Information Systems for Decision Making for Sustainable Development

Information Systems for Decision. Making for Sustainable Development CDERA and the INTEGRATED DECISION-MAKING SUPPORT SYSTEM (IDSS) UWI, ST. AUGUSTINE, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO October 28, 2003

OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION Ø CDERA – THE ORGANISATION Ø CDM STRATEGY – WHAT IT IS Ø CDERA’S INFORMATION POLICY Ø THE IDSS – DEFINITION Ø GOALS OF THE SYSTEM Ø ELEMENTS OF THE IDSS Ø CHALLENGES, CONSTRAINTS AND IMPLEMENTATION CONSIDERATIONS Ø IDSS – DISASTER MANAGEMENT DIRECTION

CDERA THE ORGANISATION Ø Regional Disaster Management Organisation Ø Established by CARICOM Heads of Governments in 1991 Ø Three Organs – Council of Ministers, Board of Directors, Coordinating Unit Ø Membership – 16 English Speaking CARICOM States

CDERA MANDATE Ø Main function is to make “immediate and coordinated response” to disasters in Participating States (PS) Ø To mobilize and coordinate disaster relief from governmental and non-governmental organizations for affected PS Ø To promote the establishment, enhancement and maintenance of disaster response capabilities among PS.

MEMBER STATES

SUB-REGIONAL OPERATIONS Ø Four (4) Sub-Regional Focal Points § Jamaica – Belize. Bahamas, TCI § Antigua & Barbuda – BVI, Anguilla St. Kitts/Nevis, Montserrat § Barbados – Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines § Trinidad & Tobago – Grenada, Guyana

National disaster organizations Ø Focal Point at National Level Ø Has responsibility for overall management of National Disaster Programme Ø Headed by National Disaster Coordinator (NDC) Ø Work Programme & Budget

MAIN ACTIVITIES Ø Manage Transition to CDM Ø Information Sharing and Management Ø Managing Regional Response Mechanism Ø Mitigation of Disaster Impacts Ø Programme/Project design and implementation

THE CARIBBEAN STRATEGY ON COMPREHENSIVE DISASTER MANAGEMENT (CDM)

COMPREHENSIVE DISASTER MANAGEMENT What is CDM? Ø Integrated Management of all Hazards Ø Management of all Phases of the Disaster Cycle Ø Engagement of all Sectors Ø Integrating Vulnerability Assessments and Risk Reduction into Planning and Development

CDM STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK

A consultative process Ø CDERA’s policy is to collaborate with organisations with shared interests Ø This helps to ensure more rational use of the limited resources as duplication is minimized. Ø Also ensures that technical assistance provided is of the highest quality as each agency can take the lead in the area where it has specific technical expertise

THE CDM MATRIX Initiative Agency

CDERA’S INFORMATION POLICY

CDERA’S INFORMATION POLICY To: Ø enhance CDERA’s visibility as a leader in the promotion of disaster management. Ø Promote acceptance and ownership of Comprehensive Disaster Management. Ø enhance the Coordinating Unit’s capacity to access, collate, analyze and disseminate information on all aspects of disaster management. Ø support the institutionalization of disaster management teaching and research in regional universities

The INTEGRATED DECISION-MAKING SUPPORT SYSTEM A CDERA / SOUTHCOM/HAP INITIATIVE

WHAT IS THE IDSS A Management Tool which incorporates geographic information systems (GIS), visualization, and analytical models, responds to requirements for hazard analysis, risk and vulnerability assessments, mitigation and preparedness planning, and education, training and exercise support.

The IDSS cont’d Ø A concept rather than an Information System Ø Distributed Network Ø Decision-Making Support System Ø Collaborative environment / Integration Ø Data intensive/dependent Ø Hardware/software platform Ø Real-time applications

GOALS OF THE SYSTEM Ø 1) provide the fundamental mechanisms needed to allow sharing of information between decision-makers at various levels, Ø 2) provide the capability to view the issue at various scales from regional to national to local and, Ø 3) enable collaboration between participants so that there is a common understanding of the situation at hand.

IDSS Concept The true goal in integrated decision-making support is to provide the decision-maker with the ability to look into the future. That is, predict in advance the risk and vulnerability of populations and infrastructure to hazards, both natural and man-induced. This requires that data be transformed into knowledge. .

IDSS Objective Equip disaster and humanitarian assistance managers, at all levels of decision-making, and across the four emergency management functions of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery, with a suite of tools, processes, standards and applications to enable: Ø Access, integration, sharing, and dissemination of timely and relevant information and knowledge Ø Creation of a common operating environment for improved planning, collaboration, decision-making and execution

ELEMENTS OF THE SYSTEM ØICS ØGEOCAS ØOPEN SOURCES

Incident Command System (ICS) Ø The ICS is a core IDSS component for realtime event management and decision support at the tactical and operational levels allowing users to enter and access information, track resource requests, and report infrastructure status.

Geospatial Collaboration and Assessment System (Geo. CAS) Ø Geo. CAS is the primary tool for situational awareness and development of a common operating picture among decision-makers at the operational and strategic levels.

OTHER OPEN SOURCES Ø Other ‘open sources’ give users access to a wide range of information repositories such as the media, internal organizational communications (e. g. e-mail, telecon, radio, teletype, fax), the broad universe of internetbased information providers, consultants, academia

Current Constraints Ø Data/Information are available, but… Ø Hard to find and from multiple sources Ø Multiple formats Ø Difficult to integrate Ø Tools are available, but… Ø Hard to find and from multiple sources Ø Multiple formats Ø Difficult to ingest data Ø Collaboration is difficult, particularly in time of crisis

The Challenge(s) Ø Disparate “systems” and “information sources” need to be integrated - into one simple system ØData/Information are available, but § Hard to find and from multiple sources/locations § Multiple formats § Challenging and time consuming to integrate ØTools are available, but… § Hard to find and from multiple sources/platforms § Can be difficult to ingest data § Challenging to use and interpret….

CHALLENGES cont’d Ø Collaboration and coordination can be challenging particularly in a time of crisis - information needs to be shared among agencies (local/regional, planning, etc) ØWho’s doing what? …Who needs what? … ØWhat is happening? …What happens if? Ø IT infrastructure is inconsistent - solution needs to accommodate all levels of capability. Ø Policies and procedures at different levels of government and internationally are (necessarily) different - Some may not be in place to enable information sharing and full utilization of an IDSS.

Implementation Considerations Ø Infrastructure Ø Hardware systems Ø Software systems Ø Communications (connectivity and bandwidth) Ø Resources Ø Data (location/maintenance of - Static, dynamic, local, regional, etc) Ø People (Technical, Analysts) Ø Funding Ø Policies/Procedures/Culture Ø Institutional Development Ø Personnel Development Ø Sharing Information/Knowledge and Expertise

Issues for Consideration Ø Compatibility Issues Ø Data Format, Measurement Units, … Ø Different Vendor Products, Versioning, … Ø Ethernet, Token Ring, … Ø Organizational Ø Sensitive Data Definition Varies Ø Security Issues / Accessing Shared Data Ø Capacity Differs From Country to Country Ø Bandwidth Cost is High Ø Systems, Data, Models Expertise Limited

Architectural Considerations Ø System Considerations Ø Data Compatibility Ø Tool Compatibility Ø Flow Mechanism & Medium Ø Organizational Considerations Ø Methods & Procedures, Policy Impacts Ø Sharing Rules Ø User Training Ø Maintenance (Systems, Data, Models, …) Ø Connectivity Costs

Key Component & Features Ø Tools Ø Geospatial Analytical Tool (Geo. CAS) Ø Incident Mgmt Tool Ø Other Tools Ø Distributed Network Ø Integrated Local Databases Ø Integrated Tools Ø Open, Modular, Scalable Ø Flexible Deployment Option Ø Start Small, Ø Add as Needed Interne t LAN

How Will It Work? Ø Data is Local: Ø Imagery, Model Results, Warehouse Info, … Ø Servers Contain: Ø Key Software Components Ø Jurisdictional Data Ø Pointers to Local Data Ø Connectivity Via Internet Ø Collaboration Via: Ø Common Op Picture & Ø Posting of Products Interne t LAN

Key Benefits Ø Empowering Local Users Ø Incremental Investments Made Locally Ø Data Quality Improves Locally Ø Increasing Awareness Ø Combining Local Data for the Big Picture Ø Aggregating the Results Ø Common Operating Picture Ø Collaboration & Tool Integration Ø Reducing Data Duplication

INTEGRATED DECISION-MAKING The direction in which the emergency management community is going that will leverage technological advances and lead to sustainable development

Thank You Ø For further Information Contact: CDERA Coordinating Unit Bldg #1, Manor Lodge Complex Lodge Hill, St. Michael, BARBADOS Tel #: (246) 425 0386 Fax #: (246) 425 8854 Email: cdera@caribsurf. com URL: http: //www. cdera. org