Disaster communications critical in saving lives

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg — We took a three-and-a-half hour drive from Paris to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, a small nation that happens to be one of the richest in the world. It has an estimated population of 582,291, according to the CIA World Factbook, with a GDP per capita of $99,000 — the highest in the Eurozone and the second highest globally. Its capital city is truly dynamic — a study in contrasts with diverse cultures blending together in harmony. One of its famous landmarks is the Place de la Constitution that has the “Gelle Fra” (Golden Lady) monument in remembrance of those who perished during World War I, and right below the Constitution Square is an impressively tended national park (shown in photo).

The Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs arranged several meetings during my visit, among them with director general Carlo Thelen of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce which recently celebrated its 175th year, and Tom Baumert of the House of Entrepreneurship created only this April to serve as a one-stop shop to help new businesses get started and avoid “administrative barriers” in putting up a business. Focus is on developing new digital hubs and companies that “create synergies between finance and information and communication technologies” or fintech.

Director general Thelen has been with the Chamber of Commerce for about two decades, and he has seen the economic and political changes that have been happening. Businessmen face a new set of challenges to which they must adapt, among them the onset of the digital era and “green” technology, focusing on “decarbonization” or lowering of emissions by becoming energy efficient and shifting from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy.

As UN climate change head Christiana Figueres had remarked, businesses have no other option but to decarbonize, with climate change now impacting industries and increasing the cost of doing business. In 2008 alone, more than 36 million people were displaced due to climate-change related natural disasters, according to the UN. The International Organization for Migration also estimates that by 2050, some 200 million people would be negatively affected by climate change. 

The fact is — disaster-prone countries like the Philippines have suffered due to climate change with the destruction of lives and property due to natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons which are becoming more intense. Almost three years since the onslaught of Super Typhoon Yolanda — by far the deadliest typhoon to ever hit the Philippines in recent history — many survivors have yet to fully recover from the experience.

Local officials in Leyte, like former mayor Alfred Romualdez, are very grateful to the government of Luxembourg which was instrumental in saving thousands of lives in the aftermath of Yolanda, thanks in large part to the quick deployment of an emergency response team that put up a satellite-based communication network that enabled over 300 aid agencies and 5,000 aid and relief volunteers across Leyte to stay connected in those crucial days when the devastation destroyed local telecoms infrastructure.

Known as emergency.lu, this “nomadic” satellite-based telecommunications platform was established by the Luxembourg government in partnership with Luxembourg-based companies SES Techcom Services, HITEC Luxembourg and Luxembourg Air Ambulance. Emergency.lu is designed to assist humanitarian and disaster-response organizations whenever tragedies or disasters strike by quickly re-establishing communications in remote areas that are cut off during emergency and disaster situations. 

As a matter of fact, Luxembourg partnered with the UN International Telecommunication Union to make emergency.lu available to international humanitarian groups helping communities affected by disasters, conflicts or long-drawn out crises.  Last December, emergency.lu was honored at the Better Satellite World Awards hosted by the Society of Satellite Professionals International in recognition of companies and innovators that have contributed in making the world healthier and more sustainable. Awardees were chosen based on their global or regional impact, distribution of knowledge for the improvement of living standards; governance and commerce; and communication and humanity.

SES officials of the Luxembourg Emergency Telecommunications Cluster are interested in partnering with PLDT/Smart Communications in the area of strengthening disaster communications. The PLDT group, led by Manny Pangilinan, has been at the forefront of disaster communications in the country, having early on launched Project Noah in cooperation with the government.

Project Noah monitors the flood levels and enhances the warning systems in 18 major river systems in the country. Combined with other new technologies such as the Doppler radar, Project Noah brings the country’s disaster preparedness systems into the 21st century because even before floods strike, concerned government agencies can now determine to an “unprecedented level of detail how such calamities will impact towns and cities.” 

Smart Telecommunications recently partnered with the Office of Civil Defense to strengthen disaster communications in the Calabarzon area (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) to set up protocols and institutionalize rapid emergency telecommunication teams to immediately respond to affected communities. Establishing communications is critical in rescue and response efforts, not to mention that it helps assuage the fears of people when they are able to connect with their loved ones in times of emergencies and disasters. 

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