National disaster management system for Indonesia

12 February 2008, 6:40pm

Toulouse, 12 February 2008 – Astrium has announced that the consortium it is heading, which also includes Infoterra France and IGN France International, has successfully completed a new crisis management system at the National Disaster Management Centre in Jakarta and at three regional centres based in Jakarta, Padang and Banda Aceh.

Initiated at the end of 2006, the project was overseen on behalf of the French ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of the interior, by CIVI.POL Conseil, the consultancy and service company of the French ministry of the interior. The objective was to strengthen disaster management capacities in Indonesia, starting with the development and implementation of crisis management rooms at Jakarta’s national and regional centres. These new rooms were operational in summer 2007, and the project completed in December 2007. CIVIPOL validated the equipment and systems that were installed at the regional centres in Padang and Banda Aceh by testing the information transmission between the different centres.

Processing and sharing information for better disaster management

The project, which the consortium were awarded after it successfully bid on a tender issued by CIVI.POL Conseil, aimed to implement a global system that would be operational within a short timeframe. This would allow Indonesia’s civil security forces to manage disasters at the national (BARKONAS PBP) and regional (SATORLAK PBP) levels, as it would enable them to share and process information related to the crisis. To this end, each crisis management room was equipped with reliable telecommunications systems (radio, telephone, and data transmission) and a complete information system. This system includes a geographic information system and decision-making support based on Infoterra France's RISKFRAME, a software application specially designed for risk and crisis management. The centres were also equipped with cartography databases (digital topographic maps). In the event of a crisis, this suite of applications makes it possible to draw up an intervention plan, visualise the situation and its development on a map, as well as manage and monitor all resources deployed in the field, so as to better understand and optimally manage the situation. In the prevention phase, the system allows users to manage and maintain operational geographic data, study crisis scenarios and prepare rescue plans. Since this tool is highly configurable, applications and data can be updated easily and expanded as the need arises.

A versatile, light and effective solution
The project team required to implement the system had to posses a range of technical skills including: information processing, telecommunications and networks and geographic information. To ensure these areas of expertise were fulfilled, Astrium relied on two French companies: the first was its Infoterra subsidiary, which specializes in geoinformation products and services and has extensive know-how and tools in the area of risk management. The second was IGN France International (a subsidiary of the French National Geographic Institute), which is world-famous for its cartography expertise.

In addition to its role as global project co-ordinator, Astrium took on responsibility for system definition and the supply of standard IT hardware and software. The company also carried out all integration and system validation work, both in France and on site.

“In addition to the technological aspects, it is clear that the flexibility of the implemented organization and the broad range of competencies that Astrium provided were decisive to the project’s success and delivery speed,” said Alain Rondepierre (CEO of CIVI.POL Conseil).

Astrium project manager Patrice Pessah is proud of the excellent support provided to Indonesian users under CIVI.POL's guidance. He points out that Bruno Maestracci, project director in Indonesia, played a key role in the project’s execution and the rapidity with which the system gained the acceptance of the local operating teams. Another factor that contributed to the project’s success was the choice of Jakarta-based NSI, a subsidiary of PASCO Group, to look after the integration and maintenance of the sites, and thus provide efficient local support to the users.

www.infoterra.fr

Geo: International