Story; Charles Benoni Okine, Dubai
Recent events as far as disasters, both natural and man-made are concerned took a center stage at the ongoing World Telecommunications Standardisation Assembly (WTSA-12) in Dubai on Thursday.
Against this background panelists on ITU-T Focus Group on Disaster Relief Systems, Network Resilience and Recovery (FG-DR&NRR), have clearly demonstrated the need for telecommunications networks to be resilient to natural and human-induced disasters.
Using various examples across the world including Japan and New York and other parts of the world as key reference points, they argued that the move had become crucial "as they are critical to rescue efforts and restoring normality in the wake of disasters."
The assembly, the first t be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is being attended by more than a thousand participants from about one hundred countries.
Ghana's delegation is being led by the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu some other directors f the ministry and those from the National Communications Authority (NCA).
Considering the enormity and urgency of the issue, the panelists are to review aspects of network resilience and telecoms infrastructure recovery following disasters and how these requirements can be reflected in ICT standardization later in the next.
According to official sources, the next official meeting of the Focus Group on disaster relief systems, network resiliency and recovery will take place from December 11-13, 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey.
It will be co-hosted by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority, Turkey, and Istanbul Technical University.
A workshop on disaster relief will take place on the first day (11 December), and both the workshop and the Focus Group meeting will be free of charge and open to non-members of ITU.
Ahead of the conclusions by the Group, the government has already initiated moves to launch a national emergency code, similar to the existing 911 in Ghana to allow easy access to the relevant authorities during crime emergency, medical emergency and all other emergencies.
The move is intended to enable members of the public who are found wanting in any situation to call for immediate assistance.
Mr Haruna Iddrisu had disclosed to the Daily Graphic in an interview on the sidelines of day one of the ongoing World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly (WTSA-12) about the government’s resolve to ensure that telecommunications become an integral part of the people to help save them during disasters.
He made reference to the recent Melcom disaster which he said is a wake up all for all to ensure that the use of mobile phones become part of human endeavors.
"Recent development in Ghana must awaken everybody to accept that mobile telephony is no more a luxury," he said.
In addition, the panel will showcase ICTs supporting disaster relief for individuals to, for instance, enable victims to notify next of kin, and disaster relief guidance such as to guide those affected to evacuation shelters or hospitals.
According o the itenary drawn, the opening remarks will be delivered by Mr Hideo Fuseda, Director, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan.
Mr Noriyuki Araki, Chairman of ITU-T Focus Group on disaster relief systems, network resiliency and recovery, will share experiences from the Great East Japan Earthquake and introduce recent R&D activities on technologies for network resilience and recovery.
Mr Leo Lehmann, a Focus Group Vice-chairman, will give an overview of related work in ITU and other organizations.
ITU-T Focus Group on Disaster Relief Systems, Network Resilience and Recovery (FG-DR&NRR) was established by the ITU-T TSAG meeting in Geneva, in January 2012.
The Terms of Reference of the Focus Group are to among other things, conduct the work on disaster relief systems/applications, network resilience and recovery aiming at: identifying requirements for disaster relief and network resilience and familiarize the ITU-T and standardization communities with those requirements.
It is also identifying existing standards and existing work that are related to the requirements mentioned above; identifying any additional standards that may need to be developed and identifying future work items for specific ITU-T Study groups and related actions; and encouraging collaboration among ITU-T Study Groups as well as organizations and communities.
The Focus Group will collaborate with worldwide relevant communities such as research institutes, forums, academia and including other SDOs and consortia.
Recent events as far as disasters, both natural and man-made are concerned took a center stage at the ongoing World Telecommunications Standardisation Assembly (WTSA-12) in Dubai on Thursday.
Against this background panelists on ITU-T Focus Group on Disaster Relief Systems, Network Resilience and Recovery (FG-DR&NRR), have clearly demonstrated the need for telecommunications networks to be resilient to natural and human-induced disasters.
Using various examples across the world including Japan and New York and other parts of the world as key reference points, they argued that the move had become crucial "as they are critical to rescue efforts and restoring normality in the wake of disasters."
The assembly, the first t be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is being attended by more than a thousand participants from about one hundred countries.
Ghana's delegation is being led by the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu some other directors f the ministry and those from the National Communications Authority (NCA).
Considering the enormity and urgency of the issue, the panelists are to review aspects of network resilience and telecoms infrastructure recovery following disasters and how these requirements can be reflected in ICT standardization later in the next.
According to official sources, the next official meeting of the Focus Group on disaster relief systems, network resiliency and recovery will take place from December 11-13, 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey.
It will be co-hosted by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority, Turkey, and Istanbul Technical University.
A workshop on disaster relief will take place on the first day (11 December), and both the workshop and the Focus Group meeting will be free of charge and open to non-members of ITU.
Ahead of the conclusions by the Group, the government has already initiated moves to launch a national emergency code, similar to the existing 911 in Ghana to allow easy access to the relevant authorities during crime emergency, medical emergency and all other emergencies.
The move is intended to enable members of the public who are found wanting in any situation to call for immediate assistance.
Mr Haruna Iddrisu had disclosed to the Daily Graphic in an interview on the sidelines of day one of the ongoing World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly (WTSA-12) about the government’s resolve to ensure that telecommunications become an integral part of the people to help save them during disasters.
He made reference to the recent Melcom disaster which he said is a wake up all for all to ensure that the use of mobile phones become part of human endeavors.
"Recent development in Ghana must awaken everybody to accept that mobile telephony is no more a luxury," he said.
In addition, the panel will showcase ICTs supporting disaster relief for individuals to, for instance, enable victims to notify next of kin, and disaster relief guidance such as to guide those affected to evacuation shelters or hospitals.
According o the itenary drawn, the opening remarks will be delivered by Mr Hideo Fuseda, Director, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan.
Mr Noriyuki Araki, Chairman of ITU-T Focus Group on disaster relief systems, network resiliency and recovery, will share experiences from the Great East Japan Earthquake and introduce recent R&D activities on technologies for network resilience and recovery.
Mr Leo Lehmann, a Focus Group Vice-chairman, will give an overview of related work in ITU and other organizations.
ITU-T Focus Group on Disaster Relief Systems, Network Resilience and Recovery (FG-DR&NRR) was established by the ITU-T TSAG meeting in Geneva, in January 2012.
The Terms of Reference of the Focus Group are to among other things, conduct the work on disaster relief systems/applications, network resilience and recovery aiming at: identifying requirements for disaster relief and network resilience and familiarize the ITU-T and standardization communities with those requirements.
It is also identifying existing standards and existing work that are related to the requirements mentioned above; identifying any additional standards that may need to be developed and identifying future work items for specific ITU-T Study groups and related actions; and encouraging collaboration among ITU-T Study Groups as well as organizations and communities.
The Focus Group will collaborate with worldwide relevant communities such as research institutes, forums, academia and including other SDOs and consortia.
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