Mr Chair,
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a pleasure to be with you this morning.

I have been asked to say a few words on 'emergency telecommunications and climate change' - specifically on how information and communication technologies can help address challenges and contribute to achievement of the MDGs in the face of increasing natural disasters.

There is no doubt that natural disasters are becoming more frequent, and indeed more intense. In just the past few weeks, we have seen strong earthquakes in China and Pakistan, major floods in France, wild hurricanes in the Caribbean, and so on. And we shouldn't forget the more 'silent' disasters like encroaching desertification, prolonged droughts, salinity, erosion, diminishing watersheds and other problems related to climate change.

Communications technology has played a strong role in enhancing public awareness of the devastating loss of life and livelihoods in such disasters. This in turn has spurred the international community to step up efforts to improve prediction, warning and recovery capabilities around the world.

Lessons Learned

The tsunamis of December 2004 are a case in point. They killed more than 225,000 people in 11 countries and underscored the significance of information and communication technologies in disaster prevention, relief and reconstruction.

These technologies can range from the most basic to the most sophisticated, and each can play a valuable role in saving lives. I would like to share with you the experience Nallavadu, in eastern India. Nallavadu is part of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation’s `Information Village Research Project,’ whereby 'knowledge centres' are set up to provide classes and other information-sharing activities, including computer skills. One of the former volunteers of this programme was in Singapore when the tsunami hit Aceh and Thailand. Hearing on the radio that the waves were headed for India, he called a relative in Nallavadu, who gave the alert. Villagers broke into the 'knowledge centre' and activated the public address system to warn people to run to higher ground. They also set off a siren. The tsunami destroyed 150 houses and 200 fishing boats in Nallavadu, but the entire population of 3630 was saved. Moreover, the villagers were able to use the databases in knowledge centre computers to organise relief and distribute aid. Given this experience, the Foundation announced plans to link up with community radio networks, such as the Open University, to provide early warning systems. And the Government said it would ensure that all coastal villages had a public address system or a community radio.

Two recent disasters in Asia also highlight the importance of ICTs - the Wenchuan earthquake in China and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. In China, emergency vehicles equipped with satellite communications could not get to several heavily damaged areas. Even satellite mobile phones did not arrive until 30 hours after the earthquake, delaying deployment of rescue teams. In Myanmar, many flooded areas were beyond communications range, thus seriously delaying rescue and relief efforts.

ICT Solutions
Ladies and Gentlemen:

These days most developing countries have some kind of ICT strategy and/or emergency services programmes, including at the subnational level. ICT emergency response solutions should be a common element in these strategies and should address:

• Infrastructure options
• Technology and equipment options
• Regulatory frameworks (eg, technical regulation, spectrum allocation, radio communications during emergencies, standby, back-up, etc)
• Division of labour among agencies and local authorities
• Content requirements (eg, geographical information sys tems, maps, population and materials databases, etc)
• Skills development
• Awareness building and information dissemination.

ICT solutions should be tailored to the needs and capabilities of the particular area. A fishing village does not need the sophistication that a city does. Areas that have been dealing with natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes for centuries probably have traditional responses that ICT solutions can build upon for greater effectiveness. As we saw in the example of Nallavadu, combining basic ICT tools such as computers, telephones and radio communications can save many lives. Disaster preparedness schemes can also use ICTs to create virtual simulations, animations and awareness-building tools.

Since mobile phones are increasingly widespread in developing countries, an opportunity exists to put them to good use in emergencies. Being less dependent on electricity than conventional communications, they can continue to function in the aftermath of disasters. Moreover, mobile phones increasingly allow users to connect to the internet, take photos, send messages to multiple recipients, hold conference calls, etc - all important elements of emergency communications. Therefore, arrangements for mobilising their use in relief and rescue work should be built into national and regional disaster planning.

International Cooperation

For less developed and small countries, fully equipped emergency telecoms standby systems are technically unnecessary and financially unwarranted. Rather, subregional or regional approaches can deliver the necessary solutions in a more efficient manner.

A good example is Asia's regional tsunami early warning system. It relies heavily on international cooperation and a variety of regional and local solutions to meet diverse needs. Next week in Bangkok, UNESCAP will host a meeting to discuss ICT-enabled disaster management and cooperation. A major priority will be to deliver regional emergency communications systems.

Technology, mostly ICT-based, has a critical role to play in such cooperation - not only to predict and measure disasters but also to ensure vital communications. This requires specialised equipment and software for measuring variables, forecasting, evaluating options for dealing with the situation, and disseminating information. Developing appropriate technical standards for emergency communications is therefore a priority.

In addition, recent emergencies have highlighted the urgent need for broadband connections to facilitate information exchanges among response teams, technical support centres and decision-making headquarters. Developing countries are at a disadvantage in terms of broadband coverage. At UNCTAD we call this the 'Broadband Divide', and it is replacing the Digital Divide. To expand broadband coverage, countries must address poor telecommunications infrastructure, fragmented population centres, inadequate standards and regulation, and high costs. They must convert costly urban solutions to affordable decentralised solutions, and facilitate 'leap-frogging' to new technology. If mobile wireless-broadband internet-access technologies like iBurst can be deployed widely, they will significantly improve developing countries' ability to deal with disasters.¹ UNCTAD and other partners, including ITU, are working on this as part of efforts to achieve WSIS targets and the Millennium Development Goals.

This is just a start, and there is a long way to go. That is why the ITU's efforts to promote international discussion and support capacity- and awareness-building are so important. National disaster and environment authorities, relevant international agencies² , donors and funders, and research institutions all have a role to play in delivering effective emergency communications systems.