DOST, IBM launch emergency management center

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and multinational firm IBM unveiled yesterday the Intelligent Operations Center (IOC) for emergency management that will be the nerve center for future disaster response and recovery operations in the country.

The IOC will coordinate the operations of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards), Disaster Risk Exposure Assessment for Mitigation (DREAM) and Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

IBM will provide technical assistance and computer equipment to the IOC. The firm would also lend its personnel to the DOST to help in the operation of the center during the transition period.

The IOC is located in the Information and Communications Technology Office building in Diliman, Quezon City.

The IOC will help the country improve the management of ongoing and future disaster response and recovery efforts. It comes with an Integrated Communications Center to facilitate better and more coordinated disaster management efforts with the DOST and across various government agencies.

The IOC will provide emergency managers critical information such as advance warning for extreme weather events, feedback from first responders on the number of casualties and affected families, and conditions of buildings and infrastructure, among others.

“IBM’s grant comes with two years of support, including an IBM-led transition team to ensure that we have the skills and expertise needed to fully maximize the power of this new technology to make Filipinos safer and more resilient to hazards such as Yolanda,” said Science Secretary Mario Montejo.

Mariels Almeda Winhoffer, president and country general manager of IBM, said her company is honored to be an enabler in building a smarter and safer Philippines.

Montejo and Winhoffer led the turnover ceremonies during the opening of the final regional stop in Metro Manila of the DOST’s “Iba Na ang Panahon: Science for Safer Communities” national disaster imagination caravan that was held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

The caravan visited all the 17 regions in the country from March up to May.