●　Outline of the workshop

BHN held the Workshop on ICT for disaster management, inviting experts from ASEAN countries (The Association of Southeast Asian Nations), with the support ASEAN and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan (MIC) from December 8th to 12th, 2014, in Tokyo, Miyagi prefecture and Ibaraki prefecture.

 
Japan was hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake followed by gigantic Tsunami in 2011 that caused to interrupt communication services for a long time due to the failure of both commercial power supply and communication infrastructure. In ASEAN countries also, there are many natural disasters occurring every year.

 

　

Workshop on ICT for disaster management for ASEAN countries was aimed at sharing our experiences and know-how gained from the Great East Japan Earthquake and through the process of the recovery, with the telecom leaders of ASEAN countries.

 

It is also hoped that our technologies and systems would serve as a model for the ASEAN countries when they implement their own, and also to strengthen international cooperation between Japan and ASEAN countries.

 

●　Participants from ASEAN countries

 
Number of participants was twelve in total. There were two each from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, and one each from Malaysia and the Philippines.

 

●　Program

The program of Workshop consisted of lectures and site visits to the areas that were hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

 
・The lectures covered MIC’s international cooperation in the field of ICT for disaster management, standardization trends in disaster prevention systems, and various ICT technologies and systems for disaster mitigation and prevention.
Participants from ASEAN countries presented country reports regarding countermeasures against natural disasters in their respective country. They explained about the situation in each country concerning disasters and how they are coping with natural disasters.

 
Another program of the Workshop included a visit to National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention in Tsukuba city, Ibaraki prefecture.

 
・In Miyagi prefecture, we visited the city of Ishinomaki, Onagawa cho, Shikama-cho, the city of Osaki and Watari-cho which were all struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake. There, we received lectures and observed how municipalities coped with the earthquake at that time, and their projects seeking diversification, resilience and efficiency of information media for disaster warning, based on the lessons they learned in the disaster.

 

Those activities included the temporary disaster FM broadcasting station in Watar-cho. The visit to NTT East Miyagi Division enabled us to understand how they coped with the Great East Japan Earthquake and managed to bring the telecommunication network back to normal.

 

 

　
・Throughout this Workshop, participants from ASEAN countries raised many questions about Japan’s technologies and systems. They also paid much attention to the restoration activities underway in the regions struck by the earthquake and tsunami. From their response, we believe this workshop has been much informative and useful for disaster management development in ASEAN countries. We also believe that this workshop has contributed to strengthening international cooperation between Japan and ASEAN countries.

 

Mitsuake Hatakeyama