IT concept Alex (WAB) Yae (BISS)

Summary of the article Technology & tool for helping people from disaster /blog/communication.gif

ISSUE An issue of communication being knocked out by the earthquake and tsunami in the poorer and less developed areas. The article gives examples of concepts that could be implemented into future scenarios, one example being a communication system being added after the Haiti earthquake in 2010.

System A similar system that could use Google maps as a base software has been modeled to potentially be used for communication/ sharing information that could be used in future scenarios.

Areas of impact : Communities Those stuck in the disaster zone, limited access to technology, could be in a developing area with no real technological infrastructure

Areas of impact : People Technology has lives in its hands, system failures could lead to drastic consequences

Advantages and disadvantages on main stakeholders

Main stakeholders Developers Users

Advantages Gathering helps

Disadvantages Limitation of use

Social & Ethical Issues

IT Background Taken from: technology-to-aid-disaster-relief-for-japan- and-beyond082.html

Equality of access Rural areas Areas with no access to internet connection Area due to disaster has no connectivity Poorer people

Reliability Age of information (Whether or not it is recent or old) Lack of synchronous information (No real-time communication)

Authenticity Authenticity of Information Who can post information

Policies and Standards Could help prevent reliability and authenticity problems Although could hinder the amount of information

Sources The Article technology-to-aid-disaster-relief-for-japan-and- beyond082.html