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INTRICACIES OF IMPLEMENTING AN ITU-T X.1303 CROSS-AGENCY SITUATIONAL-
                AWARENESS PLATFORM IN MALDIVES, MYANMAR, AND THE PHILIPPINES

                                1
                                                          1
                                                                                    1
                                                                                                   2
                Biplov Bhandari , Angga Bayu Marthafifsa , Manzul Kumar Hazarika , Francis Boon , Lutz
                                                      2
                                        Frommberger , and Nuwan Waidyanatha     2

                1.  Geoinformatics Center, Asian Institute of Technology, Klong Luang, Pathumthani, Thailand
                 2.  Sahana Software Foundation, 350 S Figueroa ST STE 437, Los Angeles, CA 90071, USA


                              ABSTRACT                        unplanned  expansion  of  human  settlements,  especially  in
                                                              cities, is exposing more people and economic assets to the
               Maldives, Myanmar, and the Philippines are vulnerable   risk  of  disasters  and  the  effects  of  climate  change  [5].
           to natural disasters [1]. Sendai Framework  of Action calls   Coastal  cities  are  made  vulnerable  by  the  low-lying  land
                                              1
           for  risk reduction by implementing early warning systems   that  are  often  built  upon  and  as  such  are  susceptible  to
           [2]. A prevailing challenge is for authorities to coordinate   flood,  storm  surge,  tsunami,  and  sea-level  rise  [6].  Many
           warnings  across  disparate  communication  systems  and   coastal  cities  in  Asia  and  the  Pacific  region  are  found  in
           autonomous  organizations  [3].  Cross-Agency  Situational-  tropical  areas  with  hot  and  humid  climates  and  low-lying
           Awareness  platforms  and  the  ITU-T  X.1303  Common   land, both of which heighten their vulnerability to extreme
           Alerting  Protocol  (CAP)   interoperable  data  standards   events.
                                2
           presents themselves as solution for diluting the inter-agency   As a consequence of climate change, the world is facing an
           rivalries  and  interconnection  disparities  [4].  The  Sahana   increasing  threat  of  extreme  events.  Especially  in
           Alerting and Messaging Broker (SAMBRO) was designed to   developing  countries,  this  heavily  affects  equal  access  to
           overcome these issues by providing a Common Operating   opportunities  and  development  and  is  a  main  reason  for
           Picture and a platform for all Stakeholders to share early   poverty.  As  a  result  the  Sustainable  Development  Goals
                                                                    3
           warnings.  To  that  end,  the  CAP-on-a-MAP  project  is   (SDGs)   emphasis  on  the  need  to  reduce  poverty  and
           implementing SAMBRO and the CAP standard along with   inequalities.  It  also  emphasizes  on  strengthening  climate
           the policies and procedures in the Maldives, Myanmar and   actions and sustainable economies, communities and cities
           Philippines. The project is applying an agile development   [7]. Early warning systems for disaster response are critical
           methodology  with  a  design,  build,  test,  and  redesign   to fighting the consequences of climate change contributing
           strategy  for  implementing  the  cross-agency  situational-  to the factors that influence the SDGs.
           awareness and warning system in the respective countries.   Disaster  Risk  Management  interventions  such  as
           This  paper  discusses  the  country  context  implementation   alerting/early  warning,  evacuation  planning,  and  coastal
           challenges  and  discusses  strategies  fostered  through  the   zone  management  are  important  for  addressing  the
           introduction  of  the  CAP  content  standard  for  warning   challenges  faced  by  the  coastal  communities.  The  project
           system  designers  to  consider  for  overcoming  similar   titled  “CAP  on  a  Map”  was  designed  to  improve  the
           challenges.                                        institutional responsiveness to coastal hazards in Maldives,
                                                              Myanmar,  and  the  Philippines.  It  would  augment  the
           Keywords—  interoperability,  electronic  services,  early   capabilities  of  the  National  Disaster  Management
           warning, common alerting protocol, situational awareness   Organizations  (NDMOs),  National  Warning  Centers
                                                              (NWCs),  line-agencies  and  other  relevant  stakeholders  in
                                                              disaster management to interchange and share early warning
                          1. INTRODUCTION
                                                              information.
                                                              A prevailing challenge is for NDMOs, NWCs, line-agencies
           Disasters  are  a  major  problem  worldwide  and  a  serious   and  relevant  stakeholders  to  coordinate  and  interchange
           threat  to  sustainable  development.  The  rapid  and  often   alerts and warnings. To overcome this dilemma, the CAP on
                                                                          a  Map  project  introduced  a  Cross-Agency  Situational
           1  "Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction - UNISDR."   Awareness  platform  for  coordinating  alerts  and  warnings
           2015. 11 Jul. 2016 <http://www.unisdr.org/we/coordinate/sendai-  and the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) content standard
           framework>
                                                              for  interchanging  warning  messages  across  disparate
           2  "Common Alerting Protocol - Oasis." 2015. 11 Jul. 2016   systems. These are the underpinning design concepts of the
           <https://docs.oasis-open.org/emergency/cap/v1.2/CAP-v1.2-  Sahana Alerting and Messaging Broker (SAMBRO). In this
           os.html>
           The “CAP on a Map” project was made possible through the   3  "Sustainable development goals - United Nations." 2015. 11 Jul.
           United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and   2016 <http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-
           the Pacific Trust Fund.                            development-goals/>



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