FW: [governance] Re: Greetings from Fiji!

[Michael Gurstein]

Thanks for this very interesting set of insights Izumi.

One question... It isn't clear to me what role you would see for the various
actors -- the central government, organized NGO's/civil society, community
based/grassroots ICT folks in doing the planning you indicate should have
been done.

This same issue is being discussed on another e-list I follow and
specifically with respect to the devastating tornados in the US South and I
would be interested in your observations/insights specifically concerning
ICT planning.

M

-----Original Message-----
From: governance at lists.cpsr.org [mailto:governance at lists.cpsr.org] On Behalf
Of Izumi AIZU
Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2011 7:20 PM
To: Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro
Cc: governance at lists.cpsr.org
Subject: [governance] Re: Greetings from Fiji!


Dear Sara and all,

Thank you for reminding me of this important subject. We have organized a
"tour" to visit several devastated areas in the past week(s) and just came
back two days ago. A total of more than 20 people took this tour, visited 10
cities. The situation is quite diverse, and in general, recovery works are
slow in small cities in remote and rural areas than cities close to the
central large cities, of course.

But it also appears that those city governments who have better management
skills got faster or more effective recovery and receiving more support from
outside while those who lack these skills also lack sufficient support.

While telco claims that they have recovered most of the land-lines, devils
are in the details. Some city goverment offices are not yet equipped with
PBX, many relief shelters don't have phones for the office (only for
residents), many schools and shelters and other public facilities also do
not have telephone and/or Internet access.

If you have mobile, yes, you have basic connectivity. But that is not same
as having regular fixed lines, broaband service connected to your office
LAN.

The lack of consistent ICT recovery policy by the government is evident,
both local and central. Most are still "patch work" waiting for the requests
to come. Same goes true for industry and some academia. Of course, there are
people who are voluntarily trying to analyze and offer proactive support,
they remain minority.

Both centralized commands and decentralized coordination or systematic
approach are needed, at least in my view, for quick and effective recovery
support, but that is not there yet.

To the credit of those working in the field, I am not criticizing them
directly, but lack or preparedness, organized frameworks, are evident in a
country where vast natural disasters are not foreign. ICT folks should stand
up or wake up at least in Japan if they want to remain in the part of
critical infrastructure for people and society.

izumi


2011/5/8 Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro
<salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com>:
> Dear Izumi,
>
> Greetings from Fiji! How is the recovery work in Japan? What is the
> status of things there? It would be great to know what's happening in 
> Japan in terms of infrastructure, ICT etc? How is the work on the 
> ground?
>
> Our prayers and thoughts are still with your people as you journey to
> rebuild and mitigate the risks.
>
> Warm Regards,
>
> --
> Sala
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