Eagle4Pakistan
The flood disaster in Pakistan that started in August 2010 might be the largest disaster ever in numbers of people involved in recent history. The provincial government of Punjab responsible for the diaster management encounters many problems with the information infrastructure, like in all other large disasters has happened (e.g. Haiti). The network of Microsoft made the link to Citizen Safety Architecture in which the award winning Eagle system has proven to be valueable for disaster management. … Continue Reading
The Proud Eagle
Our second mission to Punjab was a success, we succeeded to further train technical system and network administrators in installing eagle and we successfully trained both GIS experts and representatives from the disaster management authority. Beyond this we were able to complete the activities for the donation and the first steps towards a sustainable environment.
Eagle Training Level I
Saturday, November 13
With the successful training of the SNA’s Friday and Thursday (previous post), the Eagle team and the UU completed the successful installation of 12 desktop machines (from both the UU and PDMA) and 3 portable field laptops. This early installation enabled the availability of the machines for simultaneous training of the functional/user groups.
Two “Eagle functional/user training” sessions (Level 1) were organized: in the morning we received 14 GIS experts from UU and in the afternoon the same session took place with 12 PDMA officers.
The level 1 training is a four hour introductory course that encompasses:
- Basic disaster management concepts
- information sharing alternative concepts
- Introduction to Eagle software suite
- Hands-on assignment for information sharing (based on a hypothetical disaster scenario)
We are happy to announce that all trainees successfully concluded the training and revealed adequate proficiency that entitled them to receive the Eagle training certificate.
The next step is that these Eagle-knowledgeable professionals will spread the know-how within their organizations.
Photographic impression of the UU GIS expert training:
UU GIS expert group training
Also the PDMA representative group:
PDMA eagle training
NESPAK meeting
Frits visited on Friday morning a large engineering firm, NESPAK. We were introduced to them by Deltares and use the renowned Flood Early Warning System (FEWS). NESPAK created digital terrain models of the river basins for the Pakistan Metrological Deparment. They are also reading river gauges on amount of rainfall and water heights in the river. This data is fed into the FEDS which is used to predict the time and extent of flooding. Additonally, NESPAK prepared one, five, ten and fifty year flood maps. All this information demonstrated used ArcGIS,. This would make it very easy for PDMA to incorporate the information into Eagle.
Eagle Installation and Installation training
Thursday and Friday, November 11, 12
Thursday and Friday were crucial days for this mission, we trained the System and Network Administrators (SNA) on the procedures to install and implement eagle. This was a crucial step in the sustainability and capacity building of the project. The system is now being implemented at Urban Unit (UU), where a strong technical team is available. UU also acts as the GIS knowledge center giving support to the other disaster management stakeholders in administering and operating the geographical information. We are happy to announce that the Urban Unity team of SNAs was very strong technically and on the second day they were able to install the system autonomously.
Preparing the next steps (Lahore)
Wednesday, November 10
While Eduardo was presenting Eagle at the UN meeting, Frits and Sander discussed the goals of the project with Microsoft, PDMA and PITB for the coming week. As agreed with the Chief Minister, PDMA is going to execute and be the owner of the system. PDMA will get functional (GIS related) assistance from the Urban Unit. The DG of PDMA is very interested in distributing the knowledge of our Netcentric approach. During the meeting he arranged resources to the project from the districts to be trained at the end of the week. Meetings with the DG of Urban Unit (Dr. Nasir) were arranged for the next day.
posted by: Frits van der Schaaf
Raising Awareness on Eagle Concepts
Wednesday, November 10 (Islamabad)
The UN agency ESPAC organized in Islamabad the “Regional High-level Expert Group meeting to Reduce Flood Disaster Risks in Pakistan”. This meeting joined flood experts, disaster managers, and Pakistani government to discuss the flood risks.
Microsoft, together with Eagle, was invited to present the role of science and technology in disaster management. Eduardo Dias flew to Islamabad and presented the concepts behind this solution: Net-centric information sharing and the Geographic Common Operational Picture. The presentation and more information on the meeting are available at the UN ESPAC website:
http://www.unescap.org/idd/events/2010_Pakistan_Floods_II/index.asp
We met many interesting stakeholders and the technical expertise was very high. Before and after the presentation, we had the opportunity to discuss our ideas with members of international organizations such as: Asia Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO), Asia Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), USAID, ESCAP/WMO Typhoon committee (based in Macau), International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM) from UNESCO.
UN ESPAC expert meeting in Islamabad (Photo Copyright (©) 2010 UNESCAP)
The Eagle has landed: Part II
Tuesday, November 9
The eagle team returned to Lahore to conclude the donation made in September with further installations of the system and training/capacity building. In this mission, the team was composed of Frits van der Schaaf, Sander Vlotman and Eduardo Dias. After an early arrival on Tuesday, we met with the local partners and authorities for status and update on the implementation of the project. We also agreed with the Director General of PDMA (Punjab Disaster Management Authority) on the major outcomes for this mission: to train both the GIS experts of Urban Unit (the Punjab Government planning department) and the Crisis Managers of the PDMA.
2nd visit to Punjab
During the second week of November, just before the donor conference on the 15th, an Eagle team is for the second time in Punjab. The purpose is to finalize the installation of Eagle and the training of relief workers. We also investigate the possibilities to have Eagle available on a province wide level for Disaster Management. Further, other Provinces in Pakistan have shown interest in Eagle. Cooperation with other, international organisations active in the Flood and Disaster response is on the packed agenda of Frits, Sander and Eduardo.
