The "pilot project for the use of ICT for emergencies and disasters in the region of the Americas" was conceived after the signing of the letter of intent between ITU, CITEL, COMTELCA and CTU during WTDC 2017.
The project is implementing the technology solution known as WINKINK (www.winlink.org), developed and maintained by Radio Amateur with a proven track record of success in various emergencies. The project is a reality thanks to the commitment of the ITU with its member States on the topic and the willingness to of the international union of amateur radio (IARU) to cooperate with.
The beneficiary countries of this project are: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Dominican Republic.
The solution consists on the installation of servers of radio messages (RMS) that will be part of the global network composed by common messages Servers (CMS) placed in various locations around the world, connected via the Internet to servers of radio messages (RMS) in many geographical locations forming a network configuration in Star. Radio messages servers are gateway of RF VHF, UHF or HF on the WINLINK system. The final component of the global network is the client (i.e., your computer) that runs software to send / receive messages via radio equipment.
The biggest challenge in the implementation of the project has been the coordination between the telecommunications authorities, the emergency response and the associations of radio amateur at the national level and achieve synergies between organizations working in these same areas at the regional and international levels, such as the ITU, IARU, COMTELCA, CEPREDENAC, among others.
The works began in January 2018 with the definition of the technical specifications of the equipment, with the cooperation of IARU and COMTELCA. Today (June 2018), ITU has already ordered the equipment and it is expected that equipment will reach customs in beneficiary countries by July 15th.
Upon reception of the equipment, ITU will develop, counting with the collaboration of radio amateur people experts in WINLINK, a round of visits for configuration, installation, training on the WINLINK solution and its promotion with the humanitarian network in each country. As a result of all of the above, the new Alternate emergency telecommunications network would enter into operations in August 2018.