Internet of Things (IoT) for

Effective Disaster Management’

ABOUT MAIT

Set up in 1982 for purposes of scientific, educational and IT Industry promotion, MAIT has

emerged as an effective, influential and dynamic organization. Representing Hardware,

Training, R&D & Hardware Design and other associated service segments of the Indian IT

Industry, MAIT’s charter is to develop a globally competitive Indian IT Industry, promote the

usage of IT in India, strengthen the role of IT in national economic development, promote

business through international alliances, promote quality consciousness in the IT Industry

and transform the Indian IT Industry into a World Scale Industry leading to a World Class

Usage and thus a World Size Market.

About Digital India Action Group

The Digital India Action Group (DIAG) has been established as a think-tank for ideating and

monitoring policy initiatives to support the Indian Government's mission of Digital India. Set

by MAIT, an IT industry association , it strives to work in close coordination with the

Government of India to strategize for Digital India. Digital India shall also give impetus to

manufacturing, making the country more self-reliant and making electronic and IT products

affordable for all. Digital India will place the country on an equal footing with the best in the

world.

To realize this dream and to transform India into a "digitally empowered society and

knowledge economy," Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) has

recently prepared an implementation blueprint for Digital India that has three pivots:

1. Digital Infrastructure

2. Digital Governance

3. Digital Empowerment

DIAG aims to complement the efforts of DietY and work along with the above identified

pivots by bringing the expertise of the Industry in each respective domain.

implementation of the Digital India program. We have been attempting the promotion

of IOT from all aspects ranging from drafting an IOT policy, setting up a ‘Centre of

Excellence’ on IOT and also working with other Ministries in developing implementable

use cases for IOT in Indian conditions. The potential is huge and we have begun our

journey to ensure that IOT assumes the role of a transformational technology option

for India’s development. We find the use of IoT in almost all the business verticals for

bringing-in the next stage process efficiencies by the connected & communicating

“Things”.

Disaster management is one of a key use cases for IOT in India given our vast diversity

and complexity in our geography and hence the varying levels of vulnerability to both

natural & other disasters. The power of real time information availability together with

real-time analytics associated with IOT can definitely be a game changer in planning for

prevention and response to disasters. I sincerely believe that such efforts on generating

awareness will go a long way in creation of sustainable and useful solutions in the long

run.

I wish MAIT all the success for the future endeavours of the Digital India Action Group.

Wishing MAIT all the success.

Dr. Neena Pahuja

Director General,

ERNET

Ministry of Communications and Information Technology

Government of India

It gives me happiness to note that MAIT is bringing out an

appreciation paper on ‘Internet of Things for Disaster

Management’ as a part of the activities of the Digital India

Action Group (DIAG). I appreciate the efforts in generating

awareness about the potential of technology in improving

safety, mitigating risks and minimizing losses.

IOT has been a core theme for ERNET in supporting the

FOREWORD

Realizing the potential of the digital India initiative, we at MAIT thought of bringing

together the collective knowledge and experience of our member companies and

created the Digital India Action Group (DIAG). DIAG has been attempted to identify

areas where MAIT can contribute to the success of Digital India and provide a platform

for member companies to collaboratively and synergistically work on the same.

Creating awareness about potential ICT applications in specific areas is one of the tasks

took up by the DIAG group.

I am happy to share the white paper on IOT for disaster management. The paper has

been aimed to create awareness and appreciation about the potential use and

application of IOT for different aspects of disaster management. We at MAIT sincerely

believe that the paper is the initial step in triggering the thought process on adoption

of IOT for disaster management. And, for this reason, we have created the paper

aiming a broad exposure and appreciation to IOT for disaster management.

I take this opportunity to thank all our member companies for working on the paper

and offering their excellent suggestions and comments. In particular, I would like to

thank our member SAP India in taking the lead in creating this thought leadership

paper.

We at MAIT are excited about the times ahead and will continue our efforts as a part of

DIAG to work with different stakeholder groups and ensure success of Digital India.

Debjani Ghosh

President, MAIT

We are witnessing a huge push to the digital

transformation of our country. The structured approach by

the Government of India to embrace information and

communication technologies for India’s development has

resulted in a series of distinct flagship government

programs like the Digital India.

FOREWORD

We have made considerable progress towards mitigation of the impact of natural

disasters, thanks to the advancement in technology. While natural disasters cannot be

stopped, still, effective use of innovative technology can, to a great extent, reduce the

magnitude of the loss to life and property.

The importance of real time information management for effective preparation,

planning, response and mitigation of disasters is understood by all. From that

perspective, Internet of Things (IoT), as a technology domain can pave the way for

radical and pioneering approach to minimize loss to assets, and, most importantly,

lives. In this era of hyper connected world, IoT plays an important role in

interconnecting intelligent devices for the purpose of sharing information, thereby

helping deliver innovative methods to design effective systems for disaster

management.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge MAIT’s efforts in generating awareness on the

potential use of IoT for effective management of disasters.

We, at SAP, remain committed towards the success of Digital India and we look

forward to a successful and long term association with the Digital India Action Group. .

Wishing MAIT all the success.

Deb Deep Sengupta

Managing Director, SAP India

It gives me great happiness to learn about MAIT’s initiative

of creating a Digital India Action Group. Steps like these

will enable synergy among the collective knowledge and

experience of multiple stakeholder groups working

towards the digital transformation of India. Such efforts will

go a long way in facilitating effective interactions and

collaboration for the success of various initiatives under the

Digital India program.

FOREWORD

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

MAIT wishes to place on record our sincere gratitude and appreciation to

Government officials and authorities, member companies and academia for their

continued support and inputs for preparation of this white paper.

We take this opportunity to thank National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA),

ERNET & Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeiTY) for their

valuable inputs, guidance and review of this white paper. The comments and

suggestions received by us have really been valuable to realistically align the white

paper with the vision and approach of Indian Government.

We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to MAIT member companies

engaged directly and indirectly with the preparation of this white paper. In particular,

we would like to express our thanks and appreciation for the team from SAP India for

taking a lead in writing and contributing this paper. Their continuous thought

leadership based engagement has been the key to shaping this paper and

contributing to MAIT’s gesture of increasing awareness and capacity for the larger

Digital India initiative. We also like to thank our other member companies for their

suggestions on this paper and lending the direction. Our sincere thanks are due to

Microsoft, Dell, Acer and Accenture for their valuable inputs.

We hope that readers will find this paper meaningful and it would help set up the

context on how technology plays a pivotal role in enabling a Digital India.

- MAIT

Table of contents

1 Introduction & Background

2 Disaster management in India: policies, practices & institutional

structure

3 ICT led interventions for disaster management in India

3.1 Best Practices in ICT adoption in emergency & disaster

management

3.2 Architectural considerations

3.3 ICT initiatives in disaster management in India

4 Internet of Things (IoT) - A conceptual overview

4.1 Building an IOT solution

5 Internet of things and disaster management

5.1 Real Time Situational Awareness – Taming the lag between

Information and Action

5.2 Benefits of IOT in disaster management

5.3 Use case: Flood monitoring & forecasting using IOT

6 Key requirements for application of IoT in disaster management

7 Recommendations

1. Introduction & Background

India’s historic vulnerability cannot be overstated. While it may have been quoted ad

infinitum, it is important to capture this fact – even if it is to set the preamble to this

whitepaper.

•57% land is vulnerable to earthquakes. Of these, 12% is vulnerable to severe

earthquakes.

•68% land is vulnerable to drought.

• 12% land is vulnerable to floods.

•8% land is vulnerable to cyclones.

•Many cities in India are also vulnerable to chemical, industrial and man-made disasters.

The policy makers and think tank in India have forged compelling thought-leadership in

the area of emergency & disaster management. The practice revolves around the four

pillars as mentioned below:

•Preparedness

•Response

•Recovery and

•Mitigation

Over a period of time, we seem to have finalized the overall framework for addressing

emergency and disaster management in India. The salient points of the guiding

framework can be summarized as under:

•Complete shift from relief and recovery to risk & vulnerability assessment and

subsequent management

• Inculcate a culture of disaster preparedness at all levels

•Build capacity at center and state by strengthening decentralized response capability

in the country

•Empowerment and training of volunteers

•Ensuring focus on vulnerable groups

• Learning from past disasters – managing knowledge as a practice

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The of use ICT in prediction, prevention, management, control and impact

assessment of disasters has also taken its roots in India. Technology advancements in

ICT, particularly in emerging areas like internet of things (IOT), cloud computing and

analytics hold a tremendous disruptive potential in redefining the practice of disaster

management.

This white paper aims to create an awareness about the potential uses of IoT in disaster

management in India and to cover some of the requirements, issues and challenges

related to IoT applications for disaster management. The paper is organized in sections.

Section (2) covers the disaster management scenario in India. Section (3) provides a

description of some of the ICT initiatives related to disaster management in India. The

next section (4) covers a conceptual overview of Internet of Things (IoT). Section (5)

covers the application of IoT for Disaster Management. Section (6) covers the issues and

challenges related to IOT applications for disaster management.

Finally, the section (7) lists some of the proposed strategic and operational

recommendations for infusion of IOT in disaster management.

2

3

2. Disaster management in India: policies, practices & institutional structure

At the national level, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India is the nodal

ministry for all matters concerning disaster management and mitigation in the

country. A number of other ministries and departments such as Indian Meteorological

Department and ministries of defense, urban development, communications and

information technology, health, petroleum, agriculture, power, environment and

forests and food and civil Supplies etc. also play an important role in disaster

management.

In December 2005, the Government of India enacted the Disaster Management Act,

which envisaged the creation of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)

and State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) to spearhead and implement a

holistic and integrated approach to disaster management in India 1. The NDMA is

headed by the Prime Minister and SDMAs are headed by the respective chief

ministers. The overall institutional framework is shown in Figure 1 below :

Figure 1: Institutional framework for disaster management in India**Source: NDMA office

At the state level, response, relief and rehabilitation are normally handled by the

department of relief & rehabilitation. A state crisis management committee works

under the chairmanship of chief secretary. The district level is the key level for disaster

management and relief activities. The Collector/Deputy Commissioner is the chief

administrator in the district. He is the focal point in the preparation of district plans and

in directing, supervising and monitoring calamities for relief. 10

The Indian disaster management policy 2 framework is guided by the following

objectives:

•Promoting a culture of prevention, preparedness and resilience at all levels through

knowledge, innovation and education.

•Encouraging mitigation measures based on technology, traditional wisdom and

environmental sustainability.

•Mainstreaming disaster management into the developmental planning process.

•Establishing institutional and technological frameworks to create an enabling regulatory

environment and a compliance regime.

•Ensuring efficient mechanism for identification, assessment and monitoring of disaster

risks.

•Developing contemporary forecasting and early warning systems backed by responsive

and fail-safe communication with information technology support.

•Ensuring efficient response and relief with a caring approach towards the needs of the

vulnerable sections of the society.

•Undertaking reconstruction as an opportunity to build disaster resilient structures and

habitat for ensuring safer living.

•Promoting a productive and proactive partnership with the media for disaster

management.

Key institutional stakeholders in disaster management in India include the National

Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) at the national level, the State Disaster

Management Authorities (SDMA) at the state level and District Disaster Management

Authorities (DDMA) at the district level. Other institutions include:

4

• National Emergency Response Centers (NEOC): An emergency operations center

(control room) exists in the ministry of home affairs, which functions round the clock, to

assist the Central relief commissioner and the designated officers.

• National Disaster Response Force (NDRF): The National Disaster Response Force

(NDRF) is a specialized force for disaster response that works under the overall

supervision and control of the NDMA.

• National Institute of Disaster Management: NIDM is required to design, develop and

implement training programs, undertake research, formulate and implement a

comprehensive human resource development plan, provide assistance in national

policy formulation, assist other research and training institutes, state governments and

other organizations for successful discharging their responsibilities, develop educational

materials for dissemination and promote awareness among stakeholders.

• Civil Defense & Home Guards: They are deployed for community preparedness and

public awareness. A proper civil defense set up in every district is expected to be a

boon for disaster response as the neighborhood community is always the first

responder in any disaster.

5

Figure 2: The Indian Government Structure for Disaster Management*

*source: NDMA office

Government of India

India

A number of initiatives have since been taken by the central and state governments in

the area of disaster management. A national disaster management framework 3 has

been developed by the ministry of home affairs. The framework comprehensively

covers all aspects of disaster management including the institutional mechanism,

disaster prevention, legal and policy framework, early warning systems, disaster

preparedness and human resource development. United Nations Development

Program (UNDP) has also joined hands in this effort of government of India and is

Implementing GoI-UNDP disaster risk management (DRM) program in 169 most

vulnerable Districts of 17 States in India 4.

6

3. ICT led interventions for disaster management in India

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can play a vital role in planning,

prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response to disaster. ICT can play an

important role in the following:

• Disaster risk minimization and prevention: Monitoring disaster possibilities through

satellite communication and GIS, designing early warning systems, bio-surveillance

systems, use of social media for awareness creation

• Disaster preparedness: Use of e-learning for training on disaster management,

providing online access to vital information on disaster preparedness to citizens, relief

asset management software.

• Disaster response: Emergency communication for timely relief & response measures.

• Disaster recovery: Online missing person search, fund management system for

donors.

3.1 Best Practices in ICT adoption in emergency & disaster management

Integrating Emergency Management

Integrated emergency management is based on a comprehensiveapproach that

enables visibility, cooperation, and interoperability across all emergency

organizations, at all levels. The primary objective is to optimize prevention,

preparation, response, and recovery from any emergency – regardless of cause, size,

location, or complexity. The overarching goal is to reduce loss of life, damage to

property, and harm to the environment.

Integrated emergency management is best achieved through the creation of a single

repository of information for planning, preparation, response, and recovery. This

shared data resource must serve many parties, including emergency services

organizations, government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs),

private infrastructure operators, and community groups.

7

Information in the repository must be secure, accessible, and relevant for many

different users. The data must also be coherently integrated so that it enables end-to-

end support for the many stakeholders involved across the full lifetime of an

emergency – from planning and preparation, through to emergency response, and on

to recovery.

Even if the primary sources of information include diverse systems, databases,

applications, and safety sensors, a well-integrated solution framework can serve as an

operational hub that helps to effectively manage an emergency or disaster in every

phase. An open collaboration platform also enables team members to make decisions

based on predefined business rules and accurate, timely, and uniform information.

One Approach for all hazards and agencies

Because emergencies arrive in many forms, they often require a “whole government”

approach that includes community involvement. Despite high levels of commitment,

poor coordination between different stakeholders is the greatest impediment to

efficient disaster management. What is needed is an “all hazards, all agencies”

approach that spans government agencies and community groups to address a full

range of potential emergencies.

• Traditionally, capabilities to support emergency management have been developed

by individual agencies and optimized for agency-specific goals and outcomes.

However, a closer look reveals that many emergencies have similar characteristics

and trigger common responses.

• Examples of this cross-emergency similarity can include early warning, evacuation,

resource deployment, and community recovery. (That said, many emergencies do

require specific prevention, response, and recovery actions.)

• The all-agencies approach is built around the undeniable fact that emergencies

often require multiagency, multijurisdictional, and multidisciplinary coordination.

And even though emergency management services vary from agency to agency,

common tasks typically include ensuring continuity of service and the mitigating

risks for the community, the environment, and the assets and personnel of the

agency.

8

• Interoperability is facilitated through adoption of common procedures, training,

planning, and procurement. In addition to commonly mastered and coordinated

activities, each agency maintains the capability to operate autonomously.

Collaborating to Protect Property and Lives

An open application platform and information base benefits all emergency

management stakeholders by optimizing alignment around planning, collaboration,

capability, training, structure, and assets. IT Solutions help accelerate responses and

minimize losses by enabling better data sharing, improved interagency operability, and

greater engagement with communities.

• Improved community involvement and services through managed programs and

bidirectional communication channels

• Improved integration of silo applications and databases, enabling better cross-agency

data at a lower cost

• Provision of federated, timely, and coherent information base that covers all emergency

phases and serves all stakeholders

• Enhanced cross-organizational and multidisciplinary interoperability, allowing response

teams to address a wide variety of hazards

• Shorter decision cycles and better-informed decision making based on comprehensive,

current, and relevant information

• Improved access to valuable analytics and reports, as constraints on analyzing large

data volumes (structured or unstructured) are removed

• Increased responsiveness to emergency situations through efficient deployment of

resources and provision of role, location, and situation-specific information on the

move.

9

3.2 Architectural considerations

The architectural considerations for ICT in disaster management have been captured

below:

Figure 3: Architectural Considerations

3.3 ICT initiatives in disaster management in India

Some of the key ICT initiatives in disaster management include the following:

IDRN- India Disaster Resource Network

The India Disaster Resource Network (IDRN) has been set-up to mitigate the risks and

challenges of availability of information on resources.

IDRN works towards building disaster resource Inventory as an organized information

system for collection and transmission of information about specific equipment, human

expertise and critical supplies database from district level to state level to provide

10

Source: Country case studies in

ICT for disaster management in

India – Ms. Renu Budhiraja,

Director, Ministry of

Communications and IT

Fig 5: IDRN

availability of resources for

disaster response, so that the

disaster managers can mobilize

resources within least response

time.

IDRN is a live system where

inventory information is

updated every quarter at district

and state levels. It covers district

administrations in all States &

UTs of India and includes

corporate bodies, railways,

builder associations and PSUs. It

is a web-based application with

controlled

The online inventory of

resources is hosted centrally at

the national level in a national

data center & maintained at the

central level by National Institute

of Disaster Management (NIDM).

District Collectors/ Magistrate

are the authorized officials to get

the latest information and

upload, using services of District

Informatics Officers. It is a query

based system portal and can be

accessed by authorized users

from across the country and is

updated quarterly. 4

access to the database that includes categories of equipment, human resources and

critical supplies. It enables decision makers to find answers on availability of equipment

and human resources and assess the level of preparedness for specific disasters.

11

Figure 4: IDRN Web Portal

GIS in Disaster Management

The development of a national database for

emergency management (NDEM) has been

taken up. NDEM 11 is a GIS based repository

of data to support disaster/emergency

management in the country. NDEM aims to

organize a multi-scale geo spatial database

and development of a decision support

system for disaster management. BHUVAN

is single largest Web GIS portal by Indian

Space Research organization (ISRO) for free

data & services over India allowing 3D & 2D

visualization, street map overlays, services

for land use and land cover, flood

inundations, geo-hazards and other

services. States have also built geo-

informatics decision support systems. The

Fig 5: GIS in Disaster Management

National Emergency Communication Plan

• The National Emergency Communication Plan (NECP) 12, evolved in 2004, was for

management of Law and Order, Crisis and Disaster Situations. The plan is primarily a

satellite based network resting on POLNET, with NICNET and VPN (DMS) of ISRO as

standby supports. The voice centric and limited data handling capability system is aimed

to provide communication links between National, State and District Emergency

Operation Centre (EOC) as well as Mobile and Transportable EOCs for deployment at

emergency/disaster sites.

• The plan was to be implemented in two Phases. Phase 1 of the Plan comprising of One

VSAT Terminal for NEOC at MHA, one Mobile EOC for a disaster site, and six

transportable communication sets for search and rescue teams of one NDRF Battalion

was implemented in August 2006.

flagship program of Digital India also has a mission mode project on GIS.

12

ICT has been used to advantage by Indian state and district administrations as a big

facilitator in management of disasters. Some of the recent experiences include 4:

• A flood management information system helped tracking the course of river Kosi in a

flood situation in Bihar in 2008.

• Sahana disaster management system helped to increase the effectiveness of activities

related to post disaster management.

• States like Gujarat and Odisha have set up community level systems to facilitate early

warning and preparedness.

• A mobile-based crowdsourcing app was developed and used in cyclone management

by Government of Andhra Pradesh.

• The BHUVAN app of ISRO facilitated the sharing of damage details post the Nepal

earthquake.

It is important to highlight here that the flagship program of Digital India has the potential

to provide both the infrastructure as well as the application focus through its pillars.

Globally, emerging technologies like social media have been used extensively by agencies

and organizations. The American Red Cross is using a digital Operations Center using

social media-based operation devoted to humanitarian relief, demonstrating the growing

importance of social media in emergency situations. Other examples include County Fire

Authority, Victoria and the City of Capetown, which are using ICT for ensuring city

resilience. The Group on Earth Observations (GEO), a voluntary partnership of

Governments and organizations consisting of 96 member countries and European

commission is creating a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) to link

earth observation resources worldwide across multiple areas such as disasters, climate,

agriculture, health and water etc.

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• Phase 2 of the Plan was sanctioned by MHA in May 2011 and is still under

implementation at a total cost of Rs 76.78 Cr. Equipments such as VSATs, Vehicle

Mounted VSAT, Satellite Phone, VHF Radio etc are to connect all the 10 Battalions

with the HQ NDRF and MHA at Delhi.

4. Internet of Things (IoT) - A conceptual overview

The number of internet users worldwide has grown enormously over the last few years

and is now estimated to be close to 3 billion. But even more striking is the vast array of

intelligent devices that are now connecting to the vast information around them.

Estimates vary, but many analysts speculate that the number of connected devices could

be more than 50 billion by 2020 extending the reach of software-enabled insight by an

order of magnitude.

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the ever-growing network of physical objects that

feature an IP address for internet connectivity, and the communication that occurs

between these objects and other Internet-enabled devices and systems. The IoT is a

massive network of devices, many of which are battery-powered. While they often

connect to each other through the Internet, they have the potential to talk directly to

each other without it, through standards like Bluetooth.

Along with the growth in connected devices comes a wide array of opportunity. For the

first time in modern history, insights can now be offered to business and consumers

where products exists. Devices ranging from connected toasters to connected turbines

can analyze their own contextual information and advise users about optimal ways they

can be put to use. These intelligent devices are a now a reality thanks to recent gains in

the realm of connectivity, sensor technologies and real time data processing.

The act of adding intelligence to an ever-expanding network of devices is poised to

great tangible value for commercial and government organizations around the globe.

As per the draft policy on Internet of Things 6 of Government of India, “IoT is a seamless

connected network of embedded objects/ devices, with identifiers, in which M2M

communication without any human intervention is possible using standard and

interoperable communication protocols.” The International Telecommunication Union

(ITU) 8 has defined Internet of things (IoT) as “Global infrastructure for the information

society, enabling advanced services by interconnecting (physical and virtual)

things based on existing and evolving interoperable information and communication

14

technologies. Through the exploitation of identification, data capture, processing and

communication capabilities, the IoT makes full use of things to offer services to all kinds of

applications, whilst ensuring that security and privacy requirements are fulfilled.”

So what will it take in terms of creating an IT solution with capabilities to take a value

advantage of the smart connected devices? At the edge of the network, there needs to be

some digitally enabled piece of hardware collecting information, sending that information

home for central processing. That device then needs to be connected in some way. Only

by interpreting the hardware’s unique signals and transmitting them over wired or wireless

pathways back to a central environment can that data be made sense and acted upon

centrally.

Any core IOT system will also require data storage capabilities that enable only a nearly

finite store of low-value-data but also high performance storage of the data that is critical

to real time performance. In addition, IOT solutions require access to that new machine

data as well as ever-expanding array of other organizational information sources to

provide true value and meet users’ expectations.

Technology Capability

Applications and analytics

Application Platform

Data Platform

Connectivity

Edge devices

• Use case specific applications

• Device data visualizations and analytics

• Application enablement services

• Access to device data libraries and core

application integration

• Intelligent data storage enabling efficient capture

and use of device data

• Middleware and protocols to interpret data from

connected devices

• Connectivity for data transmission

• Devices with sense and response capabilities

• Embedded software to manage edge processing

and data transmission

15

Table 1: Core IOT system technologies and capabilities 9

4.1 Building an IOT solution:

The three parts of an IOT solution may be termed as the edge, the network and the

core

Fig 6: Components of an IOT solution 9

The edge: Cyber-physical integration occurs at the edge of a network. There is a

natural hierarchy of aggregation, starting from sensors and components all the way up

to the device clouds.

The network: Internet connectivity is ubiquitous and enabled by several channels of

communication including wired or wireless.

The core: Many traditional organizations have kept the operational technology world

separate from the information technology world. This independence translates not only

into different systems but also into different procedures and decision models. The IOT

is breaking down these silos offering end-to-end visibility into all the data that can be

used to operate effectively and hence deliver better value.

Building an IOT solution therefore involves three main steps or phases:

• Data integration: This is the first and the primary step. It brings a variety of data into

a coherent, complete set from the edge to the core to offer the deepest and

broadest insights possible.

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Operate,Visualize,Analyze

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Store/locate/correlate

16

• Data management: This step brings together the operational technology and

information technology infrastructure. This step addresses the challenge of managing

large volumes of data as well as layering on contextual information such as asset

taxonomy and time and location data.

• Business innovation: Once foundational data integration and data management are

put in place, many types of business innovations are possible. Enterprises can create

meaningful insights and reimagine their business models.

The Government of India has taken up many initiatives around IOT including the

introduction of a draft IOT policy and setting up IOT Centre of excellence. Among other

things, IoT can help automate solutions to problems faced by various industries like

agriculture, health services, energy, security, disaster management etc. through remotely

connected devices.

At this stage, it is also pertinent to mention the M2M or machine-to-machine

communication. The European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI) has defined

M2M Communications as Physical telecommunication based interconnection for data

exchange between two ETSI M2M compliant entities, like device, gateways and network

infrastructure. M2M is driving an increasingly complex relationship between networks,

service providers and an exploding number of devices in real time basis. Those devices

are powered and connected by a complicated convergence of networks. IoT is

connected network of embedded devices capable of having M2M communication

without human intervention. M2M Communication when combined with logic of cloud

services and remote operation becomes “Smart”. The Government of India has come

out with a M2M roadmap 7.

The importance comes from the fact that this form of automated information

interchange between machine to machine will be a control center for various important

industry verticals like smart city, smart grid, smart transportation, smart health among

others.

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5. Internet of things and disaster management

Besides the traditional use-cases for the industry that it can offer, the Internet of Things

also has the potential to serve a critical, potentially life-saving, role in the event of

disaster, natural or otherwise. The mobile, cloud, analytical and social age in which we

live today is creating new opportunities to transform traditional emergency and

disaster operations and engage with citizens and stakeholders. Thought leaders in this

space are enacting strategies to derive profound advantage from these technology

innovations and, over time, the influence of these innovations will only continue to

grow. By aligning these technologies towards the strategic charter, agencies can attain

new levels of speed, responsiveness, quality and agility. Internet of things offers

disruptive potential in prevention, preparation, response and recovery phases of

disaster management. Some of the transformational applications include:

1. Prevent: IOT can be a game changer in prevention of disasters through the following:

o Monitoring can be greatly facilitated using real time sensor based data. Examples

include:

Vehicles using telematics

Water levels using sensors

Sensors to detect wild fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, cloudbursts and volcanic

activities

o Critical infrastructure protection through predictive maintenance of disaster

management assets.

o Hazard mitigation through monitoring of environment using sensors for pollutants

and contaminants including radioactive scenarios.

o Enabling early warning monitoring system

2. Preparation: IOT has the potential to streamline preparation efforts.

o Use of sensor technology to address real time stock and supplies replenishment,

spares planning and automated indent processing

o Asset track and trace

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o Use of complex event processing for notification of an action based on

capturing streaming sensor data resulting in predictive resource deployment.

3. Response: IOT can facilitate response planning and actions through:

o Vehicle tracking and GIS integration

o Use of sensors to monitor the movement of key personnel

o Using NFC for geo fencing and parameter fencing

o Situational awareness and incident management through streaming data,

unstructured data handling, predictive analysis, big data, complex event

processing and social medial analytics.

4. Recover: IOT can be a great enabler for recovery efforts and activities through:

o Use of sensor technology for identification and authentication of beneficiaries

o Use of smart cards and RFIDs for relief disbursal

o Create a virtual logistics network that allows hub operators and others to

monitor traffic towards and within a hub in real time and facilitate

communication between all involved parties.

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Fig 7: IOT in disaster management

The opportunities for application of IOT in disaster management in India are immense.

Some of the specific use cases include management of epidemics like dengue, man-

made disasters like accidents in plants, mines and oil wells, detection of hazardous

gases from mines and plants, landslide detection, health monitoring of railway tracks

etc. The possibilities are fairly large.

5.1 Real Time Situational Awareness – Taming the lag between Information and Action

During a critical situation, vast volumes of information accumulate rapidly. Agency

personnel need to quickly react to an ever-evolving situation using incoming

information. In addition, there are few other situations in which speed is such a critical

component. Real-time access to timely and detailed situational data enables

responders to make time-critical decisions in quickly changing situations. First

responders are also challenged by the inability to obtain information from a variety of

sources that is managed, exchanged, and utilized between all involved parties. Real-

time situational awareness software provide analytical insight, allowing first responders

to understand on-scene, active emergency situations through interactive, integrated

data analysis and visualization.

Harnessing big data, analytics, social media and mobility in this sector allows

emergency & disaster management organizations to accommodate massive amounts

of incoming public safety data. With the mobile visual analytics of business intelligence

(BI) solutions, personnel can increase situational awareness and make rapid decisions.

Moreover, giving mobile access to that information helps first responders to better

anticipate and respond to rapidly evolving situations.

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Contd. -

Fig 8: Real time situational awareness

The basic building blocks are depicted below:

5.2 Benefits of IOT in disaster management

Following are the key benefits of application of IOT in disaster management:

• Agencies gain a clear picture of operations with real-time visibility of data

• Agencies can extract current and historic data from multiple sources; transform

it into rapidly accessible, actionable intelligence for faster and better-informed

decisions.

• It helps in creating a single, federated information hub

• Agencies can build an information backbone that all parties – including

government agencies, NGOs, infrastructure operators, and the community –

can contribute to and work from.

• It increases collaboration and interoperability - It allows all stakeholders to work

together more effectively by creating consistent and shareable workflows,

processes, forms, and plans that address disasters and emergencies of all kinds.

• Agencies gain by leveraging cutting-edge technology – through the

harnessing of the power of Big Data, cloud computing, mobile technology, and

sophisticated yet intuitive analytics to streamline and optimize all emergency

management processes.

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5.3 Use case: Flood monitoring & forecasting using IOT

World Metrological Organization reports that out of majority of all disasters in the

world, flooding is one of the most severe disasters affecting the people across the

globe. India is one of the worst flood affected country in the world and total Indian

rainfall is concentrated over a short monsoon season of four months. As a result, the

rivers witness a heavy discharge during these months, leading to widespread floods.

Several states suffer from severe annual flooding. Unfortunately, they do not have an

early warning mechanism that would alert the affected regions from the occurrence of

a disaster. The existing disaster management mechanism is primarily focused on

strengthening rescue and relief arrangements during and after disasters.

As a result:

• Irrigation department still has a manual and slow process to collect and consolidate

the data on water flow, reservoir levels and weather across various regions.

• There is no computational and data processing capability for flood forecasting

calculations.

• Absence of automated mechanism to alert on the flood situations leads to

widespread loss of life and property.

The answer to the problem lies in a technical solution that would:

1. Process large data (structured) volumes coming from sensors installed across river

basins and SMS text messages (unstructured) from citizens.

2. Provide analytical capability to detect and forecast the flood situation.

3. Provide dashboard application to be consumed in a command center (large TV

screens) and Tablets (For chief engineers of irrigation department).

An IOT solution would enable the state irrigation department to centrally monitor, analyze

and forecast flood situations. It can automatically alert the administration and the

population about probable occurrence of a flood event. This would help take necessary

measures to minimize the loss of human lives and mitigate the damage to properties.

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The solution uses sensor data from various sites such as reservoirs, dams, canals and

consolidates it for monitoring in real time via a central dashboard using maps. Automatic

alert notifications can be calculated in case of a threshold breach and predictive

algorithms used to forecast a flood situation based on parameters such as rainfall, water

level and discharge levels. This has the potential to save the loss of property and lives of

citizens by accurate forecasts of flood situations and the impacted geographic zones.

Fig 9: Flood real time monitoring

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6. Key requirements for Application of IoT in disaster management

The requirements/action areas related to IOT in disaster management can be highlighted

in three broad categories viz.

1. Technology and infrastructure

2. Organizational and institutional

3. Policy and regulatory

Technology and infrastructure:

o Ensuring the last mile telecommunication for device connectivity.

o Improvement in the bandwidth infrastructure for higher internet adoption and to

ensure feasibility of deploying IOT solutions.

o Augmenting device-manufacturing base available currently within India.

o IoT will lead to huge numbers of M2M communication and the many devices in terms

of sensors, network equipment and data centers to create the communication

infrastructures and host servers for M2M services. Hence while designing the M2M

networks; it is important to ensure that low power devices are planned so that the

Energy footprint is kept to the minimum.

o Privacy and security:

The data security and privacy issues will need to be handled at three levels. The

National M2M roadmap provides for these:

• Data within telecom operator’s domain: The encryptions used in the network should

conform to the guidelines contained in IT Act.

• Data within service provider ’s domain: The wealth of information covering various

aspects of economy and society with its potential use for public welfare may also

give rise to privacy concerns of individuals. The magnified potential for breach of

privacy emanate due to multiplicity of data recording points in the network i.e.

Database of M2M service provider, Data points in database of Telecom Service

Providers, Home Gateways/ devices. The issues require comparison of M2M security

and privacy framework with those of existing provisions of IT Act.

• Security at sensor/ device level: M2M device should use only genuine IMEIs due to

security concerns and non-genuine IMEIs should not be allowed in devices. Thus,

existing IMEIs guidelines for handset need to applicable in case of M2M devices as

well.

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Organizational and institutional:

o Augmentation of the capacity within the disaster management organizations on ICT

in general and IOT in particular.

o A framework for industry participation in all IOT led disaster management initiatives

can help expediting the outcome.

o Horizontal transfer of knowledge and experiences among states and union territories.

Regulatory and Policy:

o Bringing out the IOT policy and an implementation roadmap for IOT in India.

o Huge amounts of data will be generated & used with IoT. A clear and comprehensive

legal & policy framework needs to be put in place related to cloud based offerings.

7. Recommendations

The issues and challenges highlighted above are proposed to be addressed through the

following strategic and operational measures:

Development of a framework for continuous industry participation in the planning

for disaster management.

Development and execution of a plan for backend applications for asset

management in disaster management authorities.

Development of a knowledge portal for sharing of experiences and best practices

Development of a plan for prevention of cyber disasters

Inclusion of ICT in disaster management in the national skill development

framework and plan.

Release of IOT policy for India.

Release of guidelines related to cloud adoption in India as a part of digital India

policy framework.

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References

1. Website of National Disaster Management Authority, Government of India at www.nodma.gov.in

2. National policy on disaster management available at http://ndma.gov.in/images/guidelines/national-

dm-policy2009.pdf

3. National disaster management framework available at http://www.ndmindia.nic.in/letters/NDMF.pdf

4. Country Case Studies in ICT for Disaster Management India by Ms. Renu Budhiraja at

http://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/India%20-

%20Disaster%20Management%20%26%20ICT%20-%20Ms.%20Renu%20Bhudhiraja.pdf

5. Bhuvan: The Indian Geo-Platform of ISRO at http://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/bhuvan_links.php

6. Draft policy on Internet of Things available at http://deity.gov.in/sites/upload_files/dit/files/Draft-IoT-

Policy%20(1).pdf

7. M2M roadmap of India available at

http://www.dot.gov.in/sites/default/files/Draft%20National%20Telecom%20M2M%20Roadmap.pdf

8. Recommendation Y.2060 of International Telecom Union available at http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-

Y.2060-201206-I

9. SAP thought leadership paper on Internet of Things available at

https://www.sap.com/bin/sapcom/en_us/downloadasset.2014-11-nov-12-17.sap-brings-you-the-

internet-of-things-for-business-pdf.html

10. Report on Disaster Management in India by Ministry of Home Affairs available at

http://www.unisdr.org/2005/mdgs-drr/national-reports/India-report.pdf

11. National database on emergency management – ISRO available at http://sac.gov.in/SACSITE/SAC-

Flyers/menu-links/society/9.5%20NDEM.pdf

12. ICT for disaster risk reduction: The Indian experience by Ministry of Home affairs available at

http://www.ndmindia.nic.in/wcdrdocs/ict%20for%20disaster%20risk%20reduction.pdf

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