Leveraging Information and Communication Systems

for Enhancing Supply Chain Resilience to Disasters in APEC

Amari Watergate Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. 19-20 June 2014.

Emergency Preparedness Working Group

March 2015

APEC Project: EPWG01 2013A 

 

 

Produced by 

 

Department of International Economic Affairs 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand 

Sri Ayudhya Road, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand. 

Tel: +66 2203 5000 EXT. 14144 

Fax: +66 2643 5247 

E‐mail: apecdesk@mfa.go.th 

 

Transportation Institute  

Chulalongkorn University 

6th floor, Prajadhipok‐Rambhaibarni Building, Chulalongkorn University 

Phayathai Road, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand. 

Tel: +66 2218 7444‐45 

Fax: +66 2214 2417 

E‐mail: tri_chula@hotmail.com 

 

 

For 

Asia‐Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat 

35 Heng Mui Keng Terrace  

Singapore 119616 

Tel: (65) 68919 600   

Fax: (65) 68919 690 

Email: info@apec.org   

Website: www.apec.org 

 

© 2015 APEC Secretariat 

 

[Insert APEC Publication number]   [Insert ISBN/ISSN – only if applicable]

Contents Foreword ............................................................................................................................. 1

Part 1: Background ............................................................................................................... 3

Alan Bollard, APEC Executive Director ...................................................................................... 4

Jennifer Smoak, U.S. Department of Transportation ................................................................. 6

Part 2: Public Sector ............................................................................................................. 8

Chunbo Fan, National Disaster Reduction Centre of China ....................................................... 9

Bill Ho, Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre ........................................................................... 13

Kelly Hayden, UNESCAP .......................................................................................................... 17

Tomoharu Hayashi, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan .......................... 20

Kriengkrai Khovadhana, National Disaster Warning Center, Thailand

Aurasa Paenghom, Raydant International ......................................................................... 25

Part 3: Private Sector .......................................................................................................... 28

King-Hui Lin, Oberlin Tech Co. Ltd., Chinese Taipei ................................................................ 29

Apichai Intakaew, Siam Cement Group ................................................................................... 32

Carl Schelfhaut, DHL eC Asia Pacific ....................................................................................... 35

Phichet Rerkpreecha, Google Thailand ................................................................................... 38

Prospects ........................................................................................................................... 40

Appendix: Seminar programme ............................................................................................ 46

Foreword

Mrs. Sansanee Sahussarungsi

Deputy-Director General of the

Department of International Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

and APEC Senior Official of Thailand

Asia-Pacific is the most disaster-prone region in the world, as it experiences more than 70 percent of the world’s natural disasters. A disaster outbreak at one point not only causes losses of lives, but could also disrupt the whole global supply chain. In the past 3 years, we have witnessed some of the most devastated disasters including the great flood in Thailand in 2011, Hurricane Sandy in the United States in 2012 and the Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013 which causes great loss of lives and hardship for the affected countries. These disasters had also severe economic impacts. The 2011 great flood in Thailand costs the economy an estimated $ 46.5 billion in damages and production losses as well as seriously affected the computer and automotive supply chain worldwide. Accordingly, globalization and challenges of natural disasters made the necessity to safeguard global supply chain becomes shared interest of many economies worldwide. It is therefore a shared responsibility of all the economies to work together to ensure that Asia-Pacific is resilient to disasters and will continue to be the strong engine of global growth. Despite the fast dominating role of ICT in our everyday lives as well as in economic activities, the use of ICT in disaster risk reduction and management is not quite widely developed. As many APEC economies have experienced when facing natural disasters, efficient early warning system and information dissemination is a crucial element that can help minimize or even prevent the adverse impact of disasters. In response to the under-utilization of ICT in disaster management, the seminar on “Leveraging Information and Communication Systems for Enhancing

2

Supply Chain Resilience to Disasters in APEC” was co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Transportation Institute, Chulalongkorn University, on 19-20 June 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the aim to create a platform for speakers and participants to actively share experiences, best practices, and lessons learned from designing and deploying information communication systems to reduce risks and to bolster the disaster resiliency of supply chains in the APEC region. The seminar effectively provided us with the comprehensive picture and insight of ICT utilization in disaster management, with best practices from the public sectors on the use of ICT in disaster risk management and response system as well as experiences from the private enterprises, from large to SMEs, on the application of ICT to enhance disaster resilience in their supply chains. This post-seminar handbook summarizes seminar presentations on experiences, best practices, and lessons learned on the applications of ICT to strengthen disaster preparedness and responsiveness of international supply chains against natural disasters. The handbook is organized into three parts:

Part 1: Background – reviewing major APEC initiatives that have been launched to enhance the resilience of global and regional supply chains.

Part 2: Public Sector – presenting ICT-based systems and projects developed by governmental agencies and international organizations for disaster risk reduction and response mechanism.

Part 3: Private Sector – presenting case studies on initiatives carried out by the private enterprises in the preparation for, responding to, and recovery from natural disasters.

This handbook hopefully will serve as a reference for business entrepreneurs and government officials in strengthening the capability and effectiveness of the application of the available ICT technologies to harness disaster preparedness and management.

3

Part 1: Background

4

Critical review of previous activities under APEC framework to enhance regional supply chain resilience.

Alan Bollard

APEC Executive Director

Though APEC’s major objectives is to promote trade and investment liberalization, the structure of APEC is also designed to help improve the standards around the Asia-Pacific region among 21 member economies, consisting of almost all the economies on Pacific coast lines. Economic wise, APEC itself is now the world largest regional group, with nearly half of the world trade and 55% of world’s GDP; however, at the same time, it also shares a considerable share of natural disaster, which is a major obstacle to international trade. In the past 25 years, APEC’s works have promoted trade and investment liberalization, not only by focusing on regional economic integration, but also by looking into more detailed areas such as disaster and emergency preparedness. More recently, APEC’s activities have been more focused on strengthening the global and regional supply chains in response to the more deeply connected business activities across the borders, which increase the risks of widespread economic loss when the disaster hits in one location. In the early years, the trade development in the region was very traditional, which was only to add value to raw materials and ship them to the customers. However, in the last ten years, the fundamental change was recognised through vertical disintegration in manufacturing process in the global trade system. It brought more intra-industry trades, more service trade, and intangible trade, and, thereby, the international trade is no longer pursued by multi-national companies, but rather led by middle to small sized companies, specialising on producing one particular good or service through subcontract arrangement. This, consequently, means that it is now easier for SMEs to particulate in the regional or global production chain. The goods and services, hence, are moving between firms in order for the products to be built up in a more sophisticated way, through the vertically broken down production chain in the region.

5

Although this new trade system has various benefits, including efficiency, scale, and specialisation, just as the global financial crisis revealed, the more closely interconnected global system can trigger off the economic domino effect, causing rapid contagious impacts, especially at disaster setting. Moreover, as the production chains interact with other sectors from upstream to downstream, it is necessary to look at the issues comprehensively, instead of limiting the sectoral or national impact from the disaster. Considering the fact that more than 70% of global natural disaster happens in the APEC region, various activities had been carried out led by multiple Working Groups within APEC system, especially since 2010. While the Emergency Preparedness Working Group is established in response to this need, disaster management and response is a cross-cutting issue that other working groups, such as Transportation Working Groups (TWG), SME Working Group (SMEWG), Telecommunications and Information Working Group (TELWG) and Public Private Partnership on Food Security (PPFS) have also addressed. APEC’s past efforts by the working groups effectively aimed to identify the gaps of disaster risk reduction (DRR) approaches and develop the practical mechanism to maximise the business continuity and resilience, through the multi-sectoral collaborative effort. At the time, it was regarded unique because they represented the needed entities for tackling the issues from the business point of view, in order for the economies to facilitate the solution responsively. In 2012, Ministers Responsible for Emergency Preparedness finally reaffirmed the region’s vulnerability and agreed on significance of promoting the BCPs as preventative measures to disaster. In response to the Ministerial Statement, APEC launched the collaborative activities throughout the relevant Working Groups such as SMEWG, TWG, and others, in line with the DRR or recovery policy in the economies.

6

How Information and Communications Systems Fit into the Larger APEC Efforts for Enhancing Supply Chain Resilience?

Ms. Jennifer Smoak

U.S. Department of Transportation

Supply chain resilience to disasters is very important for APEC, because while APEC shares 49% of global trade, the region also shares 70% of natural disasters, and when a disaster occurs somewhere, it impacts the entire supply chains. Accordingly, APEC’s works on disaster preparedness aims to improve the viability of businesses and the physical and social infrastructure in the APEC region and its member economies by enabling the resilience of supply chain for disaster solutions. In this regard, resilience is defined as “the ability to resist, absorb, and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner”.1 7 Principles of Supply Chain Resilience On promoting supply chain resilience, APEC has worked by identifying gaps and vision and narrowing down 134 ideas to 7 principles, which are listed as followed;

(1) Share information and knowledge to promote supply chain resilience; (2) Promote disaster risk management and hazard mapping to better

understand potential risks to supply chain resilience; (3) Support planning and business continuity management to improve global

supply chain resilience; (4) Promote best practice policy, regulations, and flexibility to enable global

supply chain resilience; (5) Leverage regional cooperation to support the supply chain, including

coordination with other multinational organizations working on supply chain resilience inside and outside the APEC region;

(6) Promote critical infrastructure protection and inter-modalism as a key component of supply chain resilience; and

(7) Recognize and promote best practice in human resource and capacity management in the context of supply chain resilience.

These principles will be used to formulate best practices and action plan in order to ensure that measures taken to promote supply chain resilience will be

1 UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction 

7

comprehensive, effective and coordinated. These 7 principles could be used in the formulation of future initiatives, addressing specific hazards or chokepoints based on one economy’s needs, as well as focusing on APEC-wide activities and cross-collaboration with other sub fora and other international organizations. On the aspect of ICT, it is very essential in disaster preparedness, especially for the communication during disasters. The use of ICT in disaster communication can be simple, one-way communication as well as complex, two-way, interaction, but it should be regular, consistent and clear in order to ensure that, when a disaster breaks out, the communication will be swift and efficient, without any confusion. Moreover, in the future, disaster management should also improve from ‘just in time’ response to ‘just in case’ preparation in order to minimize the impacts of disasters on supply chains.

8

Part 2: Public Sector

9

National database and information platform for disaster risk reduction and management

Mr. Chunbo Fan

National Disaster Reduction Centre of China The increasing need for National Natural Disaster Information Management System (NNDIMS) It was increasingly necessary for China to develop a system to respond to frequent disasters in various forms and areas. With a growing number of disasters, which highly hit urbanised districts in China, the aggravated economic loss was enormous. Due to a variety of natural disasters in China, from 1990 to 2012, 300 million people were affected, 3 million houses collapsed, 10 million people were emergently- relocated and the direct economic loss could amount to over 200 billion Yuan in annual average. Examining these enormous social and economic impacts, it is apparent that economies needed to acquire the relevant disaster information systematically, comprehensively, objectively and rapidly in order to address the risk and effects of natural disasters. In the National Natural Disaster Information Management System (NNDIMS), the information on disaster and emergency demand information are collected. This disaster information includes information related to disaster losses, relief work, whereas the data such as affected areas, population, losses of life and property, images, production losses, public services losses. Information on damaged infrastructure is also included in the emergency demand information. Emergency relocation situation and material supply situation will also be gathered as relevant information of the disaster relief work. Similarly, the information regarding the financial resources and the need of human resources will also be collected in order to efficiently carry out the necessary procedures and resource allocation as well as to minimize the impact of disasters. Lastly, the NNDIMS was developed in order to regulate and process the massive amount of multi-dimensional data related to emergency preparedness and response. The significant amount of data includes various types of information, such as time,

10

area, types of disaster, and social economic, or environmental data, was difficult to analyse in the past. However, the NNPIMS would set the rules based on the risk zoning map, developed by experts, optimizing not only the productive forces distribution, but also the economic regional planning and environmental planning in a more efficient way. 6 functions of NNDIMS NNDIMS consists of 6 subsystems or functions, as followed; (I) The Disaster Information Report Subsystem, which was designed with “Natural Disaster Statistic regulation”, including time and index. It also contains quick disaster report module, annual report module, and autumn-winter relief report module. This subsystem shows what kind of disaster information network report and informative management are achieved and updated. (II) The Product Making Subsystem gathers data from “Disaster Information Report Subsystem” and quickly produces daily information to serve public and governments, helping the decision making process to be more efficient as well as in accordance with business requirements. (III) The Disaster Information Analysis Subsystem makes a prompt analysis about time and space, and presents the analytical results to disaster managers and leaders in the form of diagrams. (IV) The Message Alarm Subsystem works in combination with the Disaster Information Report System to send the report on disaster information to personal devices, such as mobile phones, through message, in order to avoid delayed response procedure. (V) The Disaster Information Geography Display Subsystem links with disaster information and geographical information system (GIS) in order to present the details of disasters to the public. (VI) The Disaster Report Assessment Subsystem processes a quality assessment of reported information, such as timelines, and accuracy of the produced information. Organization and objectives The disaster information on the NNDIMS is co-managed by several stakeholders from several government and administrative agencies in various departments at different levels. The information is managed by the National Committee for Disaster Reduction of China, which consists of 34 ministries, the Expert Board of 38 members and 60 experts, and the Coordinative Body. Furthermore, under this system, the

11

disaster information reporting system is also available, by composing five reporting hierarchy pyramid; ranging from the bottom of the pyramid, (1) Primary disaster reporter, (2) intermediate disaster reporter, (3) advanced disaster reporter, (4) disaster manager, and (5) advanced disaster manager. Step 1 to 3 aim to collect and deliver information for the management purposes, while the information collected at step 4 and 5 are used for further analytical assessment. Currently, there are about 10,000 disaster information reporters available in 5 different levels, from central government, province, municipality, country, and village. Moreover, the reporting system is also planned for future expansion and is expected to employ 700,000 reporters in total in 6 levels of reporting system, with more flexible reporting system through mobile device. In addition, it is also planned to equip the ground-space disaster information management system. The collected information will be sent and integrated at the National Committee of Disaster Risk, and the committee meets and discusses monthly. System development The NNDIMS was developed by applying Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and JAVA technology at server end, and using the FLEX rich client technology at the client end. While SOA increases the flexibility of system, FLEX effectively reduces the pressure on the server, which ultimately improves the system performance. Looking at the structure, the system was built in the Beijing-Shanghai full service centre on May 2014, and utilises global load balance technology to achieved bypass interview and data recovery. The system ensures the access security through technologies such as hardware firewall, behaviour reviewing, DDos defense, encrypted transmission, CA certification and hardware encryption. Moreover, the applications are deployed with active/active mode, and its databases utilise Oracle Rac to ensure the reliability of data application. This system, by using the current mainstream UI and single-thread jobs, ensures that it will be suitable for business use and no prior-training is required. Achievement and prospect After 5 years of development and operation, the NNDIMS leads to significant improvement in several areas as followed; (1) timelines of disaster reporting, (2) disaster report standardization, (3) disaster processing efficiency, and (4) timely

12

disaster information service. The number of system users has already reached 20,000 and the system covers all administrative regions of the country, including villages and towns. In the foreseeable future, it is expected to achieve more technological and systematic developments. For instance, Location-Based Service (LBS) will be applied in order for the NNDIMS to adopt the satellite based disaster information transmission system, allowing the decision makers to receive more precise data and information. This applied satellite navigation system can effectively provide scientific guidance for remote sensing images, by acquiring two-way authentication from the ground. The NNDIMS also adopts the application of high resolution images, which can combine local point data and surface data to enhance the accuracy and efficiency for disaster information. Furthermore, the satellite communication eliminates the so-called dead zone of disaster information transmission, and rather effectively ensuring the complete coverage of disaster information. Lastly, the application of multi-terminal network will consist of three-dimensional disaster information transmission networks, with not only the traditional one direction information transmission but also the two directions or even more, such as, mobile satellite or BADLE system when no signal is available.

13

National database and portal development

Mr. Bill Ho

Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre How to manage the overflown information on disaster management projects? Despite the decrease in the loss of lives in the past several years, the more frequent occurrence of disasters still result in huge economic loss. As the number of disasters increases, the number of disaster risk reduction (DRR) initiatives also sharply rises. In many economies, the DRR projects are run by their ministries of interiors or home affairs, whereas ministries of commerce or finance usually run post-disaster development initiatives. As there are such a huge number of projects being run by different agencies, the information on disaster management projects is overflown and it is becoming more and more difficult to reach the most reliable and relevant information when needed. The Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) developed the Asia-Pacific DRR Project Portal aims to manage the overflown information on disaster development projects by providing reliable and timely disaster related-information, aggregating information from various sources and presenting the information in a comprehensive manner as well as supporting policy makers with appropriate analytical tools. The Asia-Pacific DRR Project Portal has been developed since 2010 with the support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Portal includes past, current and proposed DRR projects. While the Portal is a regional initiative, it also focuses on the national-level project information, and a registered user can upload projects and analyse projects freely. The Asia-Pacific DRR Project Portal has also been synergised with the Conveyed Based Disaster Risk Reduction Project of the European Commission's Humanitarian aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) in the European Union. The linkage between the 2 initiatives enables the quick search on ongoing developmental works

14

and DRR initiatives based on the donors and geographical areas. It appears useful for the donors or policy leaders during the development of project proposals as well as decision making and funding process as they help reducing project duplication. Case Studies: ADPC and national government Nepal National DRR Portal In the case of Nepal, their DRR programmes are under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and there have been several gaps in disaster information management including (i) lack of one-stop access to DRR-related information, (ii) limited information on disaster resources and risk assessment, and (iii) lack of development of the process for disseminating information to relevant stakeholders such as DRR community, publics, or policy makers. In response to these challenges, the Nepal National DRR Portal was developed as a one-stop information hub for DRR to provide the systematic display and categorized information, utilizing open source technology to access risk data and information, so that users can access and update as well as analyse the maps. Viet Nam National DRR Project Portal In Viet Nam, based on their 10 year national plan to enhance the community resilience, Viet Nam’s National DRR Project Portal has been developed. This national initiative is supported by various donors and international organizations in response to increasing needs for the disaster information access from the subnational, and regional level. Therefore, the uniqueness of the Vietnamese project is its Vietnamese-English bilingual system features in its information analysis in multi-sectoral industries, as well as contact information for each project clipped with geo-referenced information. This portal will be extensively developed to facilitate more analytical data, which have so far captured 600 projects in sub-national level in Viet Nam. Laos PDR National Disaster Database In Laos PDR, the National Disaster Database was introduced to assess economic, physical and human damage and loss as the results of natural disasters by using the

15

DesInventar2 methodology initiated by UNDP and UNISDR in Laos DRP since 2005 as the basis. This methodology can be used to quantify the return of the investment in DRR initiatives. Thus, the Database can be effectively used to create the National Risk Profile of Laos PDR to provide the deeper understanding of the damage as well as assisting in the analysis on how to reduce future investment losses. The Risk maps used in these proposed database and portals will indicate the risk levels, based on risk-specific factors such as floods, epidemic, weather reports as well as satellite imageries, which would also be checked by national governments to ensure national security. Currently, these three initiatives can be externally accessed only in limited economies. Nevertheless, in the future, these services will be expanded in order to provide disaster information regardless of the border. iPrepare Business As the private sector accounts for over 80% of international development field in Thailand, it is critical to effectively engage them in DRR initiatives. iPrepare Business is a campaign data sources, which will be launched in 2014. The campaign is funded by JTI Foundation to help promote collaboration with the private sector by providing necessary information on DRR and templates for Business Continuity Plans (BCPs). With iPrepare, the entrepreneurs can check possible risk in the areas where they plan to invest. Moreover, the iPrepare could be used as the learning centre for private sector as well as providing linkage with local governments and international agencies. It also offers local language support. Other collaborations Apart from the above-mentioned initiatives, the ADPC is currently working on other projects in Myanmar, India as well as collaborating with Google. In Myanmar, the initiative is to record risk assessment information as a risk map, in order to ensure that urban planners take this risk maps into account when planning the infrastructure development. In India, the project aims to assess post-disaster needs, with the focus on how to effectively deliver and measure the aid needed in the disaster affected area. In this 2 Disaster Inventory System: a conceptual and methodological tool for the construction of databases of loss,

damage, or effects caused by emergencies or disasters. See www.desinventar.org for further information.

16

initiative, the needs from various sectors, such as agricultural sector, manufacturing sectors, are calculated, so that the central government can effectively provide the relief in accordance to their specific issues. Lastly, the ADPC is currently discussing with Google Foundation on how to quickly disseminate the information, such as disaster shelters, to the users of Google Crisis Response Map. Success factors and challenges It is worth noting that there are some success factors and challenges that ADPC has to face when developing the one-stop DRR portal. Political support is one of the most important success factors, ensuring that necessary information would be available when needed, as the major challenge is the legal environment on public access to national information. Moreover, it is also imperative to avoid the duplication of the works with government agencies. Therefore, it is necessary to have a closer tie with the policymakers.

17

Regional perspective on ICT resiliency in disaster setting

Ms. Kelly Hayden

UNESCAP What is Resilience? Despite its variety of different definitions, according to UNISDR, “resilience” is quite straightforwardly defined as “a system of the immunity of society which is exposed to the natural disaster which can resist, resolve, accommodate and recover from the affect in a timely and efficient manner, including preservation restoration”. In basic sense, it could be said that “resilience” is the concept relates to community system, business system, and ecological system, and how they can solve, react, respond, adopt and recover from the imposed risks. ICTs utilization and networks in APEC economies In the economic aspect, the GDP growth could be accelerated by utilizing ICT. For instance, in the APEC region, it can increase GDP growth by 1.5% by creating additional ICT related jobs. Nevertheless, one should also note the different level of ICT utilization within Asia-Pacific. For example, the internet usage remains relatively small in South Asia and East Asia, while the global usage is growing substantially. Therefore, it is apparent that there is a significant gap between economies and some of them appear to be left behind. With regards to ICT networks, while there is a number of cables and infrastructural highways in the APEC region, the information super highway has not been fully developed, including the Asian Highway as well as in the least developing economies in the region. Thus, the ICT networks remain vulnerable and could be damaged by disasters, despite the slow re-diversion of transmission line to other transmission. For the resiliency of the ICT transmission, the Asian Highway is ideal to build the ICT cable along; because it goes through 32 economies with 141,000 km already built, since its construction in 1959, and, more importantly, the involved costs could be 90% cheaper. During disasters, the ICT network was often damaged. In the 2006 Earthquake, the

18

data, voice date and networks in the regional hubs in India, Philippines, China, and Singapore were damaged, and it took 49 days to restore the damage in 29 cables. This severely interrupted airline and banking services. Similarly, the typhoon in China in August 2009 disrupted 7 to 10 cable lines, damaging the voice data. The impact of disaster is worth 26 billion USD per year, at the global level. eResilience Getting the right information on place and people in the right time is essential during a disaster, and telecommunication is indeed indispensable as the backbone and foundation of information dissemination. With this in mind, it is, therefore, necessary to carefully make plans in both economy and regional levels, as the impacts of disasters are not limited by borders. The space programmes, in particular, have received more attention. Economies, including China, are now relatively advanced in terms of the application of satellite technology for DRR purpose. Once the regional cooperation has been established, even economies with no satellite programme such as Sri Lanka or Cambodia, could also access their satellite imageries. From the regional perspective, the ICT robustness has been rapidly strengthened. In order to achieve the stronger regional eResilience, it is significant to enhance the redundancy, in other words, the duplication of the system elements, so that the others can take over when one component breaks down. For instance, Great East Japan Earthquake showed the resilient internet connection to continue functioning, even though two major cables were affected. In light of the discussion, there are some cases to explain how trade liberalization has helped create some levels of redundancy of eResilience. For example, Maldives, after 2004 Tsunami, has strengthened its communication networks by gradually liberalizing network operation. An increase in the number of network operators ensure that even when one company’s service goes down as a result of the disaster, the other company can still maintain the network. Network diversity throughout the region is also the key for strengthening the redundancy, which UNESCAP has long helped facilitate in Asia-Pacific. As mentioned earlier, the satellite technologies remain highly exclusive for limited number of developed economies. These technologies, at the domestic level, are designated for the purpose of mining and exploitation of natural resources, agricultural, urban planning as well as DRR. However, economies with the satellite programme could

19

also contribute to less developed economies by sharing the imageries when necessary. The recipient economies could utilise the imageries for any location through the remote sensing technology. Nevertheless, the lack of technical capacity to maneuver the satellite technology remains one of the major challenges that the economy often faces, and it appears to be a bottleneck for the regional cooperation to enhance the eResilience.

20

Effective R&D policy intervention for ICTs for disaster resiliency in Japan

Mr. Tomoharu Hayashi

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan Background of Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) Japan experienced the huge damage on the telecommunication infrastructure as a result of the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE). During the GEJE, while a number of calls rapidly increased, major telecommunication carriers’ capacity was restricted as much as 80-90%, and mobile communication carriers’ voice traffic capacity was restricted as much as 70-95%. While the restriction in the fixed line communication companies was only for a short period, the restriction for the mobile phone communications continued for several days. This is because the mobile phone usage increased significantly immediately after the earthquake, as people used their mobile phone as means of safety confirmations. On the other hand, the restriction on packet (data) communications, such as e-mail, was fairly temporary. Apparently, the GEJE severely affected the communication services and facilities, and disrupted approximately 1.9 million communication lines as well as caused 29,000 mobile stations and base stations to be out of service, which were either directly damaged by the GEJE or indirectly by the power shortage and blackout of batteries. The break out of the earthquake and the tsunami immediately affected 400,000 fixed lines as well as blacked out in-house power generators. Approximately 1.2 million lines were disrupted, and while most lines were eventually restored from the power failure, the large scale of the aftershocks disrupted some of the lines. Moreover, though about 50,000 mobile stations could re-operate, a large number of services of base stations remained disrupted for the next four days after the disaster. For the mobile networks, the GEJE made the base stations collapsed and backup batteries ran out as well as caused the cables cut off or destroyed and disconnected the communications cables, which were linked to the base stations. The equipment at inland base stations was safer during the GEJE, although they gradually lost their functions due to the power loss and ran-out of batteries as a result of the long power failure.

21

Additionally, the GEJE also damaged the large number of base stations, causing at least 80% of the malfunction in both fixed and mobile telephone base stations. The experience with GEJE has raised the immediate needs for the counter-measures to deal with the communication failures during the disaster. Counter Measures In light of the damaged communication networks, caused by the GEJE, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan has introduced a series of counter-measures in the following year in 2012. Post incident analysis showed that the causes of damages, caused by disasters, to telecommunication infrastructure are the eventual power failure and the communication congestions, disruptions and restrictions, and hence, their impacts should be swiftly taken care of for people’s safety. Therefore, some of the government agencies, such as Information Communications Council, tried to improve the technical standards for network facilities in February 2012. These standards are related to one of these counter-measures; (1) against power failures or blackouts, (2) against break-down of telecommunication lines, (3) against tsunami and flood, (4) against traffic congestion and security of important communication, and (5) others issues. There are the reviewed and improved technical standards learned from the GEJE, in consideration to practicality and feasibility of these measures. As the GEJE indirectly disrupted the function of important lifelines as a result of power loss, a number of detailed revisions of technical standards were introduced in the proposed counter measures. With regard to the power failure, for instance, the revised standards require longer-lasting batteries and in-house generators. Moreover, as the tsunami washed away the cable and data of the public facilities and seriously obstructed the restoration of telecommunication services, the revised standards require the establishment of multiple communication routes, which can be switched and alternated among the facilities. Additionally, in the counter-measure against tsunami, the new standard requires an estimated hazard maps as well as other similar publications. As the GEJE and tsunami heavily damaged the communication facility and cables, it was critical to install the equipment on the best locations, based on the hazard maps. The importance of the cooperation between the government and the telecommunication carriers is also taken into consideration. In September 2012, to reduce traffic congestion and security, the new standards was implemented, requiring information on the network design capacity, communication

22

regulations and prioritization measures to be reported to the Ministry and distributed to appropriate information users. Various R&D subsidy schemes In order to build the stronger telecommunication networks, and to restore the telecommunication networks, various R&D subsidy projects for congestion have been launched. Immediately after the GEJE, the communication traffic was approximately 50 times larger than usual, and this communication congestion caused a serious problems. For instance, voice messages and emails stopped working. Consequently, the necessity of technological development for disaster preparedness was widely recognised. One of the projects implemented by the Ministry allows flexible reconfiguration of communication processing resources so that the networks can process more basic communication services by reallocating and diverting the process of the functions. For instance, when downloading videos, it automatically turns the files into basic communications such as voice or other functions. Another implemented technology is to reallocate tasks of one communication centre to other facilities located elsewhere when a disaster breaks out. These two technologies do not increase the communication capacity of the facilities, but instead gradually distribute their current capacity to others when the demand for communication reaches 50 times larger than usual. On the other hand, regarding the R&D for mobile communication, the Ministry conducted the R&D in the mobile telecommunication processing equipment, which can be flexibly adapted to the damaged communication networks. Deploying the Conveyable Resource Unit enables people to temporarily use the mobile phone within 500m away from the Unit. Currently, the Ministry is developing the network technology to restore the communication function in wider area by linking a number of Conveyable Resource Units. The invention of this technology will make it possible for people carry the equipment the needed communication system whenever and wherever. Additionally, there is another R&D aiming to optimise the transmission path throughout Japan during the disaster by linking cloud systems together. The significance of the cloud technology has been widely recognised since the occurrence of GEJE when local governments made effective use of the cloud services. Therefore, in preparation for large scale disasters, the Ministry conducted R&D research on cloud-cloud linkages, and this new technology promptly transfers the

23

important information of the affected area to remote locations. In terms of disaster, in the past, it was necessary to connect the clouds manually, which is time and labour consuming, as each cloud system used to be operated by various operators in different locations. This is also one of the major causes of business disruption. The new R&D, however, attempted to establish the inter-cloud technology, where continuous processing is secured by searching for clouds with surplus capacities around the economy and by performing swift switchover optimal transmission path during the disasters. Along with proposed R&D schemes, the new tax incentives was also introduced in order to persuade corporates to back up and spread out large quantity of data outside Tokyo metropolitan area in anticipation to Tokyo Inland Earthquake in few years. As there are many cases that restoration works were delayed because the data was wiped out by earthquakes, it is very significant, from disaster preparedness’ perspective, to maintain the data with backups. Since a large number of companies store their data in Tokyo metropolitan areas, and the areas are predicted to face great damage, these data should be relocated to the remote centres, so that the corporates can resume their business activity immediately with minimal disruption. For this reason, these regional data centres will acquire equipment including servers, routers, power generator in a special measure with preparedness tax treatment, and special depreciation of 15% of acquisition costs. One-Seg, EWBS, and ISDB-T Japan is also one of the advanced economies, utilizing broadcasting technology in disaster management. For instance, the battery-operated mobile TV was considered an excellent tool during disasters, as it is able to receive relevant information anytime and anywhere. In fact, the one-seg (mobile TV) was still able to send warning signals through the system when the GEJE happened. Moreover, there is also an Emergency Warning Broadcasting System (EWBS) in Japan, which operates and transmits the signal to the switched-on TV and radio. The System could even automatically turn on the switched-off TV and Radio, when the alarm rings as well as broadcasting emergency warnings. In May, Uruguay held an international forum for economies, which have adopted the ISDB-T, and formulated the harmonized document from the EWBS. This new

24

document regulates the guideline regarding the operation of EWBS and smoothly introduces the EWBS in the economies with ISDB-T, which are mostly from South America. Furthermore, Japan aims to extend the function of EWBS to recognize area codes, in order to quickly provide disaster information. Additionally, the “superimpose” function, which displays the characteristics of disaster on TV, has also been considered. With these advanced technologies, Japan has also contributed to the regional resiliency in disaster setting. In 2013, the President of the Philippines has expressed the interests in Japan’s ISDB-T systems leading to a Philippines-Japan joint statement on ISDB-T in the ISDB-T international seminar on January 2014. Under this joint statement, a joint project and feasibility study will be implemented in the Philippines. The feasibility project is currently being carried out, and Japan will fund the project. The Ministry also considers supporting the development of Disaster Management system through an ODA scheme. There is also another cooperation with Indonesia to develop the system that enables governments to analyse and distribute information consistently, immediately and certainly.

25

Experience of National Disaster Warning Centre in Thailand

Mr. Kriengkrai Khovadhana

National Disaster Warning Center of Thailand

Ms. Aurasa Paenghom

Raydant International

The National Disaster Warning Centre

After the tsunami hit Thailand, the National Disaster Warning Centre (NDWC) was

established under the Thai Government, in order to minimize the impacts on its

economy, by strengthening the multi-hazard warning systems, including floods,

typhoons, and tsunamis. The NDWC has developed its own systematic procedures

called SOP (Standard Operating Procedures), to be implemented in times of

tsunamis or earthquakes, and this SOP allows the experts in the centre to integrate,

examine, and evaluate raw technical data in order to utilize comprehensive decision

support system for emergency management.

The data is sent from 12 domestic agencies as well as from abroad, including,

Hawaii, Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The NDWC also provides advisory warnings.

For instance, the NDWC can send an alert to request the necessary evacuation in

case of earthquakes with larger than 7.7 magnitudes. The NDWC has several means

to disseminate the warnings to the public, including SMS, FAX, Email and TV. There

are more than 140 warning towers and relay stations in Thailand, which are used to

transmit and receive the alerts and messages via satellites. Moreover, disaster

information could also be accessed through a hotline number 192.

26

Tsunami buoy maintenance and educational activities

After the tsunami disaster in Thailand, Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of

Tsunamis (DART) buoys were given from the United States to Thailand, and the

NDWC has been in charge of deployment of the buoys in the Indian Ocean since

2006. One of the buoys was deployed 1000 kilometers from Phuket, and 2 additional

floating buoys were deployed closer to the coast. These buoys receive regular

maintenance and will be replaced once in every 2 year for quality check.

Moreover, there are also other activities implemented by the NDWC, including

educational training to enhance the disaster preparedness for the locals, radio

operation for emergency warning, as well as the construction of evacuation shelter,

which can accommodate up to 100-200 people in case of tsunamis.

Dissemination to the public

In order to attain completed and accurate information, advanced technologies and

appropriate tools are needed for aggregating and analyzing information before

disseminating to the public. The NDWC’s main system, “Disaster Warning System” is

in operation in Bangna, Bangkok, and the NDWC utilizes the satellite communication

as the most reliable communication. Thus, the equipment in the relay stations can

receive the warning signals through the satellite and the information can be

automatically relayed to other devices, such as to radio, and broadcast devices.

Although the NDWC’s initial focus was solely on tsunamis, from 2014, the system will

also incorporate other disasters into the communication networks. The warning

system in Bangna can send out warning signals at once to all towers as well as

individually, depending on where the disaster occurs.

Moreover, in the past 3 years, the NDWC has also established 12 Provincial Warning

Control Centres in order to utilize the use of satellites as main communication tool

for sending out signals. There are currently 328 warning towers, mostly in the tourist

areas, and the relay stations can receive emergency warning signals from the

27

Centres, which can be attached to the broadcast towers. The Centre manages the

654 broadcast tower units and 1,590 reception devices, which are installed at the

focal points of communities in the disaster prone areas.

Regarding the communication between devices, radio frequency is the most

economical and secured method as the alarm could not be externally disrupted. The

installed equipment is regularly checked and maintained to ensure that it can

function properly.

A few years ago, the automatic weather stations are also deployed and attached to

the broadcast towers for the cost-saving purpose. This system could send relevant

weather information to the Centre in Bangna every 10 minutes, and the raw data

will be sent to the Thailand Flood Warning System for the further analysis together

with satellite imageries and data. In order to disseminate this aggregated

information, the NDWC utilizes the Broadcast Alert System installed in 6 TV and 3

radio stations in order to automatically broadcast warning message on screen.

Through the aforementioned equipment of the system, the NDWC can respond to all

kinds of emergency communication; broadcast towers with devices for citizen-to-

citizen and authority-to-citizen communication, installed receivers in the provinces

for authority-to-authority communication, radio networks and volunteer reporters for

citizen-to-authority communication as well as TV broadcast for general public alert.

28

Part 3: Private Sector

29

Business Continuity Plan (BCP) – The Experience of Total Oil Group

Mr. King-Hui Lin

Oberlin Tech Co. Ltd., Chinese Taipei Total Oil Group has developed their Business Continuity Plan (BCP) based on ISO 22301. The Total Oil Group defines the BCP as a plan designed to maintain critical operations of a company in the event of interruption in its business at the initial work site, due to major events outside its control. Its purpose is to guarantee the survival of the company by enabling it to meet economic, services, and legal obligations in a crisis. The BCP is a strategic asset and enables companies to stand out from the competition by ensuring better control of risks and guaranteeing availability of service. Significance of BCP Why BCP is important? Prior to a disaster, it is necessary to prevent and minimise the damage, or mitigation. In the event of a disaster or crisis, a quick and responsive process by headquarters is required. This includes ensuring human safety, the protection of assets, and cooperation with other agencies such as public agencies, and private firms. In the short term, the company should make sure the continuity of business operations and services resume as quickly as possible within Recovery Time Objective (RTO). In the long-term, the company will aim to resume normal status of business activity. If the timeframes of BCP are strictly and appropriately formulated, the company can effectively minimise the economic loss and regain confidence from its customers. BCP Procedure When developing the BCP, Total Oil Group clearly identified the scope and number of steps to be taken. Firstly, it is necessary to define the purpose and scope. The most important consideration is the people related to the enterprise’s business activities. This includes its employees and the local community in which the factory operates. An appropriate department in charge of BCP development will also be identified.

30

Secondly, after identifying the scope and purpose, activities are prioritized and defined. The criteria for prioritization would include the lifeline product, products that require prompt recovery, the best performing store, and top selling products. The recovery process of these proposed priorities would be laid out in a time-framed through the adoption of the RTO. The RTO governs the timeline of procedures such as; how soon would the total disruption of these activities become unacceptable to the company or what must be carried out to recover business operations in the shortest possible timeframe. Step 3: Identify the key activities needed to resume operations which can be classified into three categories; internal resources, essential social services and supplies. Internal resources include building, equipment and machinery, inventory, people, IT system, and funds. Essential social services consist of electricity, gas, water, phone and communication and other traffic or road. Lastly, two types of supplies can be noted; direct supplier, and second and third-tier suppliers. Step 4: Risk assessment and, thus, possible scenarios in potential disaster setting will be estimated. Step 5: Pre-disaster protection and mitigation. This is conducted in order to minimize the impacts. Step 6: Emergency response to disaster to protect people and assets. Step 7: Business Strategies to early resumption. Step 8: Financial preparation. Step 9: Exercise and drills to test the effectiveness of the plan. Step 10: Continuous review and improvement. Based on all the steps presented earlier, Total Oil Group has developed its own BCP which effectively ensures the continuity of business activities during the crisis, until the recovery within the designed timeline. According to the BCP of Total Oil Group, the scope covers, geographically, all the Asia Pacific affiliates and they are all required to upgrade the BCP in line with Disaster Recovery Programmes. All the affiliating managers are required to utilize the satellite phone in case of out-of battery or signals during the disaster. The information and data are stored in the cloud technology. According to the company’s BCP, Asia-Pacific affiliates can be classified into three categories, based on various criteria such as operation income, volume, estimated

31

impact of service disruption on the business activity, market share, and global reputation, as follows; (1) high criticality including Singapore, China and the Philippines, (2) moderately criticality including Fiji and Korea, and (3) low criticality including Taiwan, Thailand and Japan. Total Oil Group developed its supply chain diversification programme in three aspects. The first diversification is on material sources which can be divided into two categories; crude oil from the Middle East and base oil from Asia such as Chinese Taipei or Korea, or Singapore. Second, the company’s logistics are also diversified into two categories; oil bulk tankers and storage tank for gas and oil, which is also a good facility for crude oil storage. In addition, the production bases are also strategically diversified into several locations; Singapore, Taiwan, China, Korea and Japan in the APEC region. Therefore, all of these affiliates have the flexibility to transfer and supply the energy in the case of emergency during the natural disaster. At Total Oil Group, the company’s ICT systems gather the data on the daily, weekly, and monthly basis, and they are constantly checked if they will properly work in an emergency situation. These systems set are provided to all regional affiliates by the headquarters. The company also utilises an early warning system operated by the national government.

32

Siam Cement Group’s experience in ICTs for supply chain resilience

Mr. Apichai Intakaew

Siam Cement Group Since the company experienced its disastrous damage in the past years, SCG started implementing unique initiatives based on ISO 22301, international standard for Business Continuity Management System. The initiative is the development of the organizational system aimed to share relevant emergency information and to effectively communicate with other internal stakeholders, utilizing simple technologies such as emergency alerts, a call tree and an internal communication SMS tool called SCG Society. Definition of Crises In a typical crisis, there are three operational phases; an emergency response phase, a crisis management phase, and a business continuity phase. In the crisis management phase, the local authority is considered an external stakeholder that the company would engage to devise detailed procedures. The business continuity phase will be managed for further recovery process. Corresponding with the proposed three-phase approach, in the first phase, an alert should be sent to the relevant stakeholders. For instance, if a flood occurs in Bangkok, SCG would send alerts to stakeholders to inform the amount and seriousness of damages in areas such as Ayutthaya. Political crises can elicit an alert that informs the potential areas of demonstration that should be avoided. In the earthquake scenario, it is difficult to send an early warning. After the alert phase, there is an invocation phase, which examines whether the employees or relevant stakeholders are affected by such an incident. Lastly, the business continuity and recovery phase concerns how to return business operations to normal status, and finally to close-out. In order to carry out the organizational procedures efficiently, SCG has introduced simple ICTs for internal communications. For instance, in the alert phase, the instant messaging application LINE is utilizes for the notification of brief description of emergency status. In the event of political protests, SCG assigns employees to keep

33

an observe movements, the potential of violent escalation, and send summations of events and procedures through LINE. The timing of these messages is also important; they are delivered in the early morning before the employees leave for the office, so that appropriate decisions and sound judgement can be made. These short messages are useful; however not effective in delivering the long-written information. In cases that require long instruction, the SCG Society or call trees will be utilised. Governance Structure Organizing institutional structure of crisis response remains important for SCG to manage different level of sources. In order to effectively manage crises, SCG has introduced the two teams with distinguishing features; the first one is Emergency Team that undertakes necessary actions and Operation Team, which deals with the business continuity in a structural sense. Both teams would share relevant and necessary information through the constant communication throughout the crisis. Internal communication aims to connect teams with business stakeholders, suppliers, and customers. Moreover, the international stakeholders, such as joint venture partners, would receive information in English. Similarly, social media is able to quickly obtain and disseminate information; however, an overflow of information and rumours from Facebook and Twitter would be counterproductive. At SCG, the accuracy of information is constantly monitored by two teams consisting of 50 employees before they are sent out. The first team of 50 checks the information, and then the information will be handed to another team to refine the SMS to be later delivered to the group of target employees, referring to the e-HR. Another communication tool is call tree adopted in case more serious incidence happens, in order to ensure that everyone received the message. Some employees may not receive information via SMS correctly, therefore phone calls will be made. Employees responsible for making the phone calls must record the status of each call making note of the following; (1) they are safe, (2) unreachable, or (3) reachable. This procedure has been regularly exercised, for instance, in case of political activities.

34

Six months ago, SCG Society was launched. SCG Society is an initiative in the ICT strategy in disaster settings. It utilises the SAAS cloud technology similar to the Facebook, but with more work-oriented features. This network is currently accessible by more than 3,000 registered employees. The features are inbox and activities the enable groups in different departments to collaborate, chat, and interact on this platform. Some announcements are reflected on the platform, including the guidelines when the martial law was declared. For this specific occasion, SCG Society is in use instead of regular SMS, as SMS has limited space to describe instructions. Moreover, this system works with the ID login of the registered employees; HR can monitor and check who is working on the shift and who is working in the building during an emergency. For further improvement, SCG now looks extensively to connect the parties, such as customers, government officers and other stakeholders, even with neighbouring countries in the region onto the platform.

35

Corporate Citizenship Programme run by Deutche Post DHL

Mr. Carl Schelfhaut

DHL eC Asia Pacific DHL is one of the leading logistics companies in the world with roughly around 500,000 employees across 228 countries, in postal services, freight business, and contract logistics such as warehouse management. Pioneering in secure digital communications in their eCommerce experience, DHL launched its Corporate Citizenship activities as part of CSR. One of the three core activities under their Corporate Citizenship activities is GoHelp which has two programmes; Disaster Response Teams and Get Airport Ready for Disaster. GoHelp 1: Disaster Response Teams Disaster Response Team, DRTs, is to manage the airport logistics after natural disasters with 450 trained employee and volunteers. Mission of the DRTs is to provide professional logistics support at airports in close vicinities of disaster-affected areas, through quick and efficient supply chain, and bottleneck prevention for recovery procedure are ensured. Through a strategic partnership with UN OCHA since 2005, the deployment can be initiated within 72 hours whenever DHL is mandated by either OCHA or the national government, and the fastest record for deployment was 24 hours when the typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines. In order to make procedures suitable for each economy, DHL first take legal aspects into account and then an MoU is signed, with an agreement of responsibility allocation of both parties in the disaster setting. In the past, the airport was overflowed with unorganised relief goods resulting in disorganization and chaos such as the response to the Bam earthquake in Iran 2003. This triggered DHL to launch this programme. To date, DHL has deployed relief programs 25 times across the Asia Pacific. Previously, DHL has several experiences prior to GoHelp to be officialised with OCHA in 2006; Tsunami in Indian Ocean where DHL deployed at Colombo Airport in Sri Lanka, and Hurricane Katrina in the US, South Asia Earthquake in 2005. At the intervention of earthquake in Christchurch in New Zealand, the deployment was not mandated by the UNOCHA, but rather Red

36

Cross appealed DHL to support them by managing the warehouse. Disaster Response Teams are ready in three continents; a coordination centre based in Panama can reach any Latin American country within 9 hours, Dubai’s centre oversees the Middle East, and Singapore for the Asia Pacific; a region most prone to disasters in the world. Among the 25 Disaster Response Team’s deployments, the most active is in the Philippines. In the actual operational procedure, there are three phrases of the operations that can be enacted within 24-48 hours, depending on the severity of impact; (1) decide whether to deploy in collaboration with OCHA, (2) sign an MoU with local authorities and (3) mobilise the volunteers to set up to initial relief operations. For the medium term, ten volunteers work in rotation every ten days, and the deployment usually continues between one to three weeks. GoHelp 2: Get Airport Ready for Disaster (GARD) In contrast to “response activity” of Disaster Response Teams, Get Airport Ready for Disaster, GARD, seeks to enhance preparedness. Because the airport is the most crucial place to function for the steady and continuous flow of relief goods, the supply should be offloaded and stored well in times of disaster. However, there are often cases where airports face logistics challenges for the relief supply chain, and can create substantial bottlenecks if necessary preparations and equipment are not in place. Since 2009, the GARD programme and the UNDP have been in a strategic partnership which assists airports in preparation and responding to disasters. The programme puts into place, a contingency plan, which would be implemented in coordination of national plan and incorporated into an airport’s emergency plan. The UNDP would act as local facilitator in the GRAD programme to engage authorities, align with governments, and organize workshops while DHL works as trainer or consultant to provide the expert knowledge in logistics of disaster management, and the aviation industry. In countries where the government are owners and operators of airports, the GARD can become an integral part of the national DRR plan. Coupled with DHL’s experience of recovery and response in logistics and airport operations, the GARD programme is able to assist airports in increasing the surge

37

capacity through the developed airport operational manuals during a disaster. To enhance operational capacity and preparedness, logistics experts from DHL aviation regularly conduct 3-5 day workshops. These workshops are specially customised for airport in disaster prone regions. Two modules cover training theory and practical modules, and finally provide the detailed assessment of the airport, which will be taken into incorporated into airport’s emergency manual.

38

Emerging social network technology in crisis setting

Mr. Phichet Rerkpreecha

Google Thailand Google Thailand actively tries to improve the people’s quality of lives through the innovation of technological products. It aims to manage massive data by facilitating the data platform, especially in a setting of crisis. This is important because mobile penetration in Thailand is beyond 100%, while the usage of traditional media, such as television, has been on the decline. It is critical to manage the accuracy of information that is being transmitted and shared among individuals. Google Thailand is aware of the necessity to strengthen efficient data management as Thailand has learnt from the 2011 flood where the mismanagement and misuse of information was an issue. During this crisis, donated food relief was misallocated and did not reach those in need. Information was not effectively conveyed, and important information was not even accessible to the public. Google Thailand has been trying to streamline data and increase accessibility when crisis occurs through various platforms and technologies. Google Crisis Response Google Crisis Response has been deployed in 45 crises so far and is considered a useful IT service in the disasters. Currently, Google Thailand is collaborating with governmental agencies to establish a website that would provide information to the public. The Google Search Engine can respond to the local languages, including in Thai. One of the services that Google provides and could be effectively utilized during a crisis is Google Maps. This can be especially useful for business continuity. Google Maps has been implemented to make businesses work faster for the mobilization of consumer goods and logistics. In addition, the Google Maps is also linked with Google Crisis Response. During a flood resulting from the typhoon in the Philippines, Google introduced the Google Maps with GPS function to provide critical information

39

including necessary facilities, the nearest evacuation center, hospitals, health facilities, command post, locations of the Red Cross, and a missing persons information center. It also tracked, in real time, damaged and unsafe locations. . “Person Finder” and “Tropical Cyclone Alert” are other useful functions in disaster relief available on Crisis Response page. It also posts descriptions of missing people to facilitate search and rescue efforts. This function requires that government agencies agree and allow Google to publicize such information on Google Crisis Response. In the past, over 60,000 records were published during typhoon Yolandam and 150,000 records with over 30 million views during the Great East Earthquake in Japan. The “Tropical Cyclone Alert” can also contribute especially to BCPs, by showing the necessary information for business actors such as location of hospitals, shelters, and the information on infrastructure that lay on the anticipated path of the cyclones. Google has responded and deployed these products in 45 crises around the world. Google tries to make information more available to people who need the most during the emergency situation, however the legal complexity remains one of the biggest obstacles for implementing this service. During an emergency situation, Google requires data and information which is simple, standard, open and available to the people. In the previous 45 deployments, Google found legal obstacles were a common problem. Yet, once a government agrees, the data can be setup within hours. Cloud technology for business Google’s cloud products such as “Google Docs” or “Google Plus Hangouts” could also be useful for business actors to avoid any disruption during a crisis. For instance, “Google Docs” allows users to co-edit and produce a single document from different locations online. Through “Google Plus Hangouts” one can make a video conference call through a tablet or mobile device, from anywhere. These products work especially well when a disaster occurs and the office intranet and internal data is damaged. Furthermore, the cost to re-gain the necessary data through cloud services is cheaper than recovering data from a damaged hard disk. However, the company, when introducing the cloud sources, should ensure the reliability of the provider, and overcome the legal complexities.

40

Project Loon Google is also working on “Project Loon”. The goal of Loon is to provide Internet access to users around the world, in order to increase availability and accessibility. Even during blackouts, it can provide the continuous service through solar power. This project can potentially enhance humanitarian relief and has application in business supply chains.

41

Prospects

The seminar on “Leveraging Information and Communication Systems for Enhancing Supply Chain Resilience to Disasters in APEC” is relatively an ambitious project. It aims to raise awareness and promote the effective use of ICT in preventing the business disruption resulted from disasters. The seminar aligned with EPWG’s 5 priorities in 20133 as well as TPTWG’s 7 principles of supply chain resilience4, and the discussion has captured the current usage and possible ways to enhance the use of ICT in disaster preparedness. The seminar is a forum for speakers and participants to actively share experiences, practices, and lessons learned, which are highly valuable for designing and deploying information communication systems to reduce risk and bolster disaster resiliency in supply chains in the APEC region. This seminar covers not only the technical features of the ICT but also looking at the organizational changes, introduced by public and private enterprises to reap the full benefits of the ICT deployment. The key objectives of the seminar are:

To explore the opportunities and challenges of the application of

ICT to strengthen natural disaster preparedness and the disaster resiliency in

international supply chains;

3 EPWG’s 5 priorities in 2013 are (1)Business and Community Resilience (2) PPPs (3) Disaster Risk Reduction (4) 

Cooperation and Coordination with Regional and International Stakeholders, and (5) Preparations for the 

Recovery Phase. 

4 TPTWG’s 7 principles in supply chain resilience were adopted at “First Phase Global Supply Chain Resilience” 

in June 2013, and are listed as followed; (1) Share information and knowledge to promote supply chain 

resilience, (2) Promote disaster risk management and hazard mapping to better understand potential risks to 

supply chain resilience, (3) Support planning and business continuity management to improve global supply 

chain resilience, (4) Promote best practice policy, regulations and flexibility to enable global supply chain 

resilience, (5) Leverage regional cooperation to support the supply chain, including coordination with other 

multinational organizations working on supply chain resilience inside and outside the APEC region, (6) Promote 

critical infrastructure protection and promote intermodalism as a key component of supply chain resilience, 

and (7) Recognize and promote best practices in human resource and capacity management in the context of 

supply chain resilience. 

42

To exchange information, practices, experiences, and lessons

about the ICT deployment and necessary cultural shifts and organizational

changes to bring about faster and more effective response of regional supply

chains against natural disasters; and,

To stimulate the use of ICT and the collaboration between

governments and industries in developing readiness, response, and recovery

mechanisms.

Based on the presentations shared during the seminar, there clearly exist a number of issues that require further knowledge and investigation in order to advance the ICT usage and the successful ICT implementation in disaster management for strengthening supply chain resilience in the APEC region. It is envisioned that APEC, as one of the most influential regional fora, can actively play crucial roles in the facilitation of the efforts to effectively address these obstacles by fostering closer collaboration among economies. 1. Shortage of established knowledge and experts in ICT development

and usage for supply chain resilience The effective information and communication systems for gathering, storing, processing, analyzing, retrieving, and transmitting information and knowledge have been widely recognized as one of the critical instruments for strengthening supply chain resiliencies throughout the four phases of the disaster management cycle: (1) Prevention and (2) Mitigation and Preparedness in the pre-disaster stage, and (3) Response and Rehabilitation and (4) Reconstruction in post-disaster stage. The ICT deployment generally improves disaster resiliency of supply chains by building the capability, which enables the supply chains to effectively plan for, respond to, adapt to, and recover from the threatening situations. The ICT implementation particularly contributes to improved supply chain resilience in two fundamental aspects. Firstly, the ICT enhances the availability of reliable and timely disaster-related information, and ensures that the critical information is accessible and effectively disseminated to all stakeholders at risk. Secondly, the ICT, in conjunction with various analytical tools, empowers businesses to promptly analyze supply chain vulnerabilities and make a decision upon the most proper responses.

43

However, the ICT implementation and operation throughout the four phases of disaster risk reduction has usually faced key common challenges that need to be duly addressed to ensure the successful ICT adoption. These challenges include, but not limited to, (1) selecting technological platforms that allows interoperability among prevailing systems, adopted by various agencies, (2) identifying information during the system design process, and (3) establishing a working collaborative arrangement for fostering collective actions in the information collection and dissemination and the deployment and operation of the ICT, required from stakeholders in different sectors and at different hierarchies of authority. Despite of its potential, the research and activities related to the development of ICT technologies for supply resilience appear to remain immature. In particular, the seminar found the gap of knowledge and the lack experts, especially in the SMEs, and both groups were very valuable for future adoption of ICT for supply chain resilience to natural disasters. Additionally, the comprehensive and holistic picture of how the ICT for supply chain resilience should be developed and operated has not been elaborated, recorded, and shared yet. While there exists some of the best practices both in public and private sectors, for example the systems presented in this seminar by the National Disaster Reduction Center of China and by Siam Cement Group, there is a lack of serious attention, devoted to extensively documenting the whole experience with the development process of successful ICT systems for disaster risk reduction. Most information about ICT application for supply chain resilience openly available to the general public usually contains the description about the technical features/capabilities and the application of the completed systems. What is critically missing is the information about the path to determine innovative and effective resolutions to the challenges, the issues, the complexities and difficulties being faced during the design, the development, and the operation of the ICT systems. APEC can certainly step in and takes a proactive role in closing this knowledge and expertise gap. APEC may consider conducting a study to thoroughly review the past development of ICT for minimizing supply chain vulnerabilities to natural disaster, identify specific practices and lessons that deserve further in-depth investigation, carryout the investigation, and synthesize the case-based data and information collected to form the general knowledge that can be generalized and transferred to

44

future ICT adoption. Furthermore, APEC can promote more information and experience sharing of the real-world deployment of ICT for supply chain resilience. Alternatively, given the established knowledge in this area, APEC can also launch various activities to train a group of experts to widely and rapidly disseminate the knowledge to all member economies. 2. Emerging roles of basic social network applications Another key finding from the seminar is that the supply chain resilience can be effectively enhanced by simply leveraging the readily available social network applications. ICTs are available in various degrees of sophistication, and we often tend to falsely assume that the better and complicated technology must be better in improving the supply chain resiliency. However, the ICT should be selected and adopted commensurate with the aims of ICT usage, not the matter of how technologically sophisticated the ICTs are. For instance, the Siam Cement Group has developed the multi-layered response lines to effectively maximize supply chain resilience in emergency settings. The call-tree was put in place in order to ensure the employees’ safety when the 2011 Bangkok Flood happened, and this system was effectively pre-developed and systemized. On the other hand, SMS and free mobile apps called “Line messenger” were effectively utilized in order to inform the employees when the business operation would be suspended. This SCG’s experience illustrates how the business enterprise can enhance their business continuity, simply through the free and widely available ICTs. There is a proliferation of information and communication technologies available for disaster management, ranging from the space-based technology to more common technology, such as radio. The intrinsic advantage of social network applications over others is that they are now highly accessible to a large group of people, due to the prevailing rapid penetration of mobile phones in every economy. The affordability of basic social network applications is particularly attractive to small and medium sized enterprises, which are most vulnerable to natural disasters. As the supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link, the resilience of small members also determines the capability of their large supply chain counterparts in reducing the disaster risk. How to embrace the inexpensive social network applications for disaster risk reduction especially in the context of small and medium enterprises remains an

45

important topic of future research works which can be actively supported by APEC. 3. Lack of credible platform for Private-Public-Partnership in information

sharing Next key point critically highlighted from the seminar is the lack of information sharing between the private and public sectors. One should not underestimate the sophistication and variety of ICT applications that have already developed by private sector and can be readily adopted by public agencies for disaster management. Cloud technology, utilized in Google Map, Google Crisis Response, and Person Finder, that the Google has long developed, have actually shown their effectiveness during the past outbreaks of disasters. Not only their technologies, but also the experience of private sector in effective and immediate coordination, such as the case of DHL’s GoHelp, should also be examined. There is currently no need for public agencies to develop ICT for supply chain resilience from scratch, but they can now take advantage of the ICT resources already developed and maintained by private sector, which can be made available for public uses during the crisis. However, there are many cases that these best practices and systems are not effectively utilized due to the complicated legal and regulatory barriers, is also another issue all parties need to address. The utilization of privately owned ICT in responding to disaster does require that personal data will be gathered and maintained by public agencies, resulting in a sensitive issue about the confidentiality of information privacy. Therefore, these privately owned systems are now highly underutilized because public agencies have usually refused to share the information. In this regard, public-private partnership should also be considered as one of the productive and efficient solution to this problem, and standard procedures for the coordination must be clearly outlined well in advance, particularly removing the legal issues that could possibly interrupt the smooth emergency response. However, the coordination across the two sectors would not be easily achieved without a credible facilitator, whom all stakeholders trust. Accordingly, APEC could effectively provide a platform to facilitate the design and implementation of appropriate mechanisms for PPP in information sharing, so that public agencies in member economies can feel more comfortable in providing necessary data and information to “certified” private enterprises in order to implement disaster preparedness and response activities without any distraction

46

from the security and political aspects. Specifically, APEC could play a central role in developing and endorsing practical guidelines, international standards for protocols, and confidentiality agreement useful for strictly governing the collaborative working environments between public and private sectors, which could pave ways for smooth sharing of information between public and private sectors during the disaster events.

47

Appendix:

Seminar on Leveraging Information and Communication Systems

for Enhancing Supply Chain Resilience to Disasters in APEC 19 - 20 June 2014

Amari Watergate Hotel, Bangkok Thailand.

Thursday, 19 June 2014

08.30 – 09.00 Registration

09.00 – 09.15 Opening Remarks

Mrs. Sansanee Sahussarungsi, Deputy Director-General, Department of International Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, and APEC Senior Official of Thailand

09.15 – 10.00 Critical review of previous activities under APEC framework to enhance regional supply chain resilience.

Dr. Alan Bollard, APEC Executive Director

10.00 – 10.15 Coffee Break

10.15 – 11.45 Developing comprehensive national database and information platform for disaster risk reduction and management.

Mr. Chunbo Fan, Associate Professor, National Disaster

Reduction Center of China

Mr. Bill Ho, Head of Information Technology and

Communication Department, Asian Disaster Preparedness

Center

Moderator: Dr. Naragain Phumchusri, Department of Industrial

48

Engineering, Chulalongkorn University

11.45 – 13.15 Lunch

13.15 – 14.45 Establishing integrated system and mechanism for accurate and timely communication and information dissemination during the crisis.

Ms. Kelly Hayden, Economic Affairs Officer, Information and

Communication Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction, UNESCAP

Mr. Tomoharu Hayashi, Assistant Director, Ministry of Internal

affairs and Communications, Japan

Moderator: Dr. Naragain Phumchusri, Department of Industrial Engineering, Chulalongkorn University

14.45 – 15.00 Coffee Break

15.00 – 17.15 Creating early warning system and ICT-based internal and external capability to provide disaster preparedness and resiliency in supply chains.

Mr. King-Hui Lin, Chairman, Oberlin Tech Co., Ltd., Chinese Taipei – “Business Continuity Plan~Experience of Total Oil Group”

Mr. Apichai Intakaew, Director, Siam Cement Group

Mr. Carl Schelfhaut, Chief of Staff, Head of Disaster Response Asia Pacific, DHL eC Asia Pacific, Singapore

Moderator: Dr. Naragain Phumchusri, Department of Industrial Engineering, Chulalongkorn University

Friday, 20 June 2014

08.30 – 09.00 Registration

09.00 – 10.30 PPP framework for ICT deployment and management of disaster risk information.

49

Mr. Kriengkrai Khovadhana, Expert, National Disaster Warning Center, Thailand

Mrs. Aurasa Paenghom, Deputy Managing Director, Raydant International

Moderator: Mrs. Sansanee Sahussarungsi, Deputy Director-General, Department of International Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and APEC Senior Official of Thailand

10.30 – 10.45 Coffee Break

10.45 – 11.30 How Information and Communications Systems Fit into the Larger APEC Efforts for Enhancing Supply Chain Resilience

Ms. Jennifer Smoak, U.S. Department of Transportation

11.30 – 12.15 Emerging social network technology for reducing global supply chain vulnerability.

Dr. Phichet Rerkpreecha, Head of Public Policy and Government Affairs, Google Thailand

12.15 – 12.25 Closing Remarks

Mrs. Sansanee Sahussarungsi, Deputy Director-General, Department of International Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and APEC Senior Official of Thailand

12.25 – 14.00 Lunch