LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—Disaster management-useful technology GeoCloud Integrated Geographic Information System (GIS) is all set for its pilot run in the country on Nov. 9 in partnership with the province of Pangasinan and three other local government units within the province.
The project steering committee bared this on its first meeting recently at the Pangasinan Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Operations Center here.
In the verification survey conference among team members, project team leader Noriaki Ishibashi from the Geocloud developer, Informatix Inc., said the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded project is hitting target dates leading to the 10-month formal run with full-blown operation following afterwards.
Ishibashi noted that Pangasinan, among other provinces in the country, is the most ideal model to run the technology owing to its being disaster-prone. Its cooperative, skilled personnel and administration under Gov. Amado Espino III play crucial part in the continuity of the project.
Through the Japanese Geocloud system, local governments can access, utilize and disseminate crucial data resulting in a more comprehensive disaster risk reduction and management in all of its phases—preparedness, response and rehabilitation.
The coastal city and towns of Dagupan, Lingayen and Binmaley have also been chosen as recipients of this first-of-its-kind Integrated GIS venture in the country.
JICA local partner Philippine National Information Technology Standards Foundation (PhilNITS), which provides technical assistance using the GeoCloud tools, is set to complete map arrangement by August and installation of hardware and software in the four local governments this September.
A three-part training is also scheduled for the respective local governments’ Integrated GIS personnel in handling the system: the first part, on Oct. 3-14 and the third part on June 14-18 next year. The second part, a study of three cities in Japan where the use of Integrated GIS have long been established, will take place in November.
Separate workshops on data summarization and disaster risk reduction and management, both using the system, are set on Feb. 12 and on May 15, respectively.
Comprising the steering committee are: Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services, Office of Civil Defense-Region 1, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Information and Communications Technology, PhilNITS, CTI Engineering International Corp., Ltd., the LGUs of Dagupan City, Binmaley, Lingayen and the Provincial Government of Pangasinan, with Col. Rhodyn Luchinvar Oro as the deputy project leader.