Disaster Preparedness and Response
Community-based Early Warning System
Partnership with Phivolcs
In 2004, SMART partnered with the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) in implementing a community-based early warning system in the municipalities of Real, Infanta and General Nakar in Quezon under the REINA project. The system makes use of both low-tech and high-tech communications equipment. SMART donated batingaw or warning bells made from recycled oxygen tanks to warn residents should there be a need for mass evacuation from flashfloods, lava flow or other calamities.
SMART also provided mobile equipment, airtime load and Internet access to facilitate fast and easy transmission of reports and other documents between on-site offices and national headquarters. The company also provided relevant brochures in line with the education, information and awareness component of the program. Given the success of the REINA project, the community-based early warning system was duplicated in Sorsogon. In 2006, SMART expanded its support to a similar project called READY covering 27 high-risk provinces. Aside from community-based disaster preparedness, Project Ready also focuses on multi-hazard identification and disaster risk assessment and integrating risk reduction into the local development planning process.
Partnership with Manila Observatory
In 2006, SMART supported the rainfall monitoring system of the Manila Observatory, which involved the installation of 20 telemetric rain gauges in five pilot areas: Mindoro Oriental; Dingalan, Aurora; Candaba, Pampanga; Gabaldo, Nueva Ecija and Infanta, Quezon. Using SMART’s GSM technology, data from each device is automatically sent via SMS to a server which logs the data for research and other purposes.
Improved monitoring system for earthquake, volcano and tsunami via SWEEP school partners
SMART’s partnership with Phivolcs has led to collaborations on other initiatives. School partners under the Smart Wireless Engineering Program (SWEEP) are now involved in the development of monitoring systems for earthquake, volcano and tsunami. Data collated can be used by the school for their own research and academic purposes and at the same time forwarded to Phivolcs. Back to Main
