The University of Hawaiʻi’s Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) has announced a groundbreaking technology and risk reduction collaboration with Twilio.org, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and the City of Cali, Colombia. The initiative aims to strengthen disaster early warning communications and landslide risk awareness to better protect some of Colombia’s most vulnerable communities.
The project is designed to leverage PDC’s advanced DisasterAWARE platform, building operational capacity for the technology within Cali’s disaster management organization, Sistema de Gestión de Riesgos de Emergencias y Desastres (SGRED). Funded by Twilio.org—a platform that allows developers to embed voice, messaging, video and email—the program will ensure critical, life-saving information reaches residents quickly, clearly and in their native language.
“This project breaks new ground for the Center in many ways: Our collaboration with Twilio.org, working with a large municipality like Cali, and new ways to communicate with those at most risk,” said Chris Chiesa, PDC director of early warning solutions.
Expanding capabilities
A central component of the initiative is the expansion of DisasterAWARE Smart Alerts to include WhatsApp as a supported alert distribution channel. With billions of users worldwide, particularly in communities where mobile messaging is the primary means of receiving information, integrating WhatsApp will significantly extend PDC’s ability to deliver timely, actionable alerts directly to people. PDC will also apply artificial intelligence technologies to automate the translation of alert content into Spanish.
The project expands landslide risk analysis tools for early warning within the DisasterAWARE platform to mitigate risk for landslide-prone communities in Cali. By combining technology and risk analysis with capacity building, the initiative seeks to close critical information gaps that often place at-risk populations at greater danger during emergencies.
PDC’s free Disaster Alert app already reaches more than 3 million subscribers worldwide.
To read more go to the PDC newsroom.
