UNFPA Indonesia's National Programme Officer for Reproductive Health, Dr. Melania Hidayat, comforts a woman who was affected by the Mt Merapi eruption in 2011. (Picture - UNFPA Indonesia)

An online portal designed to provide real-time access to accurate information from disaster areas during an emergency or crisis has been developed by UNFPA Indonesia together with the National Disaster Management Agency, BNPB, and with population data support from BPS-Statistics Indonesia. 

Using geo-spatial data, the goal of the Indonesian Disaster Data Exchange (InaDDX) system is to collate information from different sources to provide stakeholders with accurate figures from the field on people affected by a disaster to assist with a humanitarian crisis response.

“This project supports a more coordinated and efficient emergency response and rehabilitation operation by harmonizing data from various sources in order to display accurate information about the impact of a disaster,” explained Dr. Annette Robertson, UNFPA Indonesia’s Representative, during the soft launch last Monday, 29 Feb.  

“UNFPA hopes that this real-time web-based data collection and dissemination system could be replicated in other governments, ministries, agencies and also other countries.”

This project evolved after UNFPA Indonesia’s proposal for the online portal together with BNPB was selected by the Innovation Fund from UNFPA’s Headquarters in New York. UNFPA Indonesia received $68,000 to roll out the project, which is now in its final stages after development of the system started in July 2015. The funds have been used to cover the development of the geo-spatial emergency information portal, the technical workshop and field test programme to develop the system and training to use the online portal.  

The system, InaDDX, is expected to integrate the use of all spatial data systems within BNPB, with the main components of the portal system being the website with online data catalogues, dynamic maps for crisis situations or emergency responses and links to the population baseline data system.

BNPB’s Head of the Information Data Centre, Mr. Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, reiterated Dr. Annette’s comments during the launch and workshop, adding that “the availability and accessibility of disaster data is very important in disaster management mechanisms for stakeholders, institutions and the public”.

“This innovative project supports the real-time data exchange and collaboration within the system in a quick review from the current emergency response,” Mr. Sutopo said.

Technical staff from BNPB, UNFPA, BPS-Statistics Indonesia and the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) were introduced to the geo-spatial portal system during the workshop, where they were able to analyse and learn how to use the system in different phases of disaster management.

Women prepare food for people affected by Indonesia's Mt Merapi eruption in central Java in 2011. (Picture - UNFPA Indonesia)

Indonesia is positioned along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, making the archipelago particularly prone to natural disasters. More than 97 percent of the Indonesian population live in areas with a “very high risk” of natural disasters, according to a national 2012 study – which was co-sponsored by UNFPA, BNPB and BPS-Statistics Indonesia.

InaDDX uses various disaster categories to monitor situations in Indonesia, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, landslides, forest fires, volcanic eruptions and strong wind, to facilitate the search menu data.

UNFPA has been working throughout its country programmes with BNPB and BPS-Statistics Indonesia to ensure there is accurate data to assist in response efforts during all phases of a humanitarian crisis. In 2014, UNFPA initiated a programme that allows both data collection and dissemination to be inter-connected in real time.

Last year, UNFPA and BNPB developed a Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) questionnaire using the Android mobile platform for rapid assessment of on-the-ground situations during emergencies. This collaboration allows BNBP to benefit from BPS-Statistics Indonesia’s expertise in organizing the data collection and with the rapid assessment activities during the emergency response phases of national disasters to ensure it has suitable information to support its disaster relief operations.

Tags: population