IPCC Report.pdf - Adam Curry

Managing the Risks: International Level and Integration across ScalesChapter 7(www.desinventar.net) and aims to facilitate dialog for risk managementbetween actors, institutions, sectors, and provincial and nationalgovernments. This initiative has been extended to the Caribbean, Asia,and Africa by UNDP, while the UNFCCC provides a more local-scaledatabase on local coping strategies (maindb.unfccc.int/public/adaptation).ICT capabilities in disaster risk reduction also lie in enhancing interactionamong individuals and institutions from the national, to regional, tointernational level, for example, through e-mail, newsgroups, onlinechats, mailing lists, and web forums (Marincioni, 2007). Attempts havebeen made, for example, in Japan, to create an integrated disaster riskreduction system where mobile phone communication operates as partof a greater information generation and delivery chain that includesEarth observation data analysis, navigation and web technologies, GIS,and advanced information technology such as grid (Louhisuo et al.,2007). When such innovations are transferred to other regions theycontribute to international DRR efforts.Other initiatives include NetHope International, which combinesdevelopment and disaster issues into its ICT-centric mandate (Saab et al.,2008). RANET (www.oar.noaa.gov/spotlite/archive/spot_ranet.html),originally developed in Africa for drought and which spread to Asia,Pacific, Central America, and the Caribbean, has a strong communityengagement and disseminates comprehensive information from globalclimate data banks combined with regional and local data and forecastsresulting in spinoffs to food security, agriculture, and health in rural areas(Boulahya et al., 2005). A network of extension agents, developmentpractitioners, and trained members of the community are used inRANET to translate information into local contexts and languages andas a result, RANET is being considered for other educational initiativessuch as the Spare Time University to improve access to learning in DRRwith benefits for CCA (Glantz, 2007). RANET has been found to reducevulnerability to climate extremes in different areas in Africa, for example,communication of rainfall forecasts in parts of west Africa assists farmerswith decisions on what crop variety to plant and field to use where achoice of fields of different soil type existed, and also where to searchfor pasture and water for livestock during drought periods. However,RANET faces challenges of unavailability of technical support, follow-uptraining, power supply, and coordination (Boulahya et al., 2005).The establishment of the PreventionWeb facility by UNISDR demonstratesthe potential of ICT in information sharing for international disaster riskmanagement across scales. PreventionWeb has been evolving since2006, and was built on the experience of ReliefWeb with the purpose ofbecoming a single entry point to the full range of global disaster riskreduction information and providing a common platform for institutionsto connect, exchange experiences, and share information on DRR, andfacilitating integration with CCA and the development process. Updateddaily, the PreventionWeb platform contains news, DRR initiatives, eventcalendars, online discussions, contact directories, policy and referencedocuments, training events, terminology, country profiles, and fact sheetsas well as audio and video content. Hence, while catering primarily toDRR professionals, it also promotes better understanding of disaster riskby non-specialists. PreventionWeb is a response to a need for greaterinformation and knowledge sharing and dissemination advanced in Zhanget al. (2002), Marincioni (2007), Kaklauskas et al. (2009), and others. Theweb site serves a critical role in supporting the implementation of theHFA where information and knowledge sharing is essential (Zschockeand de Leon, 2010). But the full potential of PreventionWeb has yet tobe realized and evaluated since it is a relatively new initiative.In addition to the PreventionWeb with a DRR focus, the number of webbasedresource portals supporting both DRR and CCA has beenincreasing. These include, among others, ProVention Consortium,which had a DRR and climate focus (www.proventionconsortium.org)but has ceased to operate; the UN Adaptation Learning Mechanism(www.adaptationlearning.net) with links to related online resourcesand documentation of over 140 countries; Linking Climate AdaptationNetwork/CBA-X (www.linkingclimateadaptation.org) which has some DRRfocus, had over 1,000 members in 2008, and has continued to providecurrent thinking on climate adaptation and resources and publicationsfor researchers, practitioners, and policy formers; and the WeAdapt/WikiAdapt, an adaptation focus portal (www.weadapt.org) that goesbeyond networking and dissemination to cover knowledge integrationand other innovative adaptation tools. These portals are relatively new,remain predominantly used by their respective communities, and havealso been noted by others to be poorly organized (Mitchell and vanAalst, 2008). Performance of such ICT information resources in disasterrisk management could improve with more coordination and integrationof CCA, DRR, and the development community.7.4.5.2.2. Constraints in knowledge sharing and disseminationFor all information tools noted, the quality of information transferred andlanguage used influence their effectiveness. Further, these mechanismsoften collapse during a disaster when most needed (Marincioni, 2007;Saab et al., 2008). Some of the new technologies are not easily accessibleto the very poor, and even the most innovative tools like RANET shownumerous maintenance constraints particularly in remote areas(Boulahya et al., 2005).There are differences in perception on the role of ICT in the exchange ofdisaster and hazard risk knowledge as opposed to its role in increased flowof information, with knowledge here defined simply as understanding ofinformation while information refers to organized data (Zhang et al.,2002; Marincioni, 2007). Indications are that, while there is increasedcirculation of disaster information, this does not always result inincreased assimilation of new risk reduction approaches, a factor that ispartly attributed to lack of effective sharing although lack of capacity touse/apply the information could be a major factor (Zhang et al., 2002;UNISDR, 2005b).The level of assimilation of ICT technology into disasterrisk reduction depends, among other things, on levels of literacy andthe working environment including institutional arrangements, henceeffectiveness may vary with levels of development (Samarajiva, 2005;Marincioni, 2007; see also Section 7.4.3.2). As a result, the contribution424