from the horizon

I’ve been struggling to find time to update my blog in the aftermath of my trip to China, but I’ve finally got a spare moment. This will be the first post of hopefully many.

The main reason/excuse for this trip was to attend the ISCRAM (Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management) – China Workshop, where I was presenting my paper in Developing Databases for Disasters in Developing Countries. The workshop was held the in Harbin Engineering University. Unfortunately I suffered from the same communication difficulties at the conference as I found during the rest of my time in China (despite the language of the conference being English). This meant I didn’t have many good conversations with the (majority) Chinese attendants. However this did give me the chance to talk to some of the foreign keynote speakers, which was very interesting and useful.

One person I met was Chamindra de Silva, who works on Sahana, an Open-Source Disaster Management Software system. Although I’ve been aware of this project for some time, it was good to finally met him in person, and have him show me through the software. Although I think that there are a number of usability features which they need to address (the Online vs Offline issue for example), I believe that open source-software is a very good approach in this field, and hope to get involved in the project – I’ve just got to find the time!

Other points of note include the Chinese keynote speakers, who were translated into English. The non-Chinese attendees received the translation from an earpiece via a radio broadcast. Unfortunately during the first half of one of these speeches, the broadcast didn’t work. I found this a slightly amusing example of how we can’t afford to be too over-reliant on technology, let alone during a crisis!

I had some more conversations about what technology is appropriate in emergency response. Nuwan, one of the attendees working for LIRNEasia in Sri Lanka, told a story about a woman in Sri Lanka who just used a whiteboard to coordinate the relief effort to the 2004 Tsunami. I pointed out that a whiteboard is still technology (high tech when compared with stone tablets), and that in emergencies people will tend to just use the technology which they are familiar with.

I also found myself chairing a session on Mathematical Modeling. The presentations discussed predicting financial crisis’s, which was a slight change from my perception of crises as tsunamis and earthquakes. I did point out to the session that the same techniques might be able to be used for predicting complex emergencies too. It was interesting to be the only non-Chinese in the session, yet have the speakers deliver their presentation in English. After all, it was the language of the conference. Never-the-less when it came time for questions a few people did slip back into Chinese.

I’ve barely been here 12 hours, but the Great Firewall of China is preventing me from blogging – so why not!

My trip here was slightly hectic. I had to catch four flights from Banda Aceh, but my second flight got delayed by 2 hours (never again will I use a AirAsia), as a result I missed my connection. Fortunately I was only held up for one day in Kuala Lumpur, and managed to reschedule my flights to Beijing then to Harbin for the next day and still arrive in time for the conference I’m attending.

I’m still coming to grips with my initial impressions here. From what I’ve seen so far, China is very much a developed country. However I’ll see how this opinion holds up after I spend some time in the congested mass of Beijing. It’s definitely different to the developing countries I’ve been to, but part of this could just be the difficulty in communication. Everything’s written in Chinese (funny that) and people don’t seem to speak any English. I have to hold myself back from trying to communicate in Indonesian!

I’ve met a few of the conference attendees, and already had some interesting discussions. I’ll see how it goes once it gets into full swing tomorrow.

I had the chance to have a look around Harbin (a small city of 4 million people in the north). Belly and Wong Wei who were student volunteers with the conference guided me around some of Harbin.

Me and Belly at a Temple.

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I’m posting a paper which I prepared for a ISCRAM (Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management) Workshop in China which I am going to this week.

ABSTRACT
Databases are an important tool for International Non Government Organizations (INGOs) to use for disaster management. However they are only a component of a larger information system, and must correspond to the useful information which people can collect practically. Determining how a database records information is an important consideration. Flexible data entry allows the user to enter more detailed information and respond to changing circumstances. However fixed options simplify the data entry process and allow information to be analyzed more easily. All stakeholders must be involved to implement a database, and their feedback is vital for the continued improvement of the system. INGO head offices need to support the development of software in field locations, as this is where the context is best understood. If this is done, databases have the potential to empower staff with information.

The ‘Tukul’ where I ran a training in Uganda

Keywords
Databases, disasters, developing countries, LDCs, software development, design requirements, participation.

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