What is Relief.Asia?

Relief.Asia was developed in the wake of the Myanmar Cyclone and Sichuan Earthquake Disaster that tore through the region in May, 2008. The website was deployed as a tool and platform to drive awareness and community contribution towards the rebuilding of nature-savaged regions such as Myanmar (also known as Burma) and Sichuan, through the application of Information Technology.

The Relief.Asia initiative was spearheaded by a number of Asian organisations including DotAsia, Internet Society Hong Kong (ISOC HK), The Professional Commons, Asia Pacific Networking Group (APNG), intERLab of Asian Institute of Technology, Myanmar Egress, APNIC, and Museum of World Religions, amongst others.

In the wake of the disasters, Relief.Asia will continue to coordinate efforts from the Internet community around Asia and have deployed a web-based disaster management tool for relief efforts in Myanmar and Sichuan, and is in the process of deploying an emergency mobile network infrastructure for the hard hit areas which will assist in relief efforts.

Technology Components of Relief.Asia

1. DUMBO (Digital Ubiquitous Mobile Broadband OLSR)

Project DUMBO deploys mobile wireless network on an ad hoc basis for emergency conditions, such as after a natural disaster when a fixed network infrastructure is not available or has been destroyed, using a mobile ad hoc network (MANET) with mobile nodes that cooperate automatically to support exchange of information.  DUMBO allows streaming video, voice over IP and short messages to be transmitted from mobile notebooks to the central command center, between rescue workers at the same or different disaster sites, with features including facial recognition (for identification of victims), measurement of environmental data, etc.

DUMBO is a collaborated development between intERLab of Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand), INRIA (France) and the WIDE Project (Japan).  

2. Sahana FOSS Disaster Management System

The Sahana Free and Open Source Disaster Management System is an integrated set of web-based disaster management applications that provide solutions to large-scale humanitarian problems in the aftermath of disasters, such as missing person registry, relief organization registry, request management system, camp registry, volunteer management, inventory management and GIS situation awareness. 

Sahana was initiated by volunteers in the Sri Lankan FOSS development community after the Asian Tsunami in December 2004, and was adopted to use by the Sri Lankan government in 2005, and was also later deployed in the Pakistani earthquake in 2005 and the Indonesian earthquake in 2006.

3. Relief.Asia Social Networking Platform

Relief.Asia has been set up in the aftermath of the Myanmar cyclone as a social networking platform with a public interface that consists of blogs from on-the-ground relief workers as well as a wiki for posting links to donation sites.  Internet users may support the relief effort through online donations, which will bring materials including water and food, and contribute by volunteering to help various relief and support agencies.  In addition, the internal interface of the site allows relief workers to coordinate over a missing person registry, a relief material pledge and procurement system, and a volunteer and inventory management system.

The Relief.Asia platform is coordinated in Hong Kong by Internet Society Hong Kong and developed and hosted by DotAsia and Netfront.

Relief.Asia In Action

Through the efforts and coordination of APNIC, APNG and DotAsia’s social pioneer Museum of World Religion (MWR), Relief.Asia has established direct connection with relief efforts in Myanmar.  Flights and cargo space into Myanmar are secured and has allowed survival items (food/water/medicine) and communications devices (802.11 access point, outdoor antenna, mobile devices) to be sent to the most hard-hit regions. 

MWR has already deployed over 40 relief workers in Myanmar and is one of the very few international relief efforts granted access in to Myanmar.  Another team of volunteers is undergoing training in Thailand and will be deployed soon.  Relief.Asia partner Asian Institute of Technology of Thailand is already feeding site photos and content to the Relief.Asia online platform from local NGOs such as Myanmar Egress, and DUMBO and Sahana are being prepared for deployment. 

After the Sichuan earthquake on May 12, 2008, Relief.Asia has immediately initiated with the Internet communities in China to gain access and connect with local agencies in China.  Currently action is under way to evaluate with relief agencies as to how DUMBO and Sahana can be deployed to support Sichuan relief and rebuild works.

Within 72 hours of the Sichuan disaster, an online donation gateway has been set up, and Internet Society Hong Kong and The Professional Commons will coordinate local donation drives in Hong Kong’s Internet/Information Technology and professional sectors respectively.  Donations will be collected for international relief agencies such as Oxfam and WorldVision, with more expected to join, and the deployment of DUMBO and Sahana. 

Links:

Relief.Asia: http://www.relief.asia

Internet Society Hong Kong: http://www.isoc.hk
The Professional Commons: http://www.procommons.org.hk
DotAsia: http://www.registry.asia
Museum of World Religion (MWR): http://www.mwr.org.tw
http://www.093.org.tw/content/news/news02a.asp?js=26&B4b_sn=1476
Sahana: http://www.sahana.lk/
DUMBO: http://www.interlab.ait.ac.th/dumbo/index.php
http://rosie.ripe.net/presentations-detail/Friday/Closing%20Plenary

背景資料

關於Relief.Asia網站

Relief.Asia 網站是在五月緬甸特大風災及四川地震災難發生後成立的。設成這個網站，是希望利用知訊科技提供一個途徑及平台，以喚起人們對災難事件的關注，及呼籲捐助受自然災害蹂躪的緬甸、四川等地區。

Relief.Asia是由多個亞洲組織聯合創辦的，包括 DotAsia、香港互聯網協會、公共專業聯盟、Asia Pacific Networking Group (APNG), intERLab of Asian Institute of Technology, Myanmar Egress, APNIC, 及世界宗教博物館（Museum of World Religions,  MWR）等。

緬甸及四川的災情雖然穩定下來，Relief.Asia 以為兩地制定了一套以互聯網為基礎的災難管理系統，以協助緬甸及四川的救災工作，現正部署一套緊急流動網路基建，盼能協助這些備受災難打擊的地方。

Relief.Asia 的技術組部份          

1.          DUMBO (數位全方位流動寬頻 最優網路狀態路由式通訊協定)

數位元全方位流動寬頻最優網路狀態路由式通訊協定系統（簡稱 DUMBO 系統）旨在為危難事件提供一個臨時的流動無線網絡。譬如說，在自然災害發生後，固網系統及設施往往受到破壞，無法提供正常服務，透過使用流動個別個案網絡 (MANET)， 利用流動網點自動進行資訊交換。該系統也可以提供錄像串流，IP話音及短訊等服務，讓前線救援人員透過手提電腦與中央控制中心或其他災區的人員互通消息。該系統也具備面容分析系統 (供認別災民之用)，環境數據量度等功能。

Dumbo 系統是由泰國的 Asian Institute of Technology，法國的 INRIA 和日本的 WIDE 計劃協同開發的。

2.         Sahana 免費和開放源碼救災管理系統

Sahana 免費和開放源碼救災管理系統，是一個建基於互聯網的綜合救災管理程式系統。它的作用是在災難過後，為大型人道救援行動提供的管理支援系統，協助編制失蹤人口名冊、編制救援組織名冊、管理要求支援的申請、編制營地名冊、志願人員管理、救援物料管理，和地理訊息系統 (GIS) 認知系統等。

Sahana系統是由斯里蘭卡的免費和開放源碼志願社群在2004年12月的南亞海嘯後開發的，並於2005年獲斯裡蘭卡政府採納使用。該系統更在2005年的巴基斯坦地震和在2006年的印尼地震中支援救災工作。

3.         Relief.Asia社會網絡平台

Relief.Asia 成立於近期的緬甸風災之後，發揮作為公眾介面的社會網絡平台的作用，內容包括由參與救災志願工作人員撰寫的網誌，與及一組以 wiki 格式編寫呼籲捐款的網站的連結系統所組成。互聯網使用者可透過網上捐款以提供水和食物等物資，或以志願服務方式支援志願團體的工作及賑災行動。再者，該網站的內部介面可以讓志願人員進行協調失蹤人口名單、物料捐獻清單、採購系統，和志願人員與物料的管理系統修工作。

Relief.Asia平台是由香港互聯網協會負責統籌，並由 DotASIA 和前線資訊科投有限公司(Netfront)所開發和管理。

Relief.Asia的行動

透過APNIC,、APNG、 DotAsia 與世界宗教博物館 (MWR) 的協作和統籌下 ，Relief.Asia 現巳和緬甸的賑災單位取得直接的聯繫，並已經確定前往緬甸的航班與貨運安排，運載食水、食物和醫療用品等賬災用品，和通訊設施(802.11的通訊網點、戶外天線、無線通訊設施)，已被安排送往最受風災打擊的地區。

世界宗教博物館已安排四十名救援人員前往緬甸，該組織是少數獲准進入緬甸的國際救援團隊，另一隊志願救援人員已在泰國接受訓練，並會盡快前往災區。Relief.Asia的合作夥伴泰國的 Asian Institute of Technology，已把非政府組織 Myanmar Egress 提供的災區相片和有關資訊發佈至網上平台，和 DUMBO and Sahana 已經準備就緒，隨時可以付運。

在2008年5月12日的四川大地震後，Relief.Asia 已立刻聯絡與在內地的互聯網組織，協助接觸和聯繫在內地的地區組織。Relief.Asia 現正進行評估，可否利用 DUMBO 和 Sahana，為四川大地震災後救援和重建工作提供所需的支援。

在四川大地震發生後72小時，一個網上捐款入門點已經設立，而香港互聯網協會和公共專業聯盟會統籌在本港的互聯網和資訊科技界，以及專業界的捐款行動，為國際救援組織，如樂施會和世界宣明會籌款，希望稍後可以加入其他的救援組織，和盡快把DUMBO和 Sahana 系統進入災區。

連結﹕

Relief.Asia: http://www.relief.asia
香港互聯網協會: http://www.isoc.hk
公共專業聯盟: http://www.procommons.org.hk
DotAsia: http://www.registry.asia
世界宗教博物館(MWR) http://www.mwr.org.tw
http://www.093.org.tw/content/news/news02a.asp?js=26&B4b_sn=1476
Sahana: http://www.sahana.lk/