Japan tech on disaster preparedness installed here
PILOT TEST FOR PHILIPPINES
LINGAYEN—Pangasinenses stand to benefit the most once the integrated geographic information system (GIS) of Japan are fully operational because it will help residents to be more prepared and, therefore, more resilient as the Japanese people are to disasters.
The launching of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-sponsored project was held on March 31, 2016 at the Urduja House, Capitol Complex, to help improve the disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) of the province, particularly in three communities, namely, Lingayen, Binmaley, and Dagupan City.
According to Takahiro Morita, senior representative of JICA Philippines, the project will upgrade the present DRRM protocol by improving the capability of LGUs in sharing DRRM information, evacuation, and instructions to achieve zero casualties on the ground.
“Japan and the Philippines are considered two of the most disaster-prone countries in the world,” he noted.
“As you are well-aware, Japan has also encountered numerous disasters such as the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 and our experiences have enabled us to develop technologies that would strengthen our country’s resiliency against disasters,” he added.
The GIS will use the GeoCloud software which was developed by Informatix Inc. in Japan for users in the governmental organization and local government units (LGUs) to utilize maps and information managed comprehensively.
Maria Corazon Akol, Philippine National IT Standards Foundation president, said her organization will be responsible for the localisation of software, arrangement of local maps for setting up software and hardware, training of LGU personnel that will handle the GIS; support and maintenance of GeoCloud system, and local language documentation project.
“The GIS is a system that will map out areas for evacuation and areas prone to disasters,” she said.
There will be three phases that will start on October 2016 and end on June 2017. A ten-month period is allowed for the system’s test period.
Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Calimlim Jr. thanked JICA for choosing Pangasinan as the pilot area of the project in the Philippines.
The provincial government has no financial counterpart for the project, said Calimlim. “We only need to provide manpower and cooperation and it is our responsibility to radiate the results to the whole country,” he remarked. (Johanne Macob)
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