ICT Update's List: Risk

Effective disaster response demands rapid access to reliable and accurate data and the
capacity to assess, analyse and integrate information from varied sources. ICTs can
obviously help, and this paper focuses on the role of ICTs in reducing the impacts of
acute climate-related events. The centrality of the community in effective disaster
management is argued while acknowledging the important role of governments, donors,
businesses, epistemic communities and NGOs. Some ICT applications in
hydrometeorological disasters are described. That the majority of applications are
funded externally raises concerns about further dependency and unsustainability but
the paper argues there are grounds for optimism.

Developing country farmers are facing tough decisions that can either hinder or strengthen their ability to cope and adapt to the challenges posed by the changing climate.

Experiences from the field suggest that “environment related information ranks high in the needs of rural populations in developing countries” (Karanasios, 2011, Panchard et al., 2007), and that the increasing diffusion of technologies such as mobile phones provides a potentially powerful platform for the dissemination of relevant information.

But the availability of information is not enough to foster processes of adaptation and change.

Could Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as cell phones, the Internet and related applications help to strengthen farmers’ decision making and to adapt more effectively to the impacts of climate change?

An worldwatch blog entry on how innovative ICT projects in Turkey and Kyrgyzstan are addressing production risk and post-harvest losses posed by the vulnerability of agriculture to changes in climate. Meteorological stations gather info on pest control and frost prevention and a platform maintained by governement scientists sends these informations to farmers via mobile phones.