"At that time, if ..." Digitally prepare for the "next disaster" March 8, 18:29
"If the whole picture of the damage was known earlier ..."
"If supplies arrived at that time ..." "
If ..." is repeated every time a disaster such as an earthquake or heavy rain occurs.
In particular, the “lack of information” after a major disaster has become a major issue.
Now that digital technology has developed, things that were unthinkable at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake 11 years ago are about to become "reality."
(Sendai Broadcasting Station reporter Yugo Takagaki)
Utilize AI for shelter management
Last month, an experiment was conducted at an elementary school in Sendai City, assuming a shelter in the event of a disaster.
A huge display "camera" installed at the entrance takes pictures of people entering the evacuation center.
AI = artificial intelligence analyzes the image and automatically converts information such as gender and age into data.
Participants in the experiment do not have to stop in front of the camera.
One of the participants said, "I was a little surprised because I didn't even notice that it was being filmed."
The technology used to understand the customer base in shopping centers and restaurants is applied.
The Great East Japan Earthquake "delayed information transmission" triggered
"It's all about knowing the number of evacuees. There are many parts that rely on guesswork, such as having many children and many women, and it was difficult to respond in detail at that time,"
said Sendai City employee Den Yanagida. It's a child.
At the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake 11 years ago, she was in charge of distributing relief supplies at the ward office.
On the day of the earthquake, more than 170 evacuation centers were set up in Sendai City.
Approximately 70,000 people gathered and the shelter was crowded with many people.
However, immediately after the earthquake, communication means such as telephone and wireless became almost unusable.
For this reason, the only way to convey information about what is needed at the evacuation center was for city officials at the evacuation center to go directly to the government office.
The information gathered at the government office was also compiled by a limited number of staff, so the response was on the verge of punk.
It is said that some information took longer than expected to sort information, or some information could not be dealt with.
Exchange of information with the most difficult shelter.
Looking back at that time, Mr. Yanagida said, "It's really disappointing that we couldn't deliver the supplies to those who needed them and put a burden on them."
Evacuation center ⇔ government office Information sharing in real time
How to smoothly convey information in the event of a disaster.
This experiment aims to solve this problem.
The collected information will be shared with the government office in real time using a strong communication system in the event of a disaster.
For example, if we can grasp the tendency of having many children and many women, we will be able to distribute powdered milk and sanitary products according to needs.
In Sendai City, we would like to be able to individually enter information related to privacy, such as whether or not we have a chronic disease or allergies, on a smartphone or the like.
Mr. Masato Osamu, Chief of Disaster Prevention Planning Division, Sendai City
"Initial action is especially important in disaster response, and it is important to collect information to direct the initial action. However, in order to direct that power to those who are weaker or in need, labor saving by technology is indispensable. "
Information from residents DX
"DX = Digital Transformation" aims to solve social issues with digital technology.
I visited Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture, when I heard that there were cases where such DX helped to alleviate the anxiety of residents in an actual disaster.
Immediately after the earthquake, the city was affected by the nuclear accident, and the extension telephone was still busy due to inquiries from the citizens to the government office.
It is said that there was a problem in communication between staff members and disaster response.
Therefore, the city paid attention to the communication app "LINE".
We have introduced a disaster information sharing system that utilizes this app.
Citizens who have become friends with the city in advance voluntarily post information on damage in the event of a disaster, and about 4,000 people have registered.
The effect appeared immediately.
An earthquake that observed a maximum seismic intensity of 6 upper in Fukushima and Miyagi last February.
At this time, 145 information was sent to LINE in Minamisoma City in 24 hours.
The information gathered on LINE will automatically show the location of the damage on the map based on the location information of the mobile phone.
The number in the middle is the number of information received in the area.
The colors around the numbers are the contents of the disaster selected by AI.
The most common problem at this time was "water supply trouble (green part of the pie chart)".
We received a lot of information such as "water turbidity" and "water outage".
As a result of investigating the cause of the trouble based on this information, it was found that there was no problem with the equipment, and it was possible to inform the residents of the prospect that the water supply would be restored at an early stage.
Ryuichi Suzuki, Chief, Crisis Management Division, Minamisoma City
"The most difficult situation for a disaster response section is to take all the time to answer the phone. In that sense, voluntarily post the location of the disaster to the citizens. It is very helpful to receive it. Especially in recent years, disasters have become larger and more frequent, so it is necessary for the government and citizens to work together to deal with disasters. "
Disaster archipelago, Japan Prepare for the "next" with the latest technology
Experts familiar with "digital and disaster prevention" point out that it is important to utilize that experience in technology for disaster prevention because Japan has many disasters.
Yuichiro Usuda, Director, National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention
, "It is very important that the experience accumulated in the event of various disasters is reflected in technology even after the Great East Japan Earthquake. It is not always possible to say that the completed system can be left as it is for 10 or 20 years, and we will solve and adapt to the issues that have emerged from various disasters each time. For disaster prevention and mitigation, we can repeat this process. Is essential. "
No matter how good the digital technology is, if you can't use the power supply and communication equipment, it's just a "painted rice cake".
To address this issue, measures are being taken in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, such as installing solar power generation and storage batteries in evacuation shelters as emergency power sources, and incorporating disaster-resistant communication systems.
I felt that there was no end to the research on how to prepare for the “next disaster” that we do not know when it will come by utilizing the latest technology.
Sendai Broadcasting Station Reporter
Yugo Takagaki Joined
in 2014
After working at Yamaguchi Station and Akita Station, he has been a member for three years.