Revolutionizing disaster preparedness

Karrie Ilagan

Many calamities bombard our country year after year, but they are increasing in frequency and impact. We saw this with the four earthquakes we experienced within the first four months of 2019. The disaster was felt even in the city, damaging property and hurting people, the worst of which claimed 18 lives in Porac and Lubao. Disasters also include those that are man-made like transport accidents, fires and even conflict like we’ve seen in the siege of Marawi—the longest urban battle recorded in our modern history.

In cases like these, strong communication systems that can bridge the gap on the lack of infrastructure are an immediate necessity in hastening effective disaster preparedness and response. It’s the prime component that should stand strong as it aids all aspects of disaster risk reduction and mitigation (DRRM). Based on our experience at Cisco on effectively partnering with the Philippines to respond to disasters, swift resolutions are solely driven by strong preparation and how fast information is dispatched, received and processed.

Heading the Philippine office for an industry leader in IT and networking, I’m seeing communication technology poised to have a greater influence on nation-building in our country through DRRM. This evolution in the use of communication technology has been happening in other countries, and as digital transformation continues, the Philippines won’t be too far behind.

Communication technology is currently being developed to help save lives through faster connection between victims and governing bodies via the internet, mobile devices, apps and even social media. Rehabilitation from disasters also benefits greatly from the exposure these technologies provide where help can easily be asked and accounted for.

However, we can take a step beyond disaster response as technology gears us up to lessen casualties or prevent loss of lives in the first place. The core and weightier component of our DRRM—reducing risk through preparedness and education—empowers us to regain control over even the most unexpected emergency situations with due diligence and foresight. To do this, it must involve integrating existing infrastructure with communication systems that are quick and easy to dispatch.

In the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015, technology played a crucial role in coming to the aid of refugees and reestablishing the normalcy of their lives. Cisco’s tactical operations team partnered with NetHope to quickly provide fleeing refugees with charging stations for their mobile devices and high-speed internet so they can connect with and update their loved ones on their whereabouts and safety. Secure connections for all users was ensured through our cloud security software, blocking 2,000 cyberthreats per day.

Connectivity and communication are critical lifelines during a disaster whether natural or man-made. In challenging situations, these can help alleviate feelings of doubt, fear and stress by helping refugees contact family, friends and colleagues, thus aiding their steps toward rehabilitation and recovery. With the lack of infrastructure that could manage an exodus of this scale, communication technology that was compact but easy to install and navigate bridged this gap allowing quick response.

For us in the Philippines, this critical bridge is crucial for far-flung regions facing infrastructure challenges. At the most basic level, they lack effective and efficient means of communication that in turn hinders education, governance and basic services. More importantly, they are more at risk to calamity and insurgencies when communication is most crucial. All these can be remedied the same way—with scalable communication technologies made to anticipate needs and disasters.

Preparedness covers the establishment and strengthening of community capacities to anticipate, cope with and recover from the negative impacts of emergency situations or disasters. To effectively aid DRRM, communication technology must also be flexible—solutions that can be used not just during emergency situations but can benefit the daily business of local government units.

Collaboration between all stakeholders that can play a part is vital for the country to be fully equipped against emergencies, and disaster preparedness is a collaboration. It involves partners like Cisco who are ready to help enrich our DRRM measures through technology contribution, trainings and communication drives that can deepen understanding of and readiness for disaster preparedness.

In my more than 20 years of leading technology companies across the Philippines, I’ve experienced how during that span of time our lives were revolutionized by digital transformation—particularly in the way we communicate.

Communication technology has evolved from just establishing connections to becoming the difference between a life or death situation—and in a disaster-prone country like the Philippines, that difference could mean everything. INQ

Karrie Ilagan is the managing director of Cisco Philippines. She leads a workforce keen on positively impacting businesses and society overall through digital disruption.