PDMA, CDPM launch initiative to reduce impact of disasters through digital tech

Keeping in view the vulnerability of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and damages of past disasters, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and the Centre for Disaster and Preparedness Management (CDPM), University of Peshawar, have launched an initiative to create a collaborative environment to enable various agencies and communities in order to act collectively to reduce the impact of disasters through the application of digital technology.
The proposed activities are part and parcel of the PDMA and Centre for Disaster Preparedness and Management (CDPM), University of Peshawar joint research project titled "A Collaborative Multi-Agency Platform for Building Resilient Communities". The research activities are technically assisted by experts from Think Lab and Disaster Resilience Centre at the Salford University-UK. The PDMA Director Relief Abdul Basit extended gratitude's to all participants of the meeting and briefly discussed about the current functions of the Provincial Emergency Operation Centre (PEOC) and its role in emergency response management.
Later on Mushtaq Ahmad Jan, Assistant Professor at the CDPM delivered a detailed presentation to the steering committee members on the project activities. He elaborated that the research project is focusing on enhancing web based multi-agency collaboration models in KP, developing disaster resilience framework measuring resilience of the critical infrastructure and communities in Pakhtunkhwa, modeling community & infrastructure vulnerability and extend the web-based collaboration platform to be used during disaster response phases by integrating real-time data (weather date, social and crowd sourcing).
Juma Rehman, Director PDA said that the research team shall conduct the vulnerability assessment of all critical infrastructure in Peshawar city and model cascading effect of disasters. Dr Said Rehman, General Manager SUPARCO talked about the effectiveness of "Disaster Watch" a satellite web based platform developed by SUPARCO for information dissemination regarding major hazard events. Dr Fahim Ahmad, Deputy Director, Pakistan Meteorological Department discussed that the proposed web based platform will be an effective source of broadcasting forecast and early warnings about the Hydro-Metrological Hazards.
The project directly contributes to the implementation of National DRR Policy, National Disaster Management Plan at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa level and concentrate on three major components of the PDMA Road Map for Disaster Risk Management 2014-2019 ie Community Resilience, Preparedness and Response Planning and Early Warning System. Moreover the project is in line with priority two of the UNISDR Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and support the local level implementation of SGDs Goal No. 09, 11 and 17.
The meeting was attended by officials from PDMA, Local Government Department, SUPARCO, PMD, PDA, GSP, Irrigation Department, INARA Technologies and faculty members of the CDPM. The participants of the Steering Committee appreciated the idea of strengthening the Provincial Emergency Operation Centre of the PDMA and assured all possible help on behalf of their respective organizations for the achievement of objectives of the research project. Due to utilization of digital technology, the said research activities have been named as "Mobilize Research Project".