of the earthquake in Aceh, Indonesia as it unfolded over the radio and television in Singapore. As the seriousness January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

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The NetHope consortium, an alliance of companies and relief organisations, plans to make available NRK for the Tsunami struck regions. The kits create an easy-to-use wireless connection with core access coming from satellite company Inmarsat. The kits were created specially for the real-time disaster management and NetHope is currently trying to determine the best locations for deployment. NetReliefKit is best described as ‘communications hub in a box’ for NGOs in the field. Rugged, it can provide both of the disaster in Aceh sank in he began to worry about the safety of his family living along the Indian coastline facing Aceh. He decided to phone home. Muphazhaqi, his sister answered the phone. She told him that seawater was seeping into their home when he asked what was happening in Nallavadu. Vijayakumar realised at once that his worst fears were rapidly materialising. He asked his sister to quickly leave their home and to also warn other villagers to evacuate the village. “Run out and shout the warning to others” he urged his sister. Her warning reached a couple of quickthinking villagers who broke down the

voice communication and Internet links via satellite, and can be powered by a car battery. It has built-in WiFi, making it possible for a single NRK to serve an entire facility. Other grassroots efforts like a project called Post Tsunami Reconnect are looking to coordinate donations of antennas and radio equipment, as well as collect donated funds, organise expertise, and recruit volunteers to work in the affected regions. In response to the tsunami, the Wireless Communications Association International (WCA) has also announced organisational efforts within the wireless broadband industry leading to a meeting on January 13, 2005 during WCA’s annual International Symposium and Business Expo in San Jose, California, USA. The meeting’s agenda was to foster industry efforts on immediate disaster relief, both monetary and in vitally needed equipment for First Responders. Participants also will help plan for longer-term infrastructure needs especially suited to the emerging capabilities of wireless broadband. WCA’s meeting would leverage WCA members’ expertise into short-term and long-term relief. Short-term, industry leaders would organise a task force to raise money and to coordinate equipment donations for effective emergency deployment. Also, the task force would plan longer-term infrastructure advisory services for the region, building upon ongoing work. Source: www.nethope.org

doors of the community centre set up by the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation where a public address system used routinely to announce sea conditions to the fishermen was housed. The warning from Vijayakumar, collaborated at this time by a second overseas telephone call from Gopu, another villager working abroad, was broadcasted across the village using the loud-speaker system. The village’s siren was sounded immediately afterwards for the people to evacuate. No one was killed in this village as a result of the timely warnings. Nallavadu is home to 500 families and about 3,630 people. While all lives were saved, the tsunami destroyed 150 houses and 200 fishing boats in the village. Source: http://www.digital-review.org/ahp01.htm

ICT could have been the saviour! Information and Communication technology (ICT) is a means to share information and it has no better utility other than, when used in disaster preparedness, relief and rescue operations. In Tsunami disaster too ICT could have played an important role to save lives, but to our disappointment it did not. As Minister of State for Home Affairs, India, Shri Prakash Jaiswal said that there was one and a half hours time gap between the quake in Sumatra and the tidal waves hitting the Indian coast. “One-and-a-half hours are sufficient time. If, during this time, the coastal areas had been informed of the presence of tidal waves in the sea, many lives could have been saved.” One Indian seismologist wrote in a leading newspaper, “Given our scientific and communication facilities, there was a clear span of about 120 to 150 minutes to send an alert message through radio, TV and loudspeakers to vulnerable communities. Had this been done, the death toll would have been lower.” In cases like this when information needs to be spread far and wide, ICT tools like radio, television, mobile phones and Internet become very significant. Other than these latest technologies, there are also some related technologies that can prove to be a boon in these situations. For example, Ham radios and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Ham radios are doing a great job in providing information after the tsunami disaster. Fifteen ham-radio operators, with their individual set-ups like high frequency radio sets and solar panels for power supply, are working in various islands in coordination with the administration and NGOs there to trace the missing people. The radio operators in Andaman and Nicobar islands are also trying to coordinate with their counterparts in the coral islands to go deeper into the forest areas to trace the near extinct tribes, if trapped. A few success stories could be heard where mobile phones have saved lives. But other than that ICT has been greatly under utilised to avoid the disaster. There has been no use of radio, television an internet to issue tsunami warnings.

Destroyed temple in Sri Lanka

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Lessons for India

Disaster programme helped saved lives

Some of the lessons that all the affected countries should learn from this disaster have been discussed and debated by various experts. Here we take a look at a few of them. • Countries around the region need to establish early warning systems where they don’t exist – not just for seismic sea waves, but for a range of natural calamities to which they are vulnerable – earthquakes, cyclones, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, floods and wildfires among others. • The Indian Meteorological Department should issue a forewarning about a possible tsunami. Satellites should be upgraded with suitable equipment to track tsunamis. • A concerted SAARC effort to set up disaster monitoring and management facilities is needed. Further, joint or inter-country collaboration with neighbouring countries on tsunami-genic earthquakes should be undertaken. • India should take up a detailed study on climate change. • Countries need to explore market-based approaches to preparing for natural calamities – in particular, insurance, which can provide at least some relief to affected communities. • Detailed emergency evacuation plans required. • Community education is vital so that people know exactly what they should do when the warning is sounded.

Since 2002, villagers of six select coastal districts, including Kancheepuram, in Tamil Nadu, have been undergoing periodic training courses in Disaster Management under a central government programme. Training committees were set up to the panchayat level and training provided to 200 people per block. Pre planning helped at a time required. Villagers of Kancheepuram recall on how they managed to survive the fury of the tsunami waves. Their emergency and disaster management exercises stood them in good stead. Source: The Free Press Journal

Warning System for India Kapil Sibal, Minister for Science and Technology and Ocean Development has said that India will take speedy action to install a tsunami warning system at a cost of Rs 125 crores and it will be fully functional in two-and-a-half years. India currently has 20 deep-sea buoys with sensors in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. But they are not equipped with the pressure sensors needed for advance warning of giant tsunamis. India needs to add 20 more of these buoys. It will also deploy between six and twelve expensive Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting Systems (DARTS) about six kilometres below the sea surface. i4d | January 2005

T SUNAMI R ELIEF A ND R EHAB

Lending their hands Though it is impossible to conquer nature, yet human beings have withstood the challenges thrown by nature from time to time. Natural disasters leave behind large-scale destruction and thousands of bereaved persons. But slowly people pick up the bits of pieces and life moves on. Every time, a disaster strikes, human solidarity is tested. The December 26 tsunami tragedy is perhaps the worst natural disaster to have occurred in living memory. Once again it has thrown human species under the test or trial of survival. The tragedy has invoked instant response from all: government bodies, non-government organisations, celebrities, corporates and international organisation. Everyone has responded admirably and effort of everyone is encouraging. What is special about this tsunami is the geographical extent of the devastation and the number of countries affected. The damage stretches across thousands of miles and involves millions of people. That produces a huge logistical challenge for international organisations and aid agencies: how to get relief supplies and, later, reconstruction assistance to so many places at more or less the same time. Though the road to recovery is full of obstacles, let us take a pause and take a deeper look into what these international organisations are doing for tsunami victims and what is in their agenda. There are numerous websites that have listed organizations involved in relief operations. Some of these are: • http://www.globalknowledge.org/gkps_portal/newsmaster.cfm?& menuid =2&action=view&retrieveid=163 This site provides list of 22 organisations working for the victims of tsunami. • http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/28/tsunami.aidsites/ This site provides list of 79 organisations providing relief and assistance in the tsunami affected region. • http://www.charitywatch.org/hottopics/tsunami_asia.html This is a site by American Institute of Philanthrophy. It has listed 24 organisations that are providing relief to the tsunami victims. • http://www.karthick.com/relief.html It gives the list of 70 relief organisations and their overhead costs. • http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/international/earthquake/tsunami 122604.aspx?source=YAHOO&cmpgn=HMPCRS This site provides a list of 92 organisations that are working for Tsunami victims. It also includes organizations that are working for the animals affected by Tsunami. • http://www.usaid.gov/locations/asia_near_east/tsunami/ngolist.html This site provides list of 58 USAID agencies working for the Tsunami victims. • http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/work/international_aid_ work/ index.shtml This site provides list of 51 organisations working for the tsunami victims. • http://www.cccny.net/tsunami%20organizations.shtml This site provides list of 34 organisations that are providing help to the victims of tsunami • http://www.google.com/tsunami_relief.html This site provides a list of 21 international organizations working in the tsunami affected region.

January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

Relief work in progress

As it is impossible to highlight the work of each and every organisation, we have highlighted few which are reputed and have the experience of delivering in the past and have a long-term vision.

CARE www.careindia.org

CARE is helping in relief work in all the affected countries. CARE India has dispatched a 15-person rapid assessment team to the city of Chennai on India’s southeast coast. It is distributing water purification tablets, oral rehydration salts, clothing and plastic sheeting to people in the hard-hit coastal areas. (www.careindia.org) In Indonesia it is distributing around 100,000 safe water system bottles, each of which can provide safe drinking water for a family for at least one month (one to two caps of chlorine solution disinfects 20 litres). The goal is to provide this monthly for a six-month period. CARE Sri Lanka is distributing aid to six main areas of Jaffna, Mullaitivu (north), Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Ampara (east) and Hambantota (south). Another major need identified is transport, and CARE is also assisting with the transport of relief goods. In Thailand, its teams are working in the hardest hit southern provinces of Pang Nga, Krabi, Ranong, Phuket and Trang. CARE teams are supplying medicines and first aid kits, oral rehydration packets, water, blankets, clothing and other emergency items.

International Relief Teams (IRT) www.irteams.org

International Relief Teams is international relief organisation dedicated to organising volunteer teams to provide medical and non-medical assistance to the victims of disaster and profound poverty worldwide.

Private players There is an overwhelming response to the tsunami tragedy from corporates. Companies across the world are contributing for the victims. Pfizer Inc has donated $10 million in cash and $25 million in drugs to relief agencies, Coca-Cola Company has donated $10 million in cash. Besides these global giants, other companies also have contribute in a massive way. Indian corporate sector also has shared the responsibility and is sparing no effort to accelerate the pace of recovery. Never before have companies contributed on such a large scale. The donations from India Inc are still flowing for the victims of Tsunami. Sify has collected Rupees 10 million. We have focused on ICT related corporations. Bharti Tele-Ventures It announced measures to aid the relief and rehabilitation programme for the victims of Tsunami disaster in different parts of the country which include setting up of Airtel mobile and VSAT network in Andaman and Nicobar Island by 31 March, 2005 besides setting up of several communication centres near hospitals, police stations, temporary shelters and other public places along the coastal belt of Tamilnadu. It has set up communication centres and provided over 100 handsets for volunteers. Infosys Technologies India’s second largest software maker has announced a contribution of Rs 50 million to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) TCS has started collecting clothes, medicine, and essential items. The company is also trying to identify volunteer groups with which TCS can associate itself. DHL The business entities of DHL including Express, Danzas Air & Ocean and Solutions combined have raised and contributed more than EUR 350,000 in relief activities, including flight charters, monetary donations, and contributions in -kind to the tsunami disaster. One of the most significant relief activities that DHL has embarked on is the flight charters that it has committed in response to requests by governments in affected countries, and international aid agencies to help in the uplift of relief supplies. Other relief activities that DHL has undertaken so far include: Mobilisation of its Global Disaster Resource Network team to affected countries, on-site assistance in transportation, distribution and logistics support in affected areas, the purchase and distribution of relief supplies such as food, tents, blankets and stoves, etc.

Image courtesy: Waves of destruction

IRT has made a commitment to send a substantial shipment of medicines – enough to sustain 20,000 people for 3 months – to the beleaguered region. As regional assessments are made, IRT will continue to assist in whatever ways are requested, including the possibility of sending medical teams. IRT has already sent one-relief air shipments to India. In Indonesia it has arranged for three air shipments of emergency medicines and relief supplies and also deployed two nurses to the Aceh province of Indonesia to direct the distribution of medicines and relief shipments to local and international agencies providing medical services to survivors in this devastated region.

UNICEF www.unicef.org

UNICEF is delivering relief assistance to all the countries affected and is supporting governments throughout the region to assess and begin addressing the special needs of children. It is coordinating with NGOs and government authorities to develop systems to identify children and reunite them with parents or other relatives. In addition to delivering relief supplies like water purification materials and clothing, blankets and medicines, UNICEF has begun major sanitation and clean-up drives in camps for displaced people in India and initiated a program to ensure that people in the camps know how to use supplies such as chlorine tablets for water and oral re-hydration salts. Begun working with government and religious organisations to establish 30 child/community activity centers in camps for displaced people in Indonesia’s worst-hit areas of Aceh and North Sumatra provinces. Dispatched ten teams of speciallytrained paediatricians and nurses in Thailand to provide psychological care and support to help children overcome by trauma. This compliments a network of trained child rights volunteers UNICEF has on the ground in two districts who are already identifying children in need of special assistance.

USAID www.usaid.gov/in/

USAID/OFDA has committed a total assistance of $68,882,984. To date, the USG has provided more than $34.6 million to i4d | January 2005

Promises and Pledges

Image courtesy: Association for India’s Development (AID)

support emergency relief activities and the provision of food, water, and relief supplies for affected populations in Indonesia. In addition, it has provided $288,533 to Save the Children/U.S. for health, sanitation, shelter, and protection activities in Aceh and Northern Sumatra provinces. The USG has provided nearly $46 million in emergency food assistance, shelter, water and sanitation, livelihoods recovery, and psychosocial support in Sri Lanka. Through funds already allocated to USAID/Sri Lanka, USAID/OFDA has provided CARE with an additional $1.3 million for emergency relief supplies and water system rehabilitation, increasing its contribution to CARE from nearly $575,000 to more than $1.9 million. USAID has provided more than $3.1 million in emergency relief assistance to India. It immediately provided $100,000 through the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok to the Thai Red Cross for the procurement and distribution of emergency relief items following the December 26 tsunami.

• EU: $30m already being spent on the ground, $132m in short-term aid, $455m for long-term reconstruction • Australia: $810m, distributed over five years, half the sum in loans • Germany: $674m in aid over the next three to five years • Japan: $500m - half in bilateral aid, half through multilateral institutions • US: $350m in debt relief, no timescale given • UK: $96m in aid of which $13m spent so far, hundreds of millions more promised • UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has given a call to raise $1bn in cash for urgent use from donors. The $1bn programme proposed by Mr Annan would include $215m towards food, $222m toward shelter and $122m towards healthcare. Pledges exceed $3bn, but promises have not always been fulfilled in the past. Source: BBC news online

World Health Organisation (WHO) www.who.int

Since the tsunami struck, WHO has mobilised teams of experts to work with countries to assess the most urgent health needs and to ensure that they are met as rapidly as possible. WHO’s assistance is focused in five key areas: • Disease surveillance and response: tracking patterns of life-threatening diseases and establishing an early warning system • Coordinated action with the health system and other health actors locally, nationally and internationally • Providing public health guidance on responding to disease outbreaks, water quality, sanitation, chronic disease management and mental health • Ensuring access to essential health care together with all partners and the local health system

Disaster control authority to be set up by India The central government of India received broad support from different parties for setting up National Disaster Management Authority. A bill is expected to be brought in the budget session of Parliament, beginning next month to give effect to the proposed authority. The all-party meeting was by the key players of the respective parties. The major points, which emerged from the meeting, were: all future house building be at a distance from sea shore; Special care should be taken of women and children orphaned by disaster; adequate arrangement should be made for trauma treatment and relief; Rehabilitation of fisherman should be a priority and ecological balanced should be maintained in the worst-hit Andoman and Nicobar Islands.

Teams on disaster management set up in the Andamans Disaster management team has been constituted in the Tsunami-hits Andman and Nicobar Islands, where relief efforts are concentrated on eight Islands. The teams have representatives of the Departments of Revenue, Agriculture, Public Works, Police, Fishery, and Animal Husbandry, and Civil Supplies. The Islands with a small population- Bomboka, Chowra, Little Nicobar, PiloMillow, Tilanchang, and Trinket in Nicobar- have been completely evacuated. The Health Minister is monitoring the situation round the clock for any outbreak of epidemics. Medical Teams, paramedics, and medicines have been dispatched and 10-trauma specialist have joined them. All the affected islands have been provided satellite phones, and a point-to-point communication, including police wireless system, has been established.

January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

• Helping to coordinate medical supplies to ensure that supply chains work well and that people get the medicines they need when and where they need them.

Some other country specific organisations working in relief operations are: MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in India http://www.mssrf.org/notice_board/announcements/tidal_tragedy.htm

MS Swaminathan Research Foundation plans to organise medical camps, provide dresses, school notebooks, computer education and English coaching to the children in its short-term relief measures. It may adopt those children who lost their parents and provide the education and employment. Under long-term relief measures, MSSRF may tie up with existing community radio network like IGNOU [Gyan Vani] and Sri Manakula Vinayagar and provide the Early Warning Information to the fishing community. It may also tie up with local CABLE TV network and will also set up siren in the coastal villages to strengthen the public address system. Through wireless technologies [WiFi, 802.11 g/b, WLL etc.] it will provide Internet to the coastal information centers. Doctors without Borders in Indonesia http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org

A Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) surgical team has started working in Sigli General District Hospital. Sigli, the capital of Pidie district on the eastern coast of Aceh, is an area that has been severely damaged by the tsunami. The 35-bed hospital has remained open with the help of Indonesian staff (many of the employees of the hospital were killed). MSF has started a mobile clinic in Kembang Tanjung for the displaced population. Further east from Sigli, in the General District Hospital of Bireuen, MSF has donated medicines and has set up a medical supply link with the MSF team in Sigli. International Rescue Committee (IRC) www.theirc.org/

Founded in 1933, the International Rescue Committee is a world leader in relief, rehabilitation, protection, post-conflict development, resettlement services and advocacy for those uprooted or affected by violent conflict and oppression. The IRC is mounting a massive disaster relief effort. More than 40 tons of emergency medical supplies, shelter material and water storage tanks are being procured and airlifted to Indonesia to meet the needs of tens of thousands of refugees in devastated Aceh Province. The IRC is one of the few international aid organisations that were working in Aceh prior to the disaster, having provided assistance there since 2000. The IRC is deploying mobile emergency response teams consisting of medical, water, sanitation, child trauma and logistics experts who will help address the immediate survival needs of the affected communities. In the emergency phase, the IRC will focus on increasing access to potable water and sanitation facilities, delivering urgent primary health care, distributing emergency supplies and providing psychosocial aid for survivors.

To help prevent a lethal outbreak of infectious diseases in disaster-affected communities, the IRC is quickly bringing in essential medicines and clinical supplies for 250,000 people for a threemonth period. The IRC will also distribute insecticide-treated plastic sheeting for shelter, blankets, water containers, and other items urgently required by the hundreds of thousands of survivors who have been made homeless by the disaster. Adventist Development and Relief Agency International in Srilanka (ADRA) http://www.adra.org/index.html

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is engaged in distribution of 30,000 pounds of medical and water purification supplies that were airlifted to Sri Lanka. The supplies, provided by AmeriCares, are being distributed by ADRA to inpatient hospitals and clinics in affected regions that have depleted their supplies aiding survivors. ADRA is also distributing World Health Organisation emergency kits that will provide a one-month supply of medicine for 90,000 people in Colombo. Other aid provided by ADRA in Sri Lanka includes 200,000 one-liter bottles of drinking water and 50,000 water purification tablets, infant formula for 1,000 affected children under one year of age, and a team of medical specialists.

How to contribute to Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) in India? 12 banks have been authorised to receive donations for PMNRF. They are State Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Dena Bank, Syndicate Bank, Corporation Bank, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab National Bank, Indian Bank, Allahabad Bank and Citi Bank. Donations could be made by cheque or draft in the name of the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund and sent to the Prime Minister’s Office, South Block, New Delhi-110001. The nationalised banks will not charge any commission on preparation of draft in favour of PMNRF. Contributions could also be sent through money orders with no commission chargeable. The contributions to PMNRF have been notified for 100% deduction from taxable income under section 80 (G) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, subject to prescribed limits. Form for contributing by Cheques / Demand Draft/Credit Card: http://gayathiri1. tripod.com/id35.html Information for payments through Bank Transfers directly to Central Bank of India : http://gayathiri1.tripod.com/id34.html NRIs and foreign nationals Besides the other modes of payments, the contribution towards the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund can be deposited with the Indian Missions abroad (http://meaindia.nic.in; http://goidirectry.nic.in/missions.htm) clearly indicating your communication address. Formal receipt will be issued through the respective Mission. To donate online to this fund go to http://www. sify.com/pmf.php For further details on PMNRF is available by logging on to http://pmindia.nic.in/relieffund.htm i4d | January 2005

Vol. III No. 1

January 2005

Information for development www.i4donline.net

Education Cyber mohalla introducing e-Education for slum children In New Delhi, a new panorama has been created by cyber mohalla for the slum kids to bring them under the broad spectrum of e-Education. The joint initiative has been taken by Ankur Society for Alternatives in Education, an NGO and Sarai, a programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). The kids are being introduced to the world of computers, film-making, animation and web designing. Initially, the children were a bit scared but later on they crossed the boundaries of fear of technology and now they are quite equipped to handle computers, digital cameras, audio recorders and scanners, create wall magazines, basic html projects and short animation films. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

AISECT launches e-Gyan centres in India The All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology (AISECT) has initiated a plan to launch over 50,000 e-Gyan centres all over India. AISECT is conducting an enormous computer literacy programme in 14 Indian languages. These centres will deliver a variety of courses online to pupil across the country. The vehicle will also be used for disseminating social sector information and will also offer a variety of e-Services. http://www.aisect.org

India provides e-Education to slum children in Cambodia India has built computer kiosks on both sides of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at

January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

the green top of the Norodom Bolouvard in the Cambodian capital to give access to e-Education to the slum children in Cambodia. The computer kiosks set up here last month is the fulfillment of a promise made by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during a visit to Cambodia early in 2004. The access to the kiosks is free. Ten kiosks are built in the country in association with the National Information Communication Technology Development Authority of Cambodia. The students are picking up the tricks very fast without taking the help of an instructor. The kiosks are also attracting the curious learners like drivers of the city motor taxis. http://www.dailypioneer.com

practitioners to access the latest medical information to fight the spread of AIDS. Satellife will distribute the PDAs to doctors in Uganda and other East African Countries as part of its initiative to fight Aids in Africa and improve medical care. This follows the successful completion of two pilot projects on the use of the PDAs in Mbale and Rakai. Skyscape will equip the PDAs with mobile medical references enabling health practitioners in the developing world to access to the latest medical information while working in rural areas. http://allafrica.com

Cable to be used to fight against AIDS in India

The Kolkata-based allAyurveda.com, stated to be the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first portal on ayurveda, has been adjudged the best health portal in the country by the judges of The Digit Web Awards, Mumbai. It has also been rated as the third-best health portal in the world by the US-based rating agency alexa.com. According to a company press release, allAyurveda.com, has been attracting over three million hits per month. Besides natural holistic lifestyle solutions, the website provides for online consultations by ayurvedic doctors.

In West Midnapore district of West Bengal the administration has decided to start an audio-visual counselling to fight AIDS. The drive has been launched from Ghatal subdivision throughs local cable operators. Narayanbhai, a spokesman for Gandhi Mission Trust, an NGO engaged by the state government to create AIDS awareness, said that 180 people had been infected with the virus in Daspur-I and II blocks alone and about 60 people have died of over the past five years. Bhaskarjyoti Bera, the District Information Officer said that the counselling session will be held once in three months and gradually, the programme will be conducted once a month. The first such public counselling has already been telecasted.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

http://www.telegraphindia.com

Health allAyurveda.com bags best health portal award in India

Use of PDAs to fight against AIDS in Africa

Information on AIDS to be telecast on TV in India

In Uganda, Skyscape and Sattelife asked American medics to donate their used Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), to health practitioners in Africa. This will help the

In India, the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has decided to commission a daily soap about AIDS on Doordarshan, the national television

The i4d News

Prevention of HIV/AIDS using telephones in Mali The international NGO, Population Services International (PSI), has launched a campaign using cellular technology to educate and aware Malians about HIV/AIDS. In collaboration with a local cellphone company, Ikatel, free text messages are created by PSI-created. Health slogans will be sent twice a month to each of the company’s 350,000 clients. As part of the campaign, HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention slogans will also be printed on the pre-paid phone cards used by low-income customers. According to PSI, the products and services offered in Mali could prevent an estimated 3,200 HIV infections and 78,000 unintended pregnancies. http://allafrica.com

broadcaster. This is a part of AIDS awareness campaign which has become priority following Health Minister A. Ramadoss’ announcement in the parliament that India will have 100 per cent AIDS awareness by June 2005.

of interest of the community in the areas of agriculture, industry and commerce. http://www.hindu.com

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

Open Source

http://www.hindustantimes.com

Community Radio Low power FM community radio launched in Virginia The President of Virginia Centre for Public Press, Chris Maxwell has announced the launch of Richmond’s first low-power Frequency Modulation (FM) station. The service is developed for those non-government organisations (NGOs) that cannot afford to launch a full-power FM station on their own. Instead of the expense of broadcasting at thousands of watts, the level of power is limited to a 10-watt or 100-watt transmitter. The station has already placed on the air for tests. http://www.timesdispatch.com

Banasthali Vidyapith to launch community radio station in India In Jaipur, Banasthali Vidyapith, the national university for women, is planning to launch its own radio station from its main campus at Banasthali in Tonk district of Rajasthan next month. The station will operate on 90.4 MHz in the FM band and will be heard in a radius of 40 km around Banasthali. It will cover areas North of Tonk district and extreme South of the adjoining Jaipur district. The project will be a community radio centre providing programmes

could be effectively addressed through broadband platform. Sources in the Yojana Bhavan have announced that the future model of tele-info services has to be both ‘futuristic and financially viable in the long run’ and also it must have the capabilities to meet the future needs of e-Commerce, e-Education, e-Health , e-Governance, etc. As the broadband emerges as the suitable platform to achieve this, the sources also declare that future rollout of services in the rural areas might have to be built around this platform. To make the rollout effective the sources also said that they need to light up the optical fibre and ensure development of last mile connectivity. Furthermore, there is a need to finalise the legal, institutional and regulatory modalities of opening of broadband services in the rural areas quickly to leapfrog the broadband rollout.

UK Government approves open source usage The UK Government has given its approval for the use of open source software on servers and desktops following the Office of Government Commerce’s (OGC) open source software trials, involving IBM Corp and Sun Microsystems Inc. It has been stated that open source software is viable and creditable alternative to proprietary software for infrastructure implementations, and for meeting the requirements of the majority of desktop users. The OGC stated that there are “no significant obstacles... for the adoption of open source in infrastructure developments” but that a lack of complex functionality to ease migration and interoperability remained obstacles to desktop deployment. However, despite those problems, the proof-of-concept trials indicated that significant software licensing savings can be made through the use of open source, as well as hardware savings resulting from reduced upgrade requirements. http://www.financialexpress.com

Telecom Development of rural connectivity through broadband in India The Planning Commission of India has asserted that the rural connectivity issue

Andhra Pradesh government to set up broadband village Andhra Pradesh (AP) Chief Minister, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy is planning to launch the broadband village, which will make 22,000 panchayats of AP India’s most ‘connected’ villages. He has named the project Rajiv Internet Village. The state government’s department of electronically deliverable services has been entrusted the responsibility of executing the broadband village project. The idea behind it is to offer G2C, G2B, B2B, B2C and C2C (government to consumer, government to business, business to business, business to consumer, and consumer to consumer) services providing ample scope for government departments, businesses, entrepreneurs, NGOs and organisations of all kinds to create and manage services addressed to the rural citizens and markets. http://in.rediff.com

Agriculture Online trading boost up rural produce in India Stock market is no more the only place where speculators can test their skills and luck now. Those having speculative instincts could experiment alongside shares, in soya, gram, rubber, pepper, bullion, cardamom, basmati rice, etc on a few commodity exchanges that have come up over last couple of years. The Deputy i4d | January 2005

The i4d News Managing Director of Multi Commodity Exchange, Joseph Massey said that the commodity exchanges are good for the farmers as well since the traders operating on the exchange follow backward integration in which they enter into contracts with farmers. The farmers can decide on sowing a commodity depending upon the future price being quoted on the exchange. http://www.deccanherald.com

ICT to boost up agriculture in India In Tamil Nadu, at a workshop on Information and Communication (ICT)-enabled agiculture in Tamil Nadu, the Commissioner of Agriculture, Jagmohan Singh Raju, said that Information and Communication based project ‘TN-AGRISNET’ for the farmers would be implemented in two phases in the next three years. He also said that the phase one of the project facilitating the use of ICT for the agricultural growth would be completed by 2005. http://www.thenewindpress.com

ICT for Development award to i4d magazine This year’s ICT for Development award instituted by The All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology (AISECT) was given to i4d magazine. The award was given in the inaugural session of the International Conference on ICT in Education and Development conference on 16th December 2004, at Hyderabad. The All India Society for Electronics & Computer Technology is a leading network of India, having over 4,500 affiliated centres essentially engaged in training, servicing and info services, specially in the field of information technology. The organisation has its spread in 29 states of the country. http://www.aisect.org

New York Public Library is a major stride in this ambitious effort. Meanwhile, the Library of Congress and a group of international libraries from US, Canada, Egypt, China and The Netherlands has announced a plan to create a publicly available digital archive of one million books on the Internet. The group plans to have 70,000 volumes online by next April. http://www.indianexpress.com

Linking of agricultural offices through ICT in India The Tamil Nadu government launched a project to link all agricultural offices in the state through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) within the next two years to help farmers use technology for improving production and gain better prices. The total project cost is estimated at about $7.7million to be implemented in two phases during 2005-06 and 2006-07. http://www.chennaionline.com

Miscellaneous Google to digitise leading research libraries Google plans collaboration with some of USA’s leading research libraries and Oxford University to resume converting their holdings into digital files that would be freely searchable over the web. It is only another step toward the long-predicted global virtual library. The goal is to spread the scope of web and create a digital card catalogue and searchable library for the world’s books, scholarly papers and special collections. But the collaboration of Google and research institutions like Harvard, the University of Michigan, Stanford and the

January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

The Hindu launches online image library In Chennai, The Hindu Group of Publications launched an online image library, www.thehinduimages.com. The website includes more than 40,000 images from The Hindu Group’s vast archives and wide network of photographers across India. These pictures are available for commercial use. Four categories of images are available on the site. They are creative images of people, places and nature aiming to the advertising and design professionals for use in different media, current news images for editorial staff in newspapers and magazines. Sports images from The Hindu covers of various sports events and historic images dating back to the 1930s. http://www.hindu.com

Now, web browser available in Hindi In Vidisha, a place located to the North East of Bhopal, Jagdeep Dangi, a computer engineering graduate from Samrat Ashok Technological Institute (SATI) claims that he has developed the world’s first Hindi browser with Internet explorer. The Hindi software package has a set of four differ-

ent softwares. These consist of the explorer/web browser, English to Hindi or viceversa digital dictionary, the global word translator and saral editor. The web browser (Hindi explorer) is packed with all the functions of Internet Explorer. In addition, it also has extra functions such as opening multiple files, saving files, searching files and has slides, auto history viewers, pop-up blockers, and built-in digital dictionary. The browser can run on all Windows operating systems right from 95, 98, 2000 to ME, NT and Windows XP. The global word translator can also work within any application of Windows (online or offline). The English to Hindi or vice-versa digital dictionary currently supports 20,320 words and allows users to add more words to suit their requirements. This dictionary enables users to search for synonyms either in English or Hindi within seconds. http://www.hindu.com

Promotion of tourism goes online in Ghana The government of Ghana is developing a website to market the country as a tourist destination. With assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Ghana tourism website will be launched within the next few months at http:// www.ghana tourism.gh./ The Ghana Tourist Board will manage the content and domain name of the website. The website will provide news on investment opportunities in tourism and a database containing key information about the country - its location and population, climate and vegetation, a brief political history and details about government, geographical data and maps, transport

The i4d News

Nairobi gets it’s first digital map Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has produced the first digital maps of the city of Nairobi. The maps can be preserved on CDs and can be used any time to show the exact location. of roads, buildings and the sewerage systems. While handling the maps to Nairobi City Council, the Lands Minister, Amos Kimunya said that these maps would help to address Nairobi’s rapid population growth and physical expansion. http://allafrica.com/stories/200412160792.html

information, and holidays, festivals and events. It will also feature reports on Ghana’s culture, history and ecology while also describing its special recreational facilities. http://allafrica.com

PCtvt: An initiave to bridge the digital divide in rural India The Carnegie Mellon University in collaboration with International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Hyderabad and Indian Institute of Science (IIS), Bangalore are going to launch PCtvt to bridge the digital divide and to educate underprivileged sections of the society. The Director of the PCtvt project in India, Praveen Garimella said that PCtvt is a new device for economically weaker classes with easy affordability to communicate through audio and video. With the multi-lingual applications and software, a villager can communicate and enjoy the entertainment in different languages of his choice. The local languages such as Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi are applied to develop the appliance. Once the PCtvt is launched few more other languages will be added. http://www.financialexpress.com

Collins Dictionary launches an online living dictionary In London, Collins Dictionaries has launched an online living dictionary. This dictionary will allow people to suggest new words to be considered for inclusion in the next edition of the Collins English Dictionary. Collins claims that the website will provide language enthusiasts worldover an access to the words people use in their daily life. This initiatives will also let people know many other new words. http://www.asianage.com

Nellikuppam to avail maximum ATM card Nellikuppam, a small sugarcane growing district of Tamil Nadu, now has more ATMs and ATM users than most urban areas can think of. The farmers in the district do not receive any cash payment. There is a network of 23 bank branches in the district where money transfers through the net. State Bank of India and its associate banks, ICICI Bank and Indian Bank have already got their ATMs in the district. Several other public and private banks are trying to add their names in the business. http://www.economictimes.com

Traditional Knowledge Resource Classification (TKRC) for systematic arrangement, dissemination and retrieval. The TKDL set up in India has already documented the public domain knowledge on Ayurveda in a digitised format and the information is available in English, Spanish, German, French and Japanese. http://www.financialexpress.com

FIAT appeals for the preservation of the world audiovisual heritage In Paris, at the 27th annual conference of the International Federation of Television Archives (FIAT/IFTA) in October 2004, the International Federation of Television Archives had said that the world audiovisual heritage that bears witness to the people's cultural identity is under immediate threat. They had invited for online signatures to its “Call from Paris” at the conference. FIAT had said that the Call from Paris is intended to draw attention to the perilous situation of these archives, to get the support of the United Nations General Assembly and to demonstrate the solidarity of archivists and users all around the globe. http://portal.unesco.org

SAARC to go for Traditional Knowlege Digital Library worldwide The member-countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) have decided to set up a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) with a view to protect the region from any possible acts of bio-piracy and misappropriation of traditional knowledge in the near future. A model legal framework has been drafted and circulated to member-countries for framing notional legislation recognising TKDL. According to the Director of SAARC Documentation Centre (SDC) Dr VK Gupta India is the only country in the world to set up a TKDL and they are urging all countries in the South Asia to set up a common TKDL for the region. The framework will encompass various aspects of traditional knowledge including materials used for treatment like plants, animal products, minerals, their generic or specific method of preparations or designs, their dosage, mode and time of administration, therapeutic action or indication or application of traditional knowledge. It will also have an innovative uniform structured

Nigerian academia to set up ICT parks in 40 institutions In Nigeria, the Nigerian academia will very soon be globally connected to world-class ICT parks in 40 institutions spread out in the six geo-political zones of the country. The goals of the initiative include capacity building, youth empowerment, expert IT training, and ICT certification which in the short run will help address the shortage of expert ICT skills in the country, and in the long run serve as a launch pad for attracting global outsourcing opportunities for Nigeria. http://allafrica.com

Google releases digital photo software The search engine leader google inc. released free software for organising and finding the hundreds or thousands of digital photos often stored on a computer’s hard drive using technology developed by Picasa Inc., which google bought last year, the new software will keep a photo collection and editing pictures simple even for beginners. http://www.asianage.com i4d | January 2005

A MATEUR R ADIO

A potential tool in emergency operations This article explores everything about amateur radio; How to become an amateur radio operator? What they generally do? How content can be transmitted by amateur radio operators and how can they contribute in an emergency operation?

Mahesh Acharya CKS, Bangalore, India radio_active@myrealbox.com

January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

Amateur radio is a Amateur radio scientific hobby that Satellite can be cultivated by individuals of all age groups and professions. In an emergency like a natural disaster, two main activities by amateur radio operators can prevent loss of lives. First is to forewarn about a possible Disaster/ emergency so that Emergency people can precaution and take such measures that will not endanger their lives. And the other is to pass messages, images and other info to aid agencies to help the survivors and injured as soon as possible in an emergency situation. Tele-communication of messages or other information can be sent in analog or digital mode. Some of the different modes include voice also called as radio telephony, Rtty – radioteletype, continuous wave – cw for Morse Code, FM, AM, television and digital. When communication infrastructure breaks down due to natural disaster, amateur radio operators transmit emergency traffic on voice mode about the well being of survivors to friends, families and relatives or about causalities. Besides passing of messages, hams through their radio equipment can also transmit in digital mode that includes RTTY - radio teletype, TOR – tele-printing over radio, packet radio transmission and the recent PSK31 – a type of modulation. Satellite images or video pictures of the affected area can be transmitted without delay as soon as amateur radio operators reach the site or by those who were already present. This information and knowledge can facilitate speedy decision making when it comes

Aid Mobilisation

to providing basic aid to the affected survivors and injured. Generally the aid from government comes in only after the assessment is done by government representatives. And when the aid arrives, it is too late. This article explores everything about amateur radio; How to become an amateur radio operator? What they generally do? How content can be transmitted by amateur radio operators and how can they contribute in an emergency operation? By popularising amateur radio among general public, relief and rescue can become easy. Voluntary organisations and government can play a very important role to achieve this. A national amateur radio operator’s guild can coordinate for the resources in emergency. Government and other organisations can benefit from this potential human resource that will provide speedy consultation supported by facts, images and other relevant information.

In the beginning To become an amateur radio operator, one has to pass different levels of Radio Amateur Station Operator’s Certificate Examination conducted by Government. Working

Ham Radio connects tsunami survivors in no time The National Institute of Amateur Radio (N.I.A.R) is Hyderabad (India) based NGO that promotes ‘Amateur Radio’ or ‘Ham Radio’ in the country as a scientific and socially useful activity. As part of promotion of Amateur Radio and Radio sport, our Ham Radio teams went to Port Blair (Andaman & Nicobar Islands) on 1st December, 2004 on a Dx-pedition (‘D’ for Distance, ‘X’ for Unknown stations contacting through Amateur Radio with fellow Radio Hams across the world known as DX-pedition). On 26thDecember, 2004, our DX-pediton team members - Ms.D.Bharathi Prasad, S.Ram Mohan, and R.Sarath Babu, were busy in communicating with fellow hams across the world at different frequencies. S. B. Ram Suddenly their radio sets started shaking heavily. Within no time they realised that it was a major earth quake and National Institute of communicated this to the fellow hams across the world. “We are in Danger .. Our Radio’s are heavily shaking.. Amateur Radio, Hyderabad Quake .. Earth Quake.. Earth Quake…it is a major Earth quake… We are running down from the 5th floor, sbram_lic@yahoo.com Hotel Sinclair, Portblair”. This is the first message, which was sent by our teams. After few minutes power went off. Our Hams were back on Radio Frequency after half an hour with the help of generators. As soon as link was restored, our fellow hams across the country particularly from Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Calcutta started enquiring about the team members. In a desperate tone they asked Bharathi… Are you safe ? Rammohan, Sarath….Are you safe? Around 7.00 A.M, the sea water started pouring into the Portblair. People on the bay and surrounding areas started running to the nearby hills. Our team was confused and panicked. Around 10.30 AM they came to know that it was a killer ‘Tsunami’ that had struck many parts of the islands such as Car Nicobar, Hutbay, Kachal, Cambel Bay etc. Immediately our Radio operators approached the government officials and offered their voluntary services to connect the area to rest of the world through amateur radio. Puneet Kumar Goel, Secretary Cum Relief Commissioner, Andaman & Nicobar Administration agreed to use our system. Immediately, a control station was set up by Ms.Bharathi & Sarath Babu at Deputy Commissioner’s office. On 26th December, 2004 another team headed by S.Ram Mohan & D.V.R.K.Murty was air dropped at Car Nicobar. Jose Jacob was dropped at Hutbay.. D.V. Satyanarayana & M. Chaitanyamumar droped at Mus. As soon as they reached the respective islands, Amateur Radio stations were setup by using car batteries as there was no power supply. I along with my colleagues, are still operating everyday from the Control room at D.C office. Subsequently some more Ham Radio members from Gujarat have flown to Portblair. Very few people were able to escape from the killer Tsunami. And for the survivors Ham is the only the link to the main land, India, to get help. Many hams across the country Kerala, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi have kept open their stations and thousands of messages to the kith and kin of the Island people was conveyed besides official traffic. Thanks to Suri, Chairman and Director, National Institute of Amateur Radio for providing logistic suport to the teams who are working 24 hours. We also thank our volunteers who have offered their services.

knowledge of radio communication principles, procedures, techniques, technology and communication phraseology is essential to pass the exams. At advanced level, person’s skill in being able to send and receive Morse code is tested. There are four levels of examination and each level allows the operator to transmit from a transceiver, a single unit capable of transmission and reception of HF, VHF or UHF bands. After applying and passing the exams, the government agency issues license with a call sign. A call sign is an alphanumeric code, the prefix denotes country and suffix gives the identity of the person that is combination of three alphabets except SOS, TTT and XXX as they are used to transmit actual emergency situations. An example of call sign is VU3MBV. VU3

denotes location that is India and MBV is identity of the license holder. Amateur radio operators talk to friends in the city by their transceiver, establish long- distance contacts with other amateur operators around the world through DXing (D – distance, X – unknown), locate a hidden transmitter popularly called as ‘fox hunt’, experiment with radio, pass emergency traffic especially during an emergency like cyclone, earthquake, flood etc by setting up communication posts. Amateur radio operator’s license is also called as ‘Ham’ license and the license holders are referred as ham operators. Ham is a poor operator as defined in G. M. Dodge’s The Telegraph Instructor. To i4d | January 2005

S. No.

Mode

Transmission

Useful for

Morse code only

Analog

Very long distance com., alternate for voice com. as back up. Voice

3 4

AM RTTY

Analog Analog and Digital

Voice Text messages only

TOR

Digital

PACKET

Digital

Data or files that could be images or text Data or files

SSTV

Analog/digital

Only still Image

FSTV

Analog/Digital

Still and moving images to update real time situation to aid agencies. Monitoring.

What can a small radio do in the face of disasters? The role of community radio in disaster warning, disaster preparedness and rescue and relief operations has been well documented. Perhaps it is time for our community radio group to do some introspection. Why have we failed so comprehensively in pushing through our agenda? What if the MS Swaminathan Foundation had been allowed to set up CR stations along the Pondicherry coast? 400 lives were lost there. 4000 lives were lost along the Tamil Nadu coast. 10,000 lives have been lost in the Nicobar Islands. Perhaps we could have saved many of them with a little prior precautions. In the entire Nicobar group, from Car Nicobar to Grand Nicobar, there is not a single radio station. On the morning of that ill-fated day all our connections with those islands were completely destructed after tsunami. For the first 48 hours of the disaster, there was no communication to or from these islands. For all we know, the smaller inhabited islands like Katchall, Nancowrie, Teresa, Bompoka and Little Andaman may well have been engulfed and all lives lost. These islands could not be contacted for days after tsunami. When disaster strikes, telephones and TV are the first to die. The islandersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; main link with the outside world is the short wave AIR station at Port Blair, hundreds of miles away. At the best of times, very little information comes out of these remote island communities. In the 3 years that I worked at AIR Port Blair, we toured the Nicobar Islands only once, for recording programmes. What if there had been community stations in CarNic, Katchall, Teresa, Campbell Bay? Would they have been more attuned to the perils of the sea and acted in time? Could more life have been saved then? Would the local administration have been better prepared to help the islanders in the aftermath of the tsunami? How could CR have helped in rescue and relief operations? When everything else failed them, what if the islanders had the humble FM transistor radio to tell them where to go, what to do, how to survive? Would the relief operations be more properly arranged and better disseminated? Opinion by Sajan Venniyoor (venniyoor@rediffmail.com). Taken from cr-india mailing list (a discussion list on community radio) http:// mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india

January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

Figure 1

some, ham is abbreviation of Hertz Armstrong and Marconi, while to others it is Home Amateur Mechanic.

And thereafter There are many modes of operation used by ham operators to communicate. Continuous Wave, Frequency Modulation, Amplitude Modulation, Single Side Band, Digital mode that includes RTTY, TOR, PSK31 and Packet transmission, Fast and Slow Scan Television and Internet Radio Linking. In an emergency operation, these modes can be used to transmit different information depending upon the urgency and importance. Timely action can be taken accordingly by the authorities to send aid. The table above describes the mode, transmission type and what can be sent on the mode. The information can be extremely useful to aid agencies.

Band of Brothers Ham operators could be anybody; doctors, nurses, paramedics, engineers, technicians, students, employed or unemployed, literate or illiterate as no qualification is needed to be eligible to apply for a license. This diversity makes ham operators a unique human resource who by virtue of their profession and ham license can contribute to a cause in disaster struck area and some of them have been doing it. For example, a doctor can request medicines from relief agencies that are specific to the nature of the disaster. Engineers can gauge the type and quantity of equipment and manpower needed to remove debris, build temporary shelters or request inflatable rafts or pontoon bridges in flood or cyclone affected region.

Digital Communication Vs Analog Transmission Digital transmission can send more data within the available bandwidth on Upper Side Band and Lower Side Band used by operators. The mode is transmission type. Digital mode includes RTTY, TOR, PSK-31, Packet or Internet Linking Radio. VE7LTD- a project developed by Dave Cameron, enables a hand held amateur radio to be connected to other hams around the world via Internet. It may be possible only via a low orbiting satellite that provides a small time window when the satellite is overhead for some time over the disaster struck area. To be able to transmit digital mode, it is necessary to interface the radio with a computer that could be laptop or a handheld device. The interface is achieved by a terminal node controller; some software to code data before transmitting is available from the Internet. This is explained in figure 1. Ham operators can transmit voice and data from a disaster prone area if they observe early patterns of a calamity like pre-earthquake

VHF

MHz

Use

160

1.8 – 2.0

Night

80 40

3.5 – 4.0 7.0 – 7.3

Night and local day Night and local day

30 20

10.1 - 10.15 14.0 - 14.350

CW and digital World wide day and night

18.068 - 18.168

World wide day and night

15 12

21.0 - 21.450 24.890 - 24.990

Primarily a daytime band Primarily a daytime band

28.0 - 29.70

Daytime during sunspot highs

6 2

50 - 54 144 - 148

Local to world-wide Local and medium distance

430 - 440

Local

UHF 70 cm

tremors thereby warning people who can take necessary steps like rationing of food and securing safe place. This information can be transmitted over short or very long distances to government agencies so that they can prepare in advance. Ideal mode Packet is computer to computer error free communications, SSTV (slow scan television) and FSTV (fast scan television like normal TV). There are handheld radio in the market that have inbuilt camera and screens that can operate in SSTV and FSTV capable of capturing and transmitting images and pictures of emergency situation to authorities for speedy aid. Amateurs have also built amateur satellites capable of extremely long distance communications even on VHF and UHF bands. Interestingly, CW – Continuous Wave, considered the best form of communication and information can be sent through Morse code.

Riding on Radio Waves Hams are authorised to communicate on HF, VHF, UHF or all three bands of the radio spectrum in specific mode described below by the licensing authority to ensure that only competent operators use their skills. Using one or more bands, messages can be passed. HF travel long distances, while VHF and UHF waves travel very short distances as these are line of sight propagation. However, repeaters increase the communication range and temporary repeaters can be set up in an emergency so that messages can reach the nearest town or city. Hams and Ham radio equipment can do a tremendous favor in emergency like natural disasters quickly, efficiently and without personal benefit gained. Long live Ham Radio!

GIS Institute AD

Band (meter)

How to listen to Ham radio • Two good quality domestic analog radios with SW band. • Tune in to any HF Ham frequency mentioned in the text. • While tuning on these frequencies you would hear unintelligent talk. This is due to modulation. To demodulate follow the next step. • Turn on the other radio, place it close to the radio tuned to ham frequency. Reduce the volume to absolute minimum and start turning the tuning knob very gently on SW band. At a point you would be able to hear the ham communication very clearly.

i4d | January 2005

R ECOMMENDATIONS F OR R EHABILITATION F ROM MSSRF

Life beyond tsunami The Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh has rightly stressed that every calamity presents also an opportunity for equipping ourselves to face with greater confidence and competence similar calamities in the future. The Government of India has announced that a Tsunami Early Warning System as well as a National Disaster Management Authority will be set up soon. Relief measures are in progress on an unprecedented scale, thanks to intensive and extensive efforts by the Central and State Governments, national and international Civil Society Organisations (NGOs), private and public sector industries, academia, mass media and bilateral and multilateral donors. We are now in a position to begin rehabilitation efforts in three time dimensions: A. Immediate (January – March, 2005) • Water, shelter, sanitation, health and revival of livelihoods • Psychological rehabilitation • Repair of catamarans • Achieving convergence and synergy among all on-going programmes with similar objectives (this is an urgent task) B. Medium term (2005-07) • Ecological rehabilitation • Agronomic rehabilitation • Economic rehabilitation • Disaster preparedness, mitigation and management C. Long term (2005-10) • Strengthening environmental defense systems • Enlarging opportunities for sustainable livelihoods based on a pro-nature, pro-poor, pro-women orientation to technology development and dissemination.

• Improving the productivity, profitability and sustainability of agriculture and fisheries.

A. Immediate Psychological rehabilitation It will be necessary to form teams of men and women psychiatrists and trauma counsellors who can cover the severely affected areas during the next few weeks to bring comfort and confidence to those who have lost their dear and near ones. Fishermen will have to be assisted in overcoming their fear of the sea. Farmers also need technical help and moral support. The professional/counseling sessions could be organised by appropriate civil society organisations in association with Panchayats. Those living in relief camps need particular attention. Destitute women should be rehabilitated in their own community and should not be herded in destitute homes, either old or new. Livelihood rehabilitation A Special Food for Livelihood Revival and Eco-protection Programme should be initiated immediately in all the affected areas. Such an open-ended Food for Work Programme, which can be sanctioned for a year in the first instance, should aim to create assets for the Tsunami ravaged families and should not solely be community centred, as in the case of normal Food for Work programmes. The concept of work under this special programme should include items such as: • Rebuilding houses • Repairing and building fishing boats and vessels • Rebuilding jetties, access roads and market yards • Rebuilding schools • Rebuilding health care centres • Establishing day care centres and crèches for children • Eco-restoration programmes like rehabilitation of mangrove wetlands and reclamation of soils inundated with sea water. The precise priorities can be developed for each village in consultation with local Panchayats and affected families. It is suggested that about 300,000 tonnes of food grains may be allotted immediately for this special programme, which will allow Tsunami affected families to have access to food while they are rebuilding their lives and livelihoods, as well as essential infrastructure for human resource development. It will be of immense help for these poor people.

B and C. Medium and long-term

Relief measures in progress

January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

Image courtesy: Association for India Development (AID)

These programmes should cover all families along the coast – both fisher and farming families, including the families of those who have no assets like land, livestock or fish pond. They fall under three broad groups.

•

• Coastal forest will serve as speed-breaker of tsunami

Strengthening the ecological foundations of sustainable human security This programme will include the following: • Initiating a coastal bio-shield movement along coastal areas, involving the raising of mangrove forests, plantations of casuaria, salicornia, laucaena, atriplex, palms, bamboo and other tree species and halophytes which can grow near the sea. They will serve as speed-breakers under conditions of coastal storms, cyclones and tsunami. They will in addition serve as carbon sinks, since they will help to enhance carbon sequestration and thereby contribute to reduce the growing imbalance between carbon emissions and absorption. Mangroves are very efficient in carbon sequestration. They also promote sustainable fisheries by releasing nutrients in the water. In addition, they will provide additional income and make coastal communities eligible for carbon credit. The coastal bio-shield can also involve agro-forestry programmes, like the intercropping of casuarina with hybrid pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) or Red gram, to be undertaken by farming families. Thus, the Bio-shield movement will confer multiple benefits to local communities as well as to the country as a whole. • Promote peoples’ participation in the conservation and enhancement of mangrove and other coastal wetlands, as well as coral reefs and coastal and marine biodiversity. A participatory Mangrove Forest Management Programme on the basis of the guidelines already developed by MSSRF should be introduced. The Joint Mangrove Forest Management is based on the successful model of Joint Forest Management already in progress in most parts of India. The super cyclone havoc in

Every calamity presents also an opportunity for equipping ourselves to face with greater confidence and competence similar calamities in the future 32

•

Orissa and the current tsunami tragedy have created widespread awareness among the people on the role Mangrove forests play in reducing the fury of cyclonic storms and tidal waves. Promote the organisation of community nurseries of Mangrove species and other appropriate tree species chosen under the coastal Bio-shield and agro-forestry programmes. Community nurseries can be raised under the auspices of both Forest Departments and Panchayats. Where appropriate, such nurseries can be raised on the basis of a buy-back arrangement. Farm families can raise nurseries and produce seeds of crops chosen for the agro-forestry programme. Regeneration of fisheries and fostering a sustainable fisheries programme: The new fishing vessels and nets should be designed in a manner that they do not disrupt the fish life cycle by catching young ones and also do not destroy sea grass beds, which serve as habitats for dugongs. The calamity provides an opportunity for achieving a paradigm shift from unsustainable to sustainable fisheries. Raising artificial coral reefs: The work done in the Gulf of Mannar area indicates that artificial reefs can stimulate fish breeding and revival. These can be laid and managed by fisher selfhelp groups (SHGs). National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) can develop a special programme to promote the growth of such SHGs. Managing Marine Biosphere Reserves in a trusteeship mode: A trusteeship pattern of management of coastal bio-resources should be fostered. This will help local communities and government departments to manage unique biological resources in a trusteeship mode, ie, people considering themselves as trustees of such assets with a commitment to conserve them for posterity. A beginning has been made in the Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve, but this system needs to get institutionalised all along the coast as well as in the Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep group of islands. Housing for fisher families: The new houses should respect the 500 meter restriction and should be ecologically designed. If all fisher folk had been given housing sites on the landward side of coastal roads, the death toll as a result of tsunami would have been much lower. Anticipatory action against sea level rise also demands a human security driven design of coastal habitations. A group of architects should be assembled for this purpose immediately. Construction of sea walls and dykes: The construction of permanent sea walls can be taken up in places where there is sea erosion due to heavy anthropogenic pressures. The locations for such non-living barriers should be determined on the basis of a carefully conducted erosion vulnerability analysis. Agronomic rehabilitation: Reclamation of salinised soils: Sea water ingression has led to soil salinisation in some areas. A scientific team consisting of representatives of agricultural universities, Central Soil Salinity Research Institute and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research may be set up to survey the areas, study the nature and severity of the problem and suggest remedial measures. This should be done within the next two months, so that farmers are able to resume normal farm operations without losing a crop season. i4d | January 2005

• Code of conduct for coastal ecological security: The serious loss of life and property caused by tsunami highlights the vision and wisdom of Smt. Indira Gandhi when nearly 24 years ago, she took steps to ensure that no permanent construction should be permitted within 500 meters of the high tide. We should not only strengthen this national resolve, but also develop a code of conduct for construction beyond 500 meters. Such a code can consist of a package of rewards for initiatives in the areas of sunward oriented buildings, energy efficient construction, use of wind/tidal/solar energy, rainwater harvesting, use of local construction material and use of biodegradable material. The coastal ecological security literacy programme should bring to the attention of builders the opportunities now available for mainstreaming ecology in building design and construction. • Vulnerability mapping: Based on an analysis of 100-year data, the areas prone to cyclones and other natural disasters can be mapped. Priority may be given to such areas in erecting bioshields and in undertaking eco-restoration and erosion prevention measures. Agricultural vulnerability to potential changes in sea level should also be mapped. This task should be taken up immediately by a Consortium of R&D institutions and India Meteorological Department (IMD) to be set up by the Departments of Ocean Development and Science and Technology, Government of India. • Sustainable management of coastal land and water resources: Scientific land and water use planning will have to be done to prevent salinisation of ground water. Land and water use patterns based on principles of ecology, economics and social and gender equity will have to be prepared by Panchayats with the help of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, agricultural universities and the Forest, Fisheries and Agriculture Departments of State Governments. Rehabilitation of livelihoods and fostering sustainable livelihood security The sustainable livelihood security strategy should be based on the principles of social inclusion and gender equity. They should cover both fisher and land based farming communities as well as landless labour families. The following steps are needed: • Aquarian Reform: This is essential to foster harmony in the use of living aquatic resources by artesenal fishermen operating catamarans and commercial families operating mechanised fishing boats and trawlers. The major aim of the Aquarian policy should be: • Conservation of living aquatic resources • Sustainable use • Equitable sharing of benefits • Harmony between artesenal and mechanised fishing. • Integrated capture and culture fisheries: Sea Water Farming: Fisher families, particularly women, can take to the rearing of prawns and suitable salt tolerant fish species in canals along the sea coast, using Low External Input Sustainable Aquaculture (LEISA) techniques. Agro-aqua farms involving the concurrent cultivation of tree species and rearing of fish and prawns can be promoted to enhance income and employment opportunities. The Tsunami January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

New houses should respect the 500 metre restriction

Image courtesy: Waves of Destruction

tragedy should lead to the emergence of new sea farming communities, well versed in both production and post-harvest technologies, quality management and value addition. • Establishment of Coastal Bio-villages: The economy of coastal villages can be strengthened through the bio-village model of rural development. This involves the sustainable use of natural resources and introduction of market driven non-farm enterprises as well as value addition to primary products. It also involves a paradigm shift from unskilled to skilled work, resulting in the addition of economic value to time and labour. The micro-enterprises chosen for being undertaken by SHGs with micro-credit support should be based on both value addition to under-utilised resources and market demand. The coastal biovillage movement to be fostered by Panchayati Raj institutions should be based on a pro-nature, pro-poor and pro-women orientation to enterprise development and adoption. An important component of coastal bio-villages should be the establishment of Aquaculture Estates which can help to confer the power of scale to fisher families in the production, processing and marketing of fish. • Establishment of a coastal grid of Farm Schools and Demonstration Centres: Farm and Fisher families practising the use of natural resources based on principles of ecological economics can be chosen for establishing Farm Schools. Lateral learning among farmers and fisher families will be more effective than formal institutional learning. Both can go together. Demonstration of environmentally sound sea farming techniques should also be organised. Network of Rural Knowledge Centres (RKC) The crucial importance of timely information is now widely recognised in minimising the loss of life caused by disasters like Tsunami. It is therefore essential that a network of Rural Knowledge Centres is established all along the coast as soon as possible. Such RKCs will use the Internet, community (FM) radio, cable TV and the vernacular press in an integrated way. They will provide both generic and dynamic information and will help to disseminate locale-specific and demand driven information. They will also serve as an integral

security. Training programmes will have to be organised for SHGs who wish to take up work in the areas of raising community nurseries, eco-restoration, reclamation of salt affected soils, market-led enterprise development and managing Rural Knowledge Centres. These RKCs will increase the employment opportunities of the villagers. Education, social mobilisation and regulation will have to become the pillars of the coastal ecological and livelihood security systems. The RKCs will provide an opportunity to professionals for sustained engagement with local communities.

An opportunity for collaboration Damaged fishing trawlers at Nagapattinam port

Source: ABC news online

part of the National Early Warning system. They can also empower fisher, farm and other coastal inhabitants with information on their entitlements to government programmes and attend to other essential needs relating to education, health, weather and market. The following four requirements need concurrent attention for launching a rural knowledge revolution. • Connectivity: BSNL and other appropriate institutions can help to establish broad band connectivity. Both wired and wireless technologies can be used. • Content: A Digital Gateway for coastal ecological and livelihood security will have to be established by a consortium of content providers and data generators. The Gateway should be guided by the priority needs of local fisher and farm families. • Capacity building: This will have to be undertaken under the overall umbrella of the Jamshedji Tata National Virtual Academy for Rural Prosperity and the National Alliance for Mission 2007: ‘Every Village a Knowledge Centre’. At least one woman and man of each village will have to be trained as Master Trainers. They will be elected Fellows of the Jamshedji Tata National Virtual Academy. Training should be imparted on disaster preparedness and management, as well as on trade and quality literacy. Food safety issues and codex alimentarius standards should be highlighted in the training programmes. The policy support needed for this programme has already been spelt out in the report of NCF titled, ‘Serving Farmers and Saving Farming’ submitted to the Government of India in December, 2004. Even if there is an efficient early warning system, the information will have to reach the unreached, particularly fishermen in sea. Therefore, a network of community radio (FM) centers will have to become an integral part of the coastal area knowledge connectivity. • Care and management: The RKC should be located in a public space like a school or panchayat building, so that there is equity in access. The RKC can be managed by an ICT-SHG with support from NABARD. • Resource centres for capacity building: There is need for establishing a network of capacity building centers along the coast. A resource centre for mangrove forest conservation, rehabilitation and expansion is urgently needed. There is need for preparing training modules in local languages on a wide range of topics relating to both ecological and livelihood

The tsunami disaster has provided an unique opportunity for launching an integrated psychological, ecological, agronomic and livelihood rehabilitation programme through public-private sector partnership. To succeed, such programmes should be people centred and managed by local communities with appropriate guidance and support from government and Panchayati Raj institutions. Government agencies, academia and local communities should jointly develop Integrated Coastal Zone Management plans which would help to transform sustainable development from a desirable objective into a practical reality. This is a short report of the tsunami consultation held at M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Chennai on 10 January, 2005. The report has been prepared by Prof. M S Swaminathan and send to i4d by Subbiah Arunachalam. (arun@mssrf.res.in)

Obituary: N. K. Jain Unsung champion of disaster management The founder of Joint Assistance Centre (JAC), Delhi and a prominent disaster manager died on December 15, 2004 at a hospital in Gurgaon. N.K. Jain had worked steadfastly for disaster preparedness and prevention. He had great sympathy with poor and disaster victims. To express his concern with the disaster victims and also to help them, he established JAC in 1978 in the aftermath of the terrible 1977 Andhra Pradesh Cyclone. He kept himself involved in setting up new voluntary agencies for disaster management and training. N.K. Jain had supported the formation of Institute for Youth and Disaster Preparedness (IYDP), International Task Force for the Rural Poor, Global Forum of NGOs for Disaster Reduction, Indian Association of Emergency Managers, Swasthya Seva Ashram Evam Gramin Vikas Trust, Gram Evam Paryavaran Vikas Samiti, Lok Chetna Manch, PREPARE, A.P. Disaster Reduction Forum etc. for the cause of social upliftment and building up of National capabilities to cope up with natural disasters. Recently, he had formed Bhagwan Mahabir Aapada Sahayata Kosh. Over the years he had developed excellent interactive linkages with a very large number of NGOs, resource persons, institutions and government functionaries in the country and abroad. i4d magazine is expressing heart felt sympathy at this sad demise specially at this time of tsunami disaster when the country needed him most. i4d | January 2005

ICTD Project Newsletter

Making ICTs work for people Dr. Hafiz Pasha, Assistant Secretary General, United Nations (UN) during his recent visit to the National Institute for Smart Government (NISG), Hyderabad informed the bewildered audiences, that rural Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two most popular uses of Internet kiosks were to download sample Senior Secondary School (SSC) papers and to pirate CDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Dr. Pashaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s comment highlights the multifarious ways, in which Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have impacted lives of millions the world over.

ICTs in India India is a land of plenty. The sheer size and variety of its population presents ample opportunity for ICTs to provide varied interventions to the citizens. Over the past decade, the Indian government has boosted the technology and ICT market by driving a spate of reforms to position India higher in the global markets. With the influx of technology has arrived an ocean of knowledge which January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

can now be made widely available and beneficial to citizens from all economic strata and in particular the rural population who form the major part of our population, but who are often the last recipients of any national development reforms. In India today, the focus is slowly shifting to the use of ICTs to improve public service delivery of governments. Information dissemination about government schemes and public services, employment generation, providing information about health-care/education, agriculture and market prices, are some of the popular ways in which ICTs are used to enhance human capabilities. ICT

for Development projects play an important role in equitable knowledge and opportunity distribution. Despite evidence showcasing the positive impacts of ICT for development projects, it is often argued that ICTs have no role to play in scenarios where the citizens are unable to even provide themselves with basic amenities and necessities like food, health and education. In reality, though great strides are being made in using ICTs to enhance development goals, more often than not the factors that work against it are not taken into cognizance. Weak local infrastructure which raise connectivity issues, lack of technical skills and local capacities, and lack of relevant content are some of the problems that are commonly raised during implementation of ICTD projects. But the solution for these do not lie in decrying ICT but in attacking the problems encountered and developing localised solutions for the issues raised. Today there is increasingly a need to integrate, harmonise, take advantage and build upon the scores of disjointed ICTD efforts, so that the best can be replicated and the failures can be learnt from.

The background During the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, eight Millennium Development Goals were identified in the fight against poverty, illiteracy, hunger, lack of education, gender inequality, child and maternal health, disease and environmental degradation. New technologies, especially ICTs were then recognised as a powerful tool to fulfil these goals. When the Government of India (GoI) launched a National e-Governance Action Plan (NeGAP) for implementation during the period 2003-2007, its focus was on laying the foundation and

Dr. Maxine Olson, UNDP Resident Representative (India)

providing impetus for long-term growth of e-Governance within the country. It was with this intention that the NISG, a not-for-profit company, was established by the GoI at Hyderabad, in the year 2002, in association with NASSCOM and the government of Andhra Pradesh on a public-private partnership model. NISG’s mission was to facilitate application of public and private resources to e-Government and establish its expertise in the areas of architecture, consultancy and training in the e-Government sector. NISG by focusing on these three areas aimed to achieve a factor enhancement in the quality and pace of implementation of e-Government programmes in India. UNDP announced its country programme for India for the period 2003-07 and set as its priority, the goal to work towards the promotion of sustainable human development and the elimination of human poverty and inequalities. Dr. Maxine Olson, UNDP Resident Representative (India), states that though the importance of ICT for Development appears to be recognised by many countries and their development partners, ICTD is still very much an emerging area of focus with all the attendant challenges of capacity development and the lack of empirical evidence on cost-benefit. “India however, with its tremendous potential in information, communication and software services, could catalyse the use of ICTs for development in order to maximise the potential for meeting the MDG targets across all sectors,” she says. However it was GoI’s commitment to ICTs for Development that encouraged UNDP to partner with them. Says

Maxine, “It was then that we partnered with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MOCIT), GoI and NISG to support and identify ICT for Development initiatives. This partnership is expected to contribute to building knowledge through stock-taking of lessons learned and experience networking”. Renu Budhiraja and SS Grover f rom the Department of IT, GoI share Maxine views. “The ICTD project would provide significant inputs to GoI NeGAP initiatives. The scope and social vision of the project is larger than most others. It will provide a good platform for innovation and experimentation” they feel. The ICTD project was decided to be implemented during the period of 2003-07. The initial commitment on the project was set at US$ 5 million with an indicative budget of US$ 30 million over a 4-year period. It was agreed that NISG would play the role of the implementing agency for the ICTD project and that the pilot initiatives chosen from across the country under this project would be implemented by project partners like state governments and NGOs. NISG would further be responsible for project management and monitoring the progress of pilot implementation.

The ICTD project Designed with the mission to make ICTs work for people, the ICTD project aims to implement and encourage pilot initiatives in the areas of e-Government and e-Governance, develop solutions and applications to bridge the digital divide, prepare roadmaps for e-Governance, document success stories, facilitate transfer of knowledge, and conduct capacity building in the area of e-Government. The project planning and implem entation would combine the use of appropriate technology with capital-intensive infrastructure to execute ICTD projects that result in maximum impact. The knowledge and experience required to deal with development challenges at all levels during this project shall be

obtained by drawing on the strengths and views of the government, civil society, the private sector and the international development community (including donors and international civil society organisations) for this project. Much thought went in before the selection of the economic/social areas under which pilots would be implemented. Says J. Satyanarayana, CEO, NISG, “Given the large spectrum of possible themes covering the whole ambit of the development sector, the large size of the country and the population that needs services relevant to their lives, we have chosen to initially restrict the selection of pilot initiatives under four themes namely, Integrated Citizen Services, Enhancing Rural Livelihoods, Transforming Governance and Women Empowerment, to take up pilots under the ICTD project.” This approach, he feels, will help NISG focus on implementing pilots that target the delivery of key public services through multi-channel and multi-lingual delivery options, and help them identify successful pilots that can be replicated and scaled up in the future. ‘Integrated Citizen Service’ projects have the ability to directly impact lives of thousands of citizens and are thus high on the priority list of ICTD initiatives in our country. Projects such as the e-Seva in Andhra Pradesh and FRIENDS in Kerala have helped to organise and speed the delivery of essential services to the citizens. Says Mr. Rajeev Chawla, Secretary e-Governance, government of Karnataka “The use of ICTs in this manner, helps the government to make services more simple, efficient and transparent thus increasing productivity for both citizens as well as Government departments. We equip and ease the lives of citizens through projects in Integrated Citizen Services arena.” ICTD projects that enhance livelihoods of rural population have already been successfully implemented in agriculture, crafts and allied sectors. Projects such as those by ITC’s e-Choupal and the Information Village project in Tamil i4d | January 2005

Nadu provide and improve livelihood opportunities to the rural people by targeting agriculture and allied sectors. ICTD projects chosen under Rural Livelihoods theme would be those that specifically targeted sectors like Agriculture, Natural Resource Management, Rural credit etc. Says Roy Matthew, Director, Kerala State IT Mission, who is implementing a project in Kerala which aims to establish IT-enabled Agri-Business Centres, “In the future, market determined production is going to be the driving force of agricultural operations. ICTs provides the farmer a fair chance in these competitive environment to continue farming, profitably. Farming of the future is going to be a knowledge intensive profession and the sooner we make use of ICTs in the sector, the better our prospects would be.” Decentralisation of power and empowering local and state bodies through the use of ICTs, is the focus of ICTD projects that come under the theme for Governance (Rural and Urban). Projects that empower local bodies and citizens in matters such as access to justice and information would be among the many that come under this theme. Ranjit Kumar Maiti, Deputy Secretary, P&RD Department, Government of West Bengal feels that rural India is currently in dire need of a robust communication network that would link all the three tiers of the Panchayat, namely Zilla Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Gram Panchayat. ICT in recent times has also been seen as a strong tool to build capacities among women, enabling them to play a dominant role in mainstream economic activities. Parminder Jeet Singh, Director of Programmes, at an NGO called IT for Change insists, “The two interlinked factors that primarily contribute to the success of an ICT project working to empower women are the need for an intervention that aligns itself with some grassroots institutional activity that is already in place, and the necessity for that intervention to build upon and January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

correspond with already existing habits and capacities of the targeted women”.

The beginning: Project workshop As the first step in the implementation of the ICTD project, a workshop was held at Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh on July 8-9, 2004. The workshop aimed at increasing awareness about the ongoing projects in India in the ICT for Development domain, and to identify and ascertain pilots to be implemented under the ICTD project. Attended by over 140 delegates from all sectors- governments including IT Secretaries from 12 states, and NGO’s from the ICTD domain, the workshop created an environment where people could share their experiences and knowledge, and help translate the ICTD project vision into reality. Soon after the workshop ICT pilot project proposals were invited from the various government and non-governmental agencies. A total of 11 projects were identified to be implemented in the first phase. Below is the summarisation of these projects.

Integrated Citizen Services Bangalore-One Bangalore One (B1) is an initiative of Government of Karnataka (GoK) which aims to provide all G2C and G2B OneStop services as well as information about central, state and local government departments and agencies in an efficient, reliable, transparent and integrated manner to the citizens of Karnataka, through a chain of computerised Integrated Citizen Service Centres and through multiple delivery channels like electronic kiosks, mobile phones and the Internet. Created on the lines of e-Seva, B1 will have 15 service centres all over the city of Bangalore by March/April 2005 and will eventually be scaled up to 50 centres.

Integrated Community Service centres (i-CoSC) i-CoSC is an initiative of the department of IT, government of Himachal Pradesh.

It aims at setting up one-stop shop information resource and service centre for the people in the state using simple but state-of-the-art methods of organising, sharing, and communicating information. As a tool for development, it aims to empower the masses by providing access to community-based information, communication resources and ICT-based applications - particularly on health, education, agriculture/natural resources, and rural enterprise development. The project will be piloted in Shimla district under the ICTD project.

Rural livelihoods Agri-Business centres The Kerala State IT Mission will implement this project to facilitate farmers to interact with Agricultural Service Providers utilising the Akshaya centers as delivery points. The proposed project, market driven agricultural initiative through IT enabled Agri Business Centres in Kerala state, addresses the existing gap in agriculture information flow and transaction management. The project envisages facilitating and enabling farmers and other stakeholders through Agri Business Centres to interact with Agricultural Service Providers in the private, government and non-government sectors. This platform shall cater to all the needs of information, communication, transaction, payment and potential integration with related services. The project will be implemented in Malappuram district of Kerala.

Project Ashwini Byrraju Foundation, an NGO in Andhra Pradesh, will implement Project Ashwini with the objective of connecting rural people with experts in areas like agriculture, education, health, etc. from across the world. Project Ashwini seeks to create a platform for multi-dimensional interaction between experts and service providers in towns/cities and has defined target segments in 28 villages in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.

Governance Integrated Panchayat planning and monitoring system The Department of Panchayati Raj of West Bengal is implementing an ICT solution for all the major functions of Panchayats including micro planning to promote transparency and accountability at village level. The main theme of the project is to promote better efficiency in managing various programmers and delivery systems, plan tools (including GIS based technology) for village level planning, better management of information, creation of a better monitoring and compliance machinery, and promoting social audit. The project will be implemented in 20 Panchayat Samitis of Burdwan District and 50 Gram Panchayats under these Panchayat Samitis.

Village Information System (VIS) Village Information System project is an extension to the government’s e-Gram project targeted at the rural population of Gujarat. VIS (eGram) seeks to integrate all the projects under the Government of Gujarat’s e-Governance initiatives programs that are proposed to roll out in all 18,000 villages of Gujarat. The project will leverage the existing infrastructure (network and hardware) of government of Gujarat, where applicable, and will develop the applications for the entire gamut of citizen services for the selected Talukas. The project will initially cover 100 villages of two talukas (districts) of Gujarat state.

Improving self governance in Panchayati Raj institutions Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan, an NGO in Gujarat, envisages the creation of the Setu ICT kiosk through the existing Setu centres, and developing the kiosk as a platform, which enables the Gram Panchayat bodies and Gram Sabhas to access the various ICT technology applications. The kiosks will also provide simple information tools and services in order to improve both, their ability to self-gov-

ern and generate better development opportunities. Creating close communication linkages between the Gram Panchayats and the district administration/Jilla Panchayat is also a part of the project plan. Setu Programme currently covers 320 revenue villages and 60 hamlets in the Kutch District of Gujarat state. This project proposes to cover all the 380 villages currently under the Setu centres.

e-Panchayat The Panchayati Raj Department of Uttar Pradesh and NIC will jointly implement the e-Panchayat project which would be a comprehensive suite of panchayat applications conceptualised, designed and developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC), Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. The project would seek to solve the information management problems at the village level and thus benefit all the citizens, the elected representatives, the Gram Panchayat and other village level officials, the administrators and planners at the district and state level, also the knowledge workers and the researchers. The pilot would initially be implemented in a cluster of 100 village panchayats located between the cities of Varanasi and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.

e-Procurement As a part of its reform process, the Government of Karnataka (GoK) has decided that an e-Governance procurement platform would be introduced which shall be compulsorily used by all the departments. The e-Procurement marketplace shall automate and streamline the procurement processes of the buyer organisations and create a centralised pool of registered and pre-qualified vendors spread across the world for meeting procurement requirements of the buyer organisations in a timely, efficient and cost effective manner. GoK intends to implement e-Procurement as a state initiative covering all the departments, corporations, municipalities and other local bodies within

the geographic boundaries of the state of Karnataka.

Women empowerment Mahiti Manthana The project being executed by IT for Change, a Bangalore based NGO aims to appropriately ICT-enable the ‘Resource Centre’ strategy of Mahila Samakhya, Karnataka (MSK), so that the information and communication processes of the sanghas (village committees) and federations are sufficiently strengthened, for them to function autonomously, and for achieving the goal of women’s empowerment at higher levels of effectiveness. Mahiti Manthana envisages a steady continuum of technology appropriation by grassroots women. The project will be operational in the 3 talukas in Mysore district, in around the 150 villages that MSK operates in. Apart from ten pilot projects, ICTD project shall also be partly funding the i4d magazine published by CSDMS. The magazine will include an ICTD newsletter every month and serve as a vehicle to disseminate information about the varied ICTD projects and other ICT related research.

The road ahead The ICTD project will look to upscale the successful pilots and replicate them in other parts of the country through the involvement of more donor agencies to truly make ICTs for people. Replication, it is believed, will provide the country with more lasting solutions. ICTs can enable communities the world over to play a greater role in their social and economic development. They can and will work for people, but only if we think big, start small and scale fast. Note: Panchayat, Gram Sabha, Zila Panchayat refer to local governance bodies at village and district level in India. NISG and i4d reserve the right to reprint articles produced for the ICTD section of the i4d magazine and website, with due credits to NISG and i4d. Please write to the editor for any request of reprints.

Interview

“ICTs are not like a new water pump in village” He is the man behind Canada’s first rural online and telecentre services. He is an entrepreneur, sociologist, author, educator and a great personality full of zest and enthusiasm. Richard Fuchs, Director of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Development Program Division of International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is a man with a mission. He comes with a broad experience in academicia, private and public sector and joined IDRC in 2001. He believes, “rural people need smart networks” and ICTs have got lot of potential to bring accessibility to information needs and livelihood opportunities to improve lives of poor people. The Canadian-funded IDRC supports research projects that address the challenges of sustainable and equitable development. Recently in Sri Lanka, Dr. Fuchs spoke to i4d’s Anuradha Dhar on IDRC’s initiatives to bring ICTs closer to rural people, its new alliance with Microsoft and his views on the kind of challenges ICT4D pose to developing nations. Excerpts: Richard Fuchs, Director, ICTD Division, IDRC

What are the key lessons you have learnt in your tenure in ICT4D programme of IDRC which you would like to share with the readers of i4d? I have been involved with ICTs for Development since 1988, and for the last 4 years this has been at IDRC. I guess the most important lessons I have learned are the ones I repeat as often as I can. First, ICTs for Development take time to have their effect. ICTs are not like a new water pump in the village. It took the post-industrial world almost a quarter-century to develop a business case for the Internet. The developing world needs their iterative learning phase too. It need not take 25 years, but it is not a light switch. Second, women’s participation in ICTs for Development is a pre-requisite for success. If women are not involved, and in leadership roles, the social and economic changes that are necessary for ICTs to affect development outcomes will get truncated. The post-industrial knowledge economies of North America, Europe and Australia all succedded through accelerated participation by women in science, technology, business and the labour market. Without women January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

being demonstrably involved in the information economy, success is not possible. Third, ICTs for Development are still very young. The entire approach isn’t even 2 decades old. We still need to focus on learning, sharing what we know and listening to others. This last element can be difficult when we’re all in a hurry to succeed. What are the different programmes of IDRC in ICT4D? Can you briefly tell about each one? ICT4D@IDRC has programmes, which are all regional in nature, strategic direction, budget and decision-making. We believe that, of all development programming, ICT for development needs to reflect regional priorities, context and capacity. In Africa we host both Acacia and Connectivity Africa, which have been integrated in their management and delivery. In the Americas, it is the Institute for Connectivity in the Americas and PAN Americas and in Asia it is Pacific Asia Networking or PAN. To this we have added new programming with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Asia Pacific with ENRAP II and in North Africa/Middle East with Karianet. Most recently we

have agreed to be host to a new Telecentre Support Network, soon to known as telecentre.org that has been underwritten in the initial instance by Microsoft Community Affairs. We annually spend roughly $25 million (CDN) on direct social investments in our programming along with additional resources to support 35 staff worldwide to work with our developing world partners. In ICT4D@IDRC we do not consider ourselves a “donor” but rather as a social investor similar to the role played to initially finance the early Internet. In what other directions do you see IDRC’s programme heading? A much greater focus on how developing world communities can build income, jobs and local economies using ICTs. As well, we see a need to help our regional programming and partners become more globally connected through networks and alliances.

What are the thrust areas of IDRC at present? IDRC as an organisation is focused on propoor policy change that informs the process of development decision-making. We add to this the development of human and institutional capacities to sustain development and, in the case of ICT4D, the development and adoption of appropriate pro-poor technologies. Our other program areas in the environment and socio-economic policy address similar purposes in their respective sectors. In your opinion, what are the challenges in ICT4D in developing countries? The challenges include having the vision and patience to let ICTs “catch” within the development space-to ensure it is not just an activity undertaken by elites who can afford high prices and specialist services. We are trying to work with developing world partners in this. Our newest initiative in the Americas, e-Link Americas, is designed expressly to spread access and the benefits of connectivity to those that can least afford them. E-Link Americas will dramatically reduce the price of access to open standards, wireless connectivity for social development organisations, especially in rural areas. As well, developing countries are challenged in how to identify and adopt propoor, market-friendly telecoms policies. While this is always context specific, much more south-south exchange and documentation is still needed in this area. What is happening in the world for the preparation towards WSIS 2005 favourable for Civil Society Organisations and developing countries?

We think WSIS is important, in both its Geneva and Tunis episodes. But this entire ICT4D undertaking is really a relay race, not a World Summit sprint. It is useful to recall that the WSIS was preceded by the Information Society and Development Conference in Midrand, South Africa (1996), the Global Knowledge for Development conferences in 1997 and 2000, the DotForce and the UN ICT Task Force in 2000, to name but a few. As much as we have been involved with the World Summit, we are just as interested in what comes after it in the years that follow. WSIS has helped to engage many new participants, especially in the developing world, in the consideration of how ICTs affect development. This is all for the good. Ten years from now, will ICT4D become a redundant subject? It is funny, people asked me that same question almost 20 years ago! There is a lot of talk on financing ICT4D. Has IDRC done anything for understanding the models in this? We have thought about it but have not approached the issue systematically on the input side. Instead, we are trying to build outputs. We are developing more scalable approaches to help our developing world partners to solve ICT4D problems. These are based on a financially sustainable vision but require initial social investment. E-Link Americas and the Telecentre Support Network are clear examples of this. Recently IDRC has signed a big agreement for the Telecentre Support Network project with Microsoft. Is this an example of Microsoft taking over? The short answer is ‘NO’. IDRC’s Board of Governors, half of whom come from the developing world, along with our President and management are firmly in control of our ICT4D programming. There has been no sign of a ‘take-over’ at all. IDRC’s ICT4D

programming has always been technically diverse, embracing different software, operating systems and technologies. The new partnership with Microsoft Community Affairs is not changing any of that. I have to tell you that I am very impressed by how our new colleagues in Microsoft Community Affairs have entered into this new public-private partnership. We both want other civil society and private sector partners to join in this undertaking. But it does seem that Microsoft Community Affairs is becoming much more engaged in ICTs for Development all over the world. IDRC’s programs in ICT4D The Acacia Initiative This initiative in Africa is an international program to empower sub-Saharan communities with the ability to apply ICTs to their own social and economic development. http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-8455-201-1 DO_TOPIC.html

Connectivity Africa This initiative, which was announced at the G8 Kananaskis 2002 Summit aims to improve access to ICTs in Africa by applying Canadian expertise especially in relation to education, health and community development. http://www.connectivityafrica.ca/

Pan Asia Networking (PAN) PAN is a program in Asia that seeks to understand the positive and negative impacts of ICTs on people, culture, the economy, and society, so as to strengthen ICT uses that promote sustainable development on the Asian continent. http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-9608-201-1 DO_TOPIC.html

The PAN Americas The PAN Americas corporate project at IDRC supports research on the social uses and impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development in Latin America and the Caribbean. http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-6793-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

Institute for Connectivity The Institute for Connectivity in the Americas (ICA) emerged from the 2001 Summit of the Americas. It is the forum for hemispheric innovation in the application of ICTs to strengthen democracy, create prosperity, and realise human potential. http://www.icamericas.net/index.php?newlang=eng

ENRAP ENRAP (Electronic Networking for Asia/Pacific Projects), an IFAD-IDRC collaboration, leverages a growing body of useful information generated by development projects and made available on the Internet. http://www.enrap.org

i4d | January 2005

19-20 N OVEMBER B ERLIN , G ERMANY

UN-sponsored IT meet envisages future needs On a cold and snowy Friday morning, ambassadors, ministers, secretaries, CEOs and entrepreneurs from all over the world passed through computerised security checks to participate in the 7th United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force (UNICTF) annual conference with the overall theme, ‘Promoting Enabling Environment for Digital Development’ in the old but wholly digitised building of foreign ministry of Germany in Berlin. Established by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2001, the UNICTF brings together representatives of governments, the private sector, civil society and international organisations in a global effort to harness the immense potential of ICT for promoting development. In the welcome remarks by Ambassador Martin Lutz, Director General for Economy and Sustainable Development of Federal German Government formally started the session by giving a quick review of the core activities of the Task Force and the success story of ICT’s working groups and regional nodes that lucratively served as multi-stakeholder mechanism to facilitate and promote collaborative initiatives as regional, sub-regional and national levels and to mobilise new public and private resources to support ICT-for-development programmes and projects. With the introductory remarks of Jose-Antonio Ocampo, UN Under-Secretary General for economic and social affairs, Lucio Stance, Minister for Innovation and Technology, Italy read out the efforts by his government for enabling environment for digital development at national and international level. He highly regarded the recent eGovernment initiative GovNet by Mozambique in which the intranet connects 12 ministries. Referring to the Italian contribution he dwelt on the ongoing collaborations with Iraq and Jordan in Middle East, Macedonia and Albania in South East Europe and Nigeria and Mozambique in Africa. The plenary session focused on policy and regulatory issues. Jean Michel Hubert, Ambassador, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France discussed the factors of institution and capacity building in the IT sector and solutions to provide low cost (affordable) access not only to the developed but also to the rural areas of under developed countries. Panelists involved the participants in finding out the ways to strengthening the institutional capacity building of developing countries in ICT for development policy-making and to enhance their ability to participate in and contribute to international policy-making processes. January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

Organisers treated the participants to a working lunch where Ambassador Karklins, President of the WSIS PrepCom made a brief statement on the preparatory process of the Tunis phase of the summit followed by presentation on WTO, e-Commerce and IT read by Sacha Wunsh-Vicent of OECD in reference to Uruguay Round through the Doha Development Agenda. One of the important sessions of the day was financing ICT for development. The session explored key issues relating to financing ICT for development that emerged out of the discussion of the first phase of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva in December 2003. The session addressed to the changing role of public, private and not-for-private sectors and collaboration and contribution of stakeholders in innovative financial mechanisms. By end of the day the participants split into three groups for breakout sessions. In these simultaneous sessions, area of focus for first group remained policy and regulatory issues where moderator Richard Simpson took comments, questions and suggestions. Participants of second group discussed the new models for financing ICT for development. The attention and input of private firms and entrepreneurs went to the third group, which discussed the promotion of private sector investment and entrepreneurship. The first day closed on a 10-dish reception arranged by the Task Force and served by German citizens. The second day started with opening remarks by Talal Abu Ghazaleh and moderation by David Gross (Ambassador for US State Department). Despite being a weekend, the turnout was remarkable as participation crossed over 500 people. As crucial portion of the conference was already discussed, networking breaks “with coffee and tea” remained the centre of attraction for the newcomers and private enterprises. The last plenary session was conducted by Brendan Tuohy, Secretary-General, Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Ireland, who summed up the deliberations of preceding sessions, breakout session and identified the area of action and collaboration between stakeholder groups, modalities for engaging stakeholders in innovative partnerships. The chairman, Jose Maria Figueres Olsen, ended the final session in a closed door meeting with members of the task force and gave directions about the next meetings. Reported by : Hasnain Bokhari in The Statesman, Pakistan hbokhari_2000@yahoo.co.uk

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Bytes for All... The year 2004 ended on not so happy note, with South Asia being hit by a terrible natural disaster. A monster earthquake in the Bay of Bengal, which triggered the Tsunamis created devastation in a host of South Asian countries including India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Our hearts go out to the victims of the tragedy, as we stand by them in solidarity. Can Internet transform rural India? While some readers do have faith in ICT and want to believe that one-day Internet will change the face of rural India, some do not want to be so idealistic, or shall we say ICTlistic! In this regard, we have examples of rural initiatives like Threadnethumza and Toeholdindia where rural folk sell their traditional wares like Kolhapuri chapples to European markets. Similarly e-money can save the rural people from unscrupulous moneylenders. But the question is how secure is e-money? Can biometrics technology intervene here? These were some of the questions that dogged our thoughts. Finally the discussion was concluded on the thread that Internet alone cannot transform rural India. For it, all the sectors of development like primary education, road communication, electrification, Internet etc have to work together. They altogether surely can. A very interesting and important observation made by one of the readers would summarise this whole discussion, “Most communities do not need a lot of any one thing, they need just what they do not have and everything need to be in balance. Each community really need a different mix of development initiatives to get the optimum social progress.”

Providing IT access to women For centuries, women in rural India and for that matter women in South Asia have been living in patriarchal societies. If one considers a woman the focal point of a family unit, it would naturally mean that a development of a family is directly related to a woman’s development, mental and physical. A woman should never remain cut off from information. And what better way to provide her with information than by the medium of Information Technology. Can IT be used to empower women? What are the reasons that a woman does not have access to IT in South Asia? What can be done so that a woman can have access to the sea of information scattered all over? Will it help her to have a more pragmatic future? Will she be able to have information on basic health care, sanitation etc? These were some of the questions that we attempted to answer in this thread.

Simputer making rapid strides Fredrick Noronha of Bytes for All (BFA)reported that Simple Computer or SIMPUTER, which was launched last year, is expecting a surge in sales. It is a simple hand-held device run by the Linux

operating system and is supposed to be a boon to rural India, which cannot afford expensive hardware and software of today. Though the beginning was modest with only 4,000 sales last year, Encore Software Ltd. the company marketing SIMPUTER expects sales to touch 50,000 next year, both in the domestic and international markets. Best of Luck to SIMPUTER!

Radio communication to help save lives in flood-prone areas in Bangladesh MOTOROLA, the global computer giant, has donated radio communication equipments to CARE, the international humanitarian organisation, to help in improving the communications in flood-prone areas of Bangladesh. The equipments include portable radios, base stations, repeaters, accessories and other necessary devices for the installation of the radio, communication equipments in the selected sites.When floods hit Bangladesh, poor communities usually depend on word-of-mouth to seek assistance. By the time the aid arrives it is usually too late. With the new radio communication equipments in place, communities and also the evacuation boat crew will gain quicker access to flood information. They will be able to mobilise themselves more quickly to save lives and reduce the effects of floods.

Advisory panel selected for ‘Open Regional Dialogue on Internet Governance’ In October 2004, UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Information Programme (APDIP) launched a new initiative, ‘Open Regional Dialogue on Internet Governance (ORDIG)’ to strengthen the voice of stakeholders from the Asia-Pacific in Internet governance and make ICT policy-making responsive to development priorities. From a rich pool of expertise, an advisory panel was selected comprising of experts from all over South Asia. The panel will have to advise UNDP-APDIP on all activities related to ORDIG and will carry out work through online consultations and face-to-face meetings.

The Relationship Revolution OR the Information Revolution This is certainly good food for thought provided by Balla Pillai that to say that the Internet is about ‘information’ is a bit like saying that ‘cooking’ is about oven temperatures; it’s technically accurate but fundamentally untrue. The Information Revolution is more about Relationship Revolution. It has brought about a revolution in the relationship between people and organisations, people and machines and also between people and other people. Intimacy, anonymity, trust, openness, access, passion, negotiation, hierarchy, coordination and collaboration can all be mediated, monitored and managed via networks ostensibly designed to carry bits. But it is people, not information that create value. Again, it can be said, “Internet is full of information, but starved of knowledge.” Information for information sake is not what we i4d | January 2005

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Bytes for All... want. What we want is information at the right time, right place and in right measure. For more on this interesting bit go to, http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/bytesforall_readers/message/4425

Free software

http://www.bytesforall.net/ict-dismit/Tsunami_devastation_26Dec An interesting idea was submitted by Gurstein Michael, of setting up a multi-user space, where people could put the names of missing friends and relatives and anyone having information on them could respond to them. He added, “ This space could also act as a possible clearinghouse for volunteer aid in the very short run.”

I Is free software really ‘free’? Readers debated on the concept of ‘free’ as in free software. Apparently ‘free’ software is not like ‘free’ air. Because there are issues of patents, copyrights, public domains and works in ‘free’ software too. As one of the readers noted, free software should be as easy to use as tap water. But if it is not as free flowing as tap water, then the only alternative left is either develop your own software or use proprietary software. Richard Stallman, renowned hacker and advocator of free software once said, “Free software must not become a religion. By preaching it as a religion will only harm its cause.” But advocacy for it should be continued. As one of the readers pointed out, advocacy for any product is a must otherwise how will the world know about it? There was also talk in BFA circles of forming an international consortium of social organisations and activists around the world, with the view of creating a truly global not-for-profit organisation called ‘Transparency and Accountability Network’ (‘TrAcNet’) to create transparent and accountable social communities. Peter Burgesse (profitinafrica@aol. com) from New York and Kris Dev (krisdev@gmail.com) from Chennai, India are the co-founders. Let us wait and watch!

II Can ICT help in disaster mitigation? This discussion was in response to a call for help from Chanuka Wattegama from Tsunami hit Sri Lanka as to whether ICT can help in disaster mitigation. Our readers responded with interesting solution like High Frequency (HF) radio. HF radio is independent of distance and handles telephonic signals as well as low speed data (like e-mails without attachment). HF radios are powered by conventional lead-acid batteries. Therefore, electricity is not an issue with a HF radio. Some readers however felt that using HF radios is not all that easy. No country in the world gives permissions to free long-range communications. Prior license to operate at a particular radio frequency has to be taken from the government authorities. This is just the first step in the battle. However, HF radio can be made more useful by integrating HF radio or HAM radio technology with the public utility services like Fire, Hospitals, Civil Defense etc in a planned manner. We at Bytes for All, have closely worked with a HAM radio group led by Pallavi Raina, during the Gujarat Earthquake.

II Free versus proprietary software Atul Chitnis’s (http://atulchitnis.com/b1-statement.php) statements kicked off a heated debate on the merits of free versus proprietary software in BFA circles. Chitnis of Exocore Consulting is of the view that proprietary platform is the most insecure platform today. He is also of the view that the Government of Karnataka, India should reconsider handing over a particular sensitive project (built with proprietary technologies), consisting of citizen’s private information to a proprietary software. While some of the readers are of the view that it does not matter whether a project is built on a leading platform A, or a challenger platform B. What matters are the lessons learnt in the initial stages so that the project can go forward and be improved. Some readers are also of the view that a software project can do better with Open Source Software, rather than proprietary software, because of the savings in terms of costs, scalability etc. While other readers felt that Open Source should provide a better solution rather than a cheaper solution to win over proprietary software. Cheaper cost alone cannot be the juicy bone.

I ICT for development story The Development Gateway Foundation has called for nominating the best ICT for Development Story for a $100,000 award earlier called the Petersburg Prize.

The killer tsunami I Special section on tsunami The BFA team has opened a special section on Tsunami effects in South and South-East Asia, so that readers can submit any relevant information, URL, experience or report to this space. Please visit January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

Announcements

II Micro finance Process Awards 2005 Planet Finance India together with ABN Amro Bank announced the Microfinance Process Excellence Awards 2005 to promote process based management in micro finance institutions and to strengthen their professionalism and effectiveness as also to establish quality benchmarks for the industry.

Events Seminar on ‘Legal Framework for e-Development: Best Practices and Lessons Learned’: (14/12/2004 Washington DC) This seminar is a World Bank response to the growing interest in many client countries in designing legal framework to enable the effective use of ICT in the development agenda. Bytes for All: www.bytesforall.org Or www.bytesforall.net Bytes For All Readers Discussion: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ bytesforall_readers To subscribe: bytesforall_readers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Compiled by Archana P. Nagvekar, Bytes for All, India

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AISECT ICT M OBILE V ANS

IN I NDIA

A silent revolution All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology (AISECT) is a Bhopal based NGO. It has been engaged in building local rural capacities through innovative awareness building campaigns, development of customised software and content, and building the spirit of entrepreneurship. With over 4000 centres operating in 29 Indian states, AISECT mostly works at the community level. The team has been engaged in the past five years in reaching those areas that do NOT yet have electricity. To demonstrate that the digital world should be kept out of reach or limits of the rural India, especially in villages and blocks that have been most backward in development definition. AISECT has launched an innovative way to reach the unreached through Mobile Information Technology (IT) Vans. Terms as “Yatra Van”, since 2000, a mass campaign for the people to popularise IT. The objective is to create mass awareness and dissemination in India. The programme was launched on the National Science Day on February 28, 2000. It took the team 8 months to be ready. The Yatra phase lasted for a month a half from October to mid-November. Yatra in Hindi means journey. The initial phase of the activities is followed by promotion of information technology as a vehicle for Knowledge Based Enterprises especially at the district, block and sub block levels (these are various administrative structures of governance in the states) and for employment generation. The number of districts covered was 100, and span of 200 blocks. The success of the awareness campaign generated new demands on innovation, research and development, technical and hand holding support, which was the next priority for the organisation. Combined with the demands were specific requirements of different stakeholders. The thrust in the rural areas was to promote IT entrepreneurship orientation. This was supplemented with an IT Olympiad championship to over 100,000 students, who also chance to participate in essay and poster competitions. Parallelly, 1000 teachers were trained, and this resulted in the creation of a website and web-dialogue among the participants.

The mobile van that was prepared for the roving awareness campaign was customised and prepared housing battery operated machines, with appropriate hardware and software. This mobile van travelled in 2000 to 50 blocks and covered: • Computer based demonstrations • Audio - Video demonstrations • Software for rural applications • Film and Slide shows • Poster exhibitions • Electronic Hobby Kits • Books exhibitions • Career counselling • Internet demonstrations The following activities were undertaken after the mobile vans began its awareness campaign. • Analysis of Information need surveys • Setting up of Block Level Multipurpose I.T. Centres • Setting up of Panchayat Level Information Centres • Commencing Computer Education Programmes in Schools • Formation of Computer Clubs in Schools • Formation of Regional Language courseware groups • Resource Groups for Software/Courseware development • Development and Publication of software, courseware for social applications • Starting of training and education programmes for various cross sections of people • Making Panchayats and Blocks the focal points of I.T. Application, to generate awareness, employment and to empower people. Such innovative approaches and focus on building capacity in rural India has been the thrust of AISECT for the last twenty years. AISECT’s work at the grassroots has created a silent revolution, and must be commended for its innovation and dedication, since the group activities have been adapted to the global technological changes. The group’s publications in Hindi language contributes training resources for other organisations as well. For more details about the organisation, log on to www.aisect.org Jayalakshmi Chittoor CSDMS, India jchittoor@csdms.org

i4d | January 2005

What’s on Australia 01-03 February, 2005 Information Online 2005 Sydney http://conferences.alia.org.au/online2005/

Belgium 18-20 April, 2005 ISCRAM 2005 Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management Brussels http://www.sckcen.be/iscram/

Tunisia 16-18 November, 2005 WISIS: World Summit on the Information Society: Phase 2 Tunis

07-09 February, 2005 Map India 2005, New Delhi

http://www.itu.int/wsis/

http://www.mapindia.org

The United Kingdom

21-25 February, 2005 International Conference on Information Management in a Knowledge Society (ICIM 2005), Mumbai

15-17 March, 2005 Newcom Africa Chelsea Village, London

http://www.icim2005.org/

Mozambique 10-11 May, 2005 3rd International Open Access Conference Maputo

http://aitecafrica.com/events/2005/Newcomm/ index.htm

04-06 April, 2005 LILAC 2005: Librarians’ Information Literacy Annual Conference London http://lttg.lse.ac.uk/LILAC/default.asp

http://www.wideopenaccess.net/

Canada 13-16 April, 2005 Museums and the Web 2005 Vancouver, British Columbia http://www.archimuse.com/conferences mw.html#mw2005

27 June-02 July, 2005 ED-MEDIA 2005 Montreal http://www.aace.org

South Africa 02-04 March, 2005 ICTS and Civil Society Conference Johannesburg http://www.radio.oneworld.net/article/view/ 76307/1

Spain 06-08 July, 2005 7th ISKO-Spain Conference Barcelona

China 29 March–01 April, 2005 2005 IEEE International Conference on e-Technology, e-Commerce and e-Service Hong Kong http://www.comp.hkbu.edu.hk/~eee05/home/

India 02-04 February, 2005 CALIBER 2005 Multilingual Computing and Information Management in Digital Networked Environment Kochi http://web.inflibnet.ac.in/caliber2005/ callforpapers.jsp

http://www.bd.ub.es/isko2005/

Switzerland 07-09 February, 2005 WSIS Thematic Meeting on Measuring the Information Society Geneva http://topics.developmentgateway.org/ict/calendar/ showCalendarItemDetails.do~activeCalendarItem=15005800

22-24 June 2005 First International Conference on e-Social Science Manchester http://www.ncess.ac.uk/conference_05.htm

10-12 July, 2005 Euro Conference on Mobile Government Sussex University Brighton http://www.icmg.mgovernment.org/ europeanmg.htm

United States 01-05 March, 2005 SITE 2005 Phoenix, Arizona http://www.site.aace.org/conf

14-17 March, 2005 The O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference (ETech) San Diego http://www.conferences.oreillynet.com/etech/

21-23 February, 2005 The 4th IASTED International Conference on Web-Based Education (WBE 2005) Grindelwald

02-05 April, 2005 e-Learning 2005 Dallas, Texas

http://www.iasted.org/conferences/2005/ switzerland/wbe.htm

http://www.144.162.197.250eLearning 2005glance.htm

Get your event listed here. www.i4donline.net/events January 2005 | www.i4donline.net

I N F ACT

Webbing disaster In the wake of the tsunami disaster hitting more than 10 countries, new interest has been generated in natural disaster and disaster management. Shocked people around the globe sought Internet for information on them. A list of websites dealing with disaster management has been given below to help in their searching. • http://www.ndmindia.nic.in/ This website of Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, gives the news about the various projects, workshops, guidelines and events undertaken by the Ministry for disaster management in India. • http://www.wcdm.org/main.html 15th World Conference on Disaster Management will take place in Toronto, Canada on July 10-13, 2005. Here experts in Disaster Management from across the globe will gather in order to listen and learn, plan and prepare, educate and exchange on the lessons to be learned from all disciplines of disaster and emergency management.The catchline of the Conference is ‘WHEN THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENS, THEY TURN TO YOU! Where can you turn to learn how to think through the unthinkable?’ • http://www.worldbank.org/hazards/files/ECA_strategy.pdf This site consists of the working paper published by World Bank on comprehensive Risk Management Framework for Europe and Central Asia. Based on historical data, this paper provides a profile for each country that estimates the likely economic losses from a catastrophic event occurring every 200 years, the losses from an event occurring every 20 years, and the average annual economic cost of disasters, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of GDP. It also assesses institutional arrangements for disaster management. The document is based on a series of country assessments that included extensive consultations with key experts and authorities in the region through a series of five sub regional distance learning seminars. • http://dmc.engr.wisc.edu/courses/index.html Information about self-study course curriculum in international disaster/emergency management of Disaster Management Centre of University of Wisconsin. The Centre’s goal is to improve the emergency management performance of non-governmental organizations, local and national governments and international organizations, through a comprehensive professional development program in disaster management. • http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/por/disaster.htm#current This website deals with Disaster and Emergency Management on the Internet prepared by ‘The Radio Amateurs’ Emergency Network’ of Staffordshire, UK. It gives details about the types of disaster and also names of Government organisation and NGOs dealing with disaster management of some selected countries. • http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/gtog/disaster.htm This is the official website of US President’s e-government initiative providing citizens and members of the emergency management community a unified point of access to disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery information from across federal, state, and local government.

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http://www.myflorida.com/myflorida/disastermanagement/ This is the official website of the State of Florida, USA. It provides full details of the disaster management plan of the State. It gives the description of the natural disasters, what to do when the disaster take place and also provides the contact number of the emergency management units of all the Counties. It also gives evacuation and mitigation plan and also the duties of various government bodies during disaster. It has been developed as a one-stop platform for the citizen of Florida for information and assistance during disaster. http://www.indianngos.com/issue/disaster/people/ngos.html This website give the names, addresses, contact no, e-mail ID of the NGOs (statewise) working for Disaster Management in India. http://www.undmtp.org/english/roles/role.pdf This site give the role and responsibilities of the United Nations Disaster Management Team. It has been prepared for United Nations Disaster Management Training Programme. http://www.dotars.gov.au/ndr/ This is the website of Government of Australia. It gives information about mitigation, relief and recovery arrangements commissioned by The Council of Australian Governments (COAG). http://www.m25lib.ac.uk/m25dcp/ This is the website of M25 Disaster Management Group set up by the M25 Consortium of Higher Education Libraries of UK. The group wants to promote awareness about the best practices in disaster control management, assist in the dissemination of information and undertake co-operative initiatives to carry out the practices. http://disasterfinder.gsfc.nasa.gov/Disaster_Management/ This search service is provided by NASA/GSFC Earth Sciences Directorate. It gives information about the organisations that are responsible for education and training, mitigation, preparedness, recovery, relief, research, response and warnings during natural disasters in USA. http://www.disaster-info.net/PED-Sudamerica/Documentos/ DisasterManagement_2005r.pdf This website gives information about the First International Symposium on Geo-information for Disaster Management which will take place in Delft, the Netherlands on March 21-23, 2005. http://www.unisdr.org/ This is the website of United Nation’s International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. It provice information about the World Conference on Disaster Reduction to be held at Kobe in Japan on 18-22 January, 2005. It also gives information about disaster statistics and the United Nations Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction. http://www.ifrc.org/publicat/wdr2004/ This website give the full World Disasters Report of the year 2004. It has been published by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and focuses on building community resilience from disaster. i4d | January 2005