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Digital transformation and early warning systems for saving lives

Early warning systems save lives, and growing digital transformation offers new opportunities for building effective and wide-reaching early warning systems. The growing availability and reach of communication channels, in particular mobile (cellular) networks and services, provide new opportunities to reach communities at risk, warn about an imminent disaster and provide people with actionable advice.

As of 2022, 95 per cent of the world's population had access to a mobile broadband network and close to 75 per cent of the population owned a mobile phone.

This makes mobile networks and services so important to ensure the achievemnet of the UN Early Warnings for All initiative's ambitious goal of protecting every person on Earth with an early warning system.

This paper highlights that:

Cooperation and coordination among key stakeholders, including mobile network operators, disaster management agencies and policymakers are important in order to create an effective EWS.
The implementation of cell-broadcast as a minimum national early warning system (EWS) can help countries make great progress for last-mile connectivity. By 2023, only about 45 countries have implemented a mobile early warning system based on cell-broadcast or location-based SMS.
A regulatory approach can help speed up the adoption process of mobile EWS, as seen in the example of the new regulation mandated by the European Union.

Early warnings for all initiative

Learn more about the Early Warnings for All Initiative and Mobile Early Warning Systems by visiting the official website of the Early Warnings for All (EW4A) Initiative.

Download the background paper