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ContentsIntroduction1Background1Knowledge Management Concepts1Growth of mobile communication in India2Disaster Management Role of Knowledge Management3Looking Ahead3Knowledge Assimilation using IVR5Introduction5Advantages of Mobile Technology5KM System Architecture for Disaster Response6Knowledge Management in Disaster Response8Conclusion9Contact Information10

Table of Contents

Introduction

Knowledge management is about using the popular methods already used by the masses to our own specific needs. Like the usage of digital cable based services to accurately determine TRP ratings in a real time environment.

BackgroundIndian sub-continent is susceptible to of natural hazards owing to the unique topographic and climatic characteristics. The losses to both life and economics owing to natural disasters have been increasing over the years as the population density increases in the country. India has experienced many massive disasters such as the Orissa cyclone in 1999, Gujarat earthquake in 2001, tsunami 2004 and many more in the past. Characteristics of growth in a developing economy are always very unique, these unique situations demand development of specialized solution to fulfill these unique set of requirements, a solution that works for the developed nation is not necessarily the best suited for the needs of a developing nation. We have to develop our own method of disaster management which utilizes our natural conditions, demographics, topologies and economics. Acknowledging the need for a disaster knowledge networking platform to facilitate interaction and have concurrent knowledge sharing with all entities with dealing with disaster response, the IVR based knowledge management initiative has been thoughtfully envisaged as a tool to store, retrieve, disseminate and manage information.Knowledge Management ConceptsKnowledge Management is collection, assimilation, representation and dispersion of available data in a manner most useful to assist decision making. Nonaka and Takeuchi have categorized knowledge in domains of explicit, tacit and implicit. Explicit knowledge is well defined form of knowledge. Tacit is understood but not well defined form of knowledge. And the most familiar word that can help us guide in the direction of what implicit knowledge is would be intuition. To keep our focus on disaster response we shall focus on explicit knowledge and its assimilation in a real time environment.

The Knowledge DiagramGrowth of mobile communication in IndiaIndia currently is the fastest growing mobile telephony consumer base and arguably the second highest users of mobile communication in the world. The growth has rather been explosive in recent past with a wide range of services been provided to its users. As per released data from the the worlds largest mobile handset manufactures, India is the fastest growing mobile telephony market with consumer emphasis on added services on their mobile platform. While the west developed its strong infrastructure centric landline platforms at an initial stage, India skipped the step and directly pioneered the mobile communication revolution. From a knowledge management standpoint this is a strong indicator towards areas which are best suited for knowledge assimilation and has the fastest rate of user acceptance.Disaster Management Role of Knowledge ManagementWe assume that knowledge management is about identification of best practices and their utilization. But in actuality it is a framework which is very efficient in developing need specific customized solutions that has potential to develop into world class benchmarks. We should view knowledge management as a tool to develop cost effective solutions best suited to our needs.In our context, the role of knowledge management in to provide, process and display information in a usable formats that would assist in relief efforts in a real time environment in event of disaster. For example in event of an earthquake the use of mobile telephony to assist rescue teams in a dispersed effort would certainly help save a number of lives. Looking AheadThis policy document proposed a framework to use mobile communication network over traditional methods for knowledge assimilation to provide real time segmentation and dispersion of usable information in event of a natural disaster. Ankit VermaMay 6, 2013Knowledge Assimilation using IVRKnowledge assimilation in a real time environment in even of a disaster is a strong ally to assist the response team to direct their efforts in a synchronized manner in order to provide faster relief to most affected areas and in tune with disaster risk reduction

IntroductionInteractive Voice Response (IVR) is a method of communication through prerecorded messages designed to convey critical pieces of information or direct the user to input specific data needed. These kind of systems we generally encounter when calling up customer care where the system tries to locate the areas of focus of the customer and directs it to the relevant departments.These system are remarkably efficient in collecting specific information. They are designed to get specific responses to precise questions. Such a mechanism would be very handy in retrieval of critical information for designated authorities at the time of disaster. For example a call to CMO to update the status of current number of patients in the hospital at 5pm would provide real time information about the healthcare situation in disaster hit areas. Such a system that takes specific data into account would help authorities come up with accurate estimates of the damages. Advantages of Mobile Technology Mobile technology use de-centralized interconnected set of networks to communicate with various hubs. The individual mobile towers has a Base Switching Station (BSS). These BSS communicate over optic fiber or microwaves to Master Switching Station (MSS) which helps route calls between independent BSS. These MSSs are further connected to switching hubs and PSTN. In event of a natural disaster even if one center is affected then also MSSs interconnect with their peers and keep up with basic calls and sms services intact. Furthermore every mobile network tower has an independent generator that supplies power so a network will remain functional for 8 hours in event of a massive power failure. Also since these towers are places a specific height above ground, they are slightly shielded from floods and other water based calamities. These properties of a mobile communication network makes it an ideal network to rely on in event of a natural disaster.A typical mobile network architectureKM System Architecture for Disaster ResponseA Knowledge Management (KM) based disaster response system would broadly be categorized into 3 subsystems. The first subsystem consists of elaborate database of cellular numbers of authorities that would provide IVR with specific responses. This database has to be regularly updated and maintained with real time information of transfers, leaves, current acting authority, etc. The efficiency of the IVR data collection system is highly dependent on this subsystem.The second subsystem function is to identify which information is most easily accessible from which authority and can check relevancy and accuracy of information by applying certain predefined check methods. The systems maps the information to its source of origin and directs the third subsystem to retireve it. The subsystem will also need constant updating to remain tuned with the organizational changes.The third subsystem consists of IVR which would call those respective officials and collect information in real time. This information would then be populated to requisite databases to be assesses by the response teams.

Ladder diagram of Disaster response system architectureKnowledge Management in Disaster ResponseThe data is assimilated in real time environment and simultaneously processes and pushed upstream to assist decision making. This complete process can be analyzed at a later stage to improve its efficiency further to provide leaner services and to assist in much broader perspective of disaster risk reduction.

Generalized KM architecture to assist Disaster ResponseA constant self-improvement mechanism that incorporating use of both human and machine to increase the efficiency of the system and gradually increase its scope of activity would certainly create a strong platform to deal with emergency situation.ConclusionThe system serves as a base system which can be further developed to take inputs from other sources as well to deal with a wider range of data sources and categories. Incorporating features like short message service (sms) response from disaster hit areas to triangulate affected locations would certainly seem possible with such a system serving as a backbone. Building the system further would help us create an emergency response system that is both fast and effective. It will be such a system that already has a high level of user acceptance and is a very cost effective solution to disaster response where we are using our existing infrastructure. This system, owing to its high level of user acceptance, reduces the need for any kind of specialized training to the intended user base. The most striking feature of this system is that it does not require an office with loads of papers being fed into a system by typists. This system retrieves the information in real time and on need basis with minimal human intervention thus reducing the risk of typographical errors. Last but not the least, this system serves as a cost effective solution making use of our existing infrastructure and serving our specific needs.

Contact Information

Ankit VermaAnkitverma.master@gmail.com