The Workshop on “Disaster Communication and Network Development for the Pacific”  was the third of four CTO developed regional fora which have been designed to promote, facilitate and enhance understanding of how stakeholders can effectively use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to mitigate the effects of natural disasters.

Jointly organised by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organizations (CTO), Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) and Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association (PITA), and supported by the Government of Japan, the Workshop was held in Nadi, Fiji from 4th to 6th June 2007. It aimed to reduce the vulnerability of nations and regions to natural disasters, as well as help increase the capacity of policy makers, ICT regulators, private sector actors and civil society organisations to prepare and respond effectively to natural disasters at local, national and regional levels.

More than 45 participants from diverse backgrounds gathered at the workshop. They included policy makers and regulators from across the Pacific region, technical experts on early warning systems for tsunamis and other natural hazards, ICT operators, communication network developers and experts from space agencies.

Key speakers included: The CTO Deputy Programme Manager, Mr Kojo Boakye; Mr. Hikaru Chono, Director General, International Affairs, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), Japan; Mr. Mark Wood, The Cellular Emergency Alert Systems Association International Secretariat (CEASA-INT), United Kingdom; and Mr. Wisit Atipayakoon, ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok Thailand.

Facilitated over the course of three days, the workshop covered the use of ICT in all four stages of the Disaster Management Life Cycle: preparedness, mitigation, relief and recovery and reconstruction. The first two days of the workshop saw participants witness and discuss presentations by some of the World’s leading experts in disaster management. After the presentations and debates held in the first two days, the CTO’s Mr Kojo Boakye facilitated the third day, during which stakeholders produced logical frameworks (log frames) that detailed how they can work towards increasing and improving the use of ICT to effectively manage disasters.

Click here for the rapporteur report

Click here to view the presentations

To review the programme

For More information contact Kojo Boakye, Deputy Programme Manager, Email: k.boakye@cto.int  Tel: +44 (0) 208 834 1567