ICO Global, Iridium Work with ITU to Improve Disaster Communications
GENEVA -- An ITU framework for emergency cooperation links telecom operators and better regulatory practices to cut costs and mortality in disasters, officials said Monday at an ITU Global Forum on Effective Use of Telecommunications/ICT for Disaster Management.
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The Framework for Cooperation in Emergencies aims to make the ITU the leader in telecom services and applications for disaster prevention, preparedness, response and relief, along with network rehabilitation and reconstruction, the body said. Eui Koh, president of Protostar Asia, Jay Naidoo, chairman of J & J Group development trust, and Olof Lundberg, former director-general of Inmarsat, were named to a high- level panel on emergency telecoms, said Hamadoun Toure, secretary general of the ITU.
The framework will tap business resources. Technology will be provided by satellite and land earth station and telecom operators, especially mobile service providers. Geographical information system providers will assimilate and disseminate material during crises. Partners for logistics and finance also are involved.
ICO Global Communications donated $25,000 Monday, in part to spearhead short message services to deal with disasters, said CEO Tim Bryan. The company has pledged up to 22 million minutes annually on its global medium earth orbit system for disaster mitigation, prevention and preparation, Bryan said.
Iridium donated 66 satellite telephone kits, including power and solar power backup equipment and an unspecified amount of airtime, said Olga Madruga-Forti, Iridium vice president of regulatory and legal.
Nearly a million people died in disasters from 1991 to 2005, Bryan said. Over 90 percent of victims were in less- developed countries. According to the U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, during 2001-2005 there were 2,788 disasters, he said, noting that 76 percent were water- or weather-related. Early warning can save lives, Bryan said. Insurers put disaster-related damages at $300 billion the last two years, he said.
Billions in investment and implementation of a seamless world-wide communication capability should be supported, not shunted aside by regulators and nations, Bryan said. He cited EC review of a new regulatory framework for S-band satellite communications. “We support a regime which encourages a global outlook for satellite communications, not one which focuses only on one geographic area,” he said. The EC and its counterparts should weigh substantial investments made under ITU regulations when eyeing more licensing regimes, he said. A World Radiocommunication Conference agreement urged nations to lower or remove regulatory bars to ease disasters’ impact and help provide relief services, Bryan said.
The ITU published a compendium of its work on standards, radiocommunication and telecom development for emergency telecom. An ITU Handbook on Best Practice in Emergency Telecommunications also has been compiled from governments and administrations, said Sami al Basheer, director of ITU’s development bureau. More publications will follow. The ITU launched a network of volunteers for emergency telecoms.
Monday the ITU signed cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding with ICO Global Communications, Iridium Satellite, Vizada, UNOSAT, Terrestar, the Group on Earth Observations, Holy Family Hospital, the International Amateur Radio Union, the Tana Companies Group, International Aid and Trade, and the Webforce International Federation. The ITU forum runs through Wednesday.