Natural disasters are a large threat for people especially in developing countries such as Laos. ICT-based disaster management systems aim at supporting disaster warning and response efforts. However, the ability to directly communicate in both directions between local and administrative level is often not supported, and a tight integration into administrative workflows is missing. In this paper, we present the smartphone-based disaster and reporting system Mobile4D. It allows for bi-directional communication while being fully involved in administrative processes. We present the system setup and discuss integration into administrative structures in Lao PDR.
Mobile devices gain increasing importance in disaster cases. Disaster alert systems based on SMS show a good impact in developing countries @cite_7 . @cite_18 present a Android smartphone based disaster alerting system which focusses mostly on routing issues in the disaster response phase. In general, the use of smartphones can show great impact in developing countries. This has especially been shown in health care related cases @cite_15 , e.g., by providing the opportunity for remote diagnosis based on photos @cite_6 .
@cite_18 @cite_6 @cite_7 @cite_15
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The Philippines is one of the countries in the world vulnerable to natural hazards because of its geographic location. It also lacks an efficient disaster management system that will help in times of need. One common scenario during disasters is that the activity of rescue and relief is not well-coordinated. For this reason, there is a need for a system that will help in the efficient provision of rescue and relief to disaster-affected areas. Since the use of smart phones is gaining interest in people, the disaster management system was implemented as a smart phone application using Google's Android operating system. The disaster management system Android application known as MyDisasterDroid determines the optimum route along different geographical locations that the volunteers and rescuers need to take in order to serve the most number of people and provide maximum coverage of the area in the shortest possible time. Genetic algorithm was applied for optimization and different parameters were varied to determine the most optimum route. During large-scale disasters, such as the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 or Kumamoto huge Earthquake in 2016, many regions were isolated from critical information exchanges due to problems with communication infrastructures. In those serious disasters, quick and flexible disaster recovery network is required to deliver the disaster related information after disaster. In this paper, mobile cloud computing for vehicle server for information exchange among isolated shelters in such cases is introduced. The vehicle with mobile cloud server traverses the isolated shelters and exchanges information and returns to the disaster headquarter which is connected to Internet. DTN function is introduced to store, carry and exchange message as a message ferry among the shelters even in the challenged network environment where wired and wireless communication means are completely damaged. The prototype system is constructed using Wi-Fi network as mobility network and a note PC mobile cloud server and IBR-DTN and DTN2 software as the DTN function. In case of emergencies (e.g., earthquakes, flooding), rapid responses are needed in order to address victims’ requests for help. Social media used around crises involves self-organizing behavior that can produce accurate results, often in advance of official communications. This allows affected population to send tweets or text messages, and hence, make them heard. The ability to classify tweets and text messages automatically, together with the ability to deliver the relevant information to the appropriate personnel are essential for enabling the personnel to timely and efficiently work to address the most urgent needs, and to understand the emergency situation better. In this study, we developed a reusable information technology infrastructure, called Enhanced Messaging for the Emergency Response Sector (EMERSE), which classifies and aggregates tweets and text messages about the Haiti disaster relief so that non-governmental organizations, relief workers, people in Haiti, and their friends and families can easily access them. Effective emergency and natural disaster management depend on the efficient mission-critical voice and data communication between first responders and victims. Land mobile radio system (LMRS) is a legacy narrowband technology used for critical voice communications with limited use for data applications. Recently, long term evolution (LTE) emerged as a broadband communication technology that has a potential to transform the capabilities of public safety technologies by providing broadband, ubiquitous, and mission-critical voice and data support. For example, in the United States, FirstNet is building a nationwide coast-to-coast public safety network based on LTE broadband technology. This paper presents a comparative survey of legacy and the LTE-based public safety networks, and discusses the LMRS-LTE convergence as well as mission-critical push-to-talk over LTE. A simulation study of LMRS and LTE band class 14 technologies is provided using the NS-3 open source tool. An experimental study of APCO-25 and LTE band class 14 is also conducted using software-defined radio to enhance the understanding of the public safety systems. Finally, emerging technologies that may have strong potential for use in public safety networks are reviewed.