NEWS RELEASE: Global experts start work on an ICT-based Action plan for disaster management in Mauritius

Port Louis: Global experts have begun work to come up with an ICT-based Action Plan for Mauritius on how ICTs can be effectively used to better manage disasters. The experts are taking part in a 3-day Forum organized jointly by the Mauritian sector regulator, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority and the Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation which will culminate in an ICT-based Action Plan for disaster management in Mauritius and similar small island states in the region.

The Forum has brought together delegates across a cross section of stakeholders—government, the private sector, academia and NGOs working to empower communities at grassroots level. Up for discussion and review is how ICTs can be used throughout the different stages of disaster management: preparedness, mitigation and recovery.

Mr Bashir Patel, Director of Programme and Business Development from the CTO pointed to one example of how ICT technology can be used to save lives and curtail the effects of natural disasters through cell broadcasts by government agencies to communities in imminent danger of cyclones for example. These are disaster alerts that can be broadcast in specific geo-locations.  

The advantage of cell broadcasts is that they can be sent to mobile users regardless of which networks they are connected to provided of course that the operators provide what is in essence a free service by activating a soft switch. Tourists in Mauritius can, for example, be forewarned of cyclones or stormy weather.  The sticking point is whether operators choose to provide this service.

Opening the Forum, Honourable Asraf Dulull, the Minister of Information and Commmunication Technology of Mauritius, placed disaster preparedness and mitigation as national priorities. Mr Dulull later said that collective financial resources must be made available by all stakeholders concerned to ensure that the ICT-based Action Plan is implemented.

As such, Mr Dulull called on the Forum to re-examine processes already in place as well as coming up with new strategies. These disaster management strategies must pay due heed to the disaster management of ICT systems themselves to ensure the rapid recovery of data, he added.

The Chairman of the ICT Authority, Mr Trilock Dwarka also stressed the central place that ICTs have in the development of national policies and strategies for disaster management. This is reflected in the orientation given by the National Telecom Policy for Mauritius  according to Dr Krishna Oolun, the Executive Director of the ICTA. The policy mentions  the use of Information and Communication for managing emergencies. In addition, Mauritius has a Radio Frequency Spectrum Allocation Chart with planned bands.

More broadly, the Tampere Convention, provides for the removal of regulatory barriers to the movement of telecommunications equipment during emergencies and the freer movement of nationals involved in emergency relief whilst not infringing on the sovereignty of the countries hit by emergencies since they retain the rights of reimposing the restrictions on ICT-equipment being brought in for emergency relief at any moment’s notice.

The Forum will conclude on Thursday by having developed a Mauritian based Action Plan for efficient use of ICTs for effective management of disasters.