災難管理系統 SahanaTW演習＠屏東縣政府

2010.11.25在屏東縣政府與資策會的支持下，Sahana Taiwan工作小組在屏東縣政府舉辦了第二場的演習活動。屏東縣政府勞工處與社會處的夥伴親自參與本次的演習，並且邀請與他們密切合作的一些在地組織與單位共同參加。本次參加者有來自包括家扶中心、屏東縣的幾個生活重建中心、防救災資訊資源整合教育服務協會、及伊甸基金會南區辦公室，共30多位。

此次演習，除全面性的介紹Sahana的功能外，演習主題包括了：狀況地圖、志工與專案管理、物資與倉庫管理、捐贈與需求管理，演習的目的在讓與會者熟悉Sahana的功能與運用情境，讓與會者體驗Sahana平台可以發揮的協力功能，以及資訊公開、集體協力的重要性。

經過六七小時的操作，與會者多可掌握系統的運用邏輯，也有參與伙伴提到救災中，不同組織間的互動也會是很重要的工作，人加上好用的平台工具才可以發揮好的效果。

非營利組織普遍感受到數位工具的需求與價值，但要突破工作的習慣與心理的障礙，仍需要一些時間與努力，透過類似的演習操作，應是一個不錯的突破方式。

祝福本次參加的團體都能跨出數位化的第一步，不論在日常業務營運管理或是救災工作上，都能借助科技工具提昇效率，享受數位化所帶來的美好果實～



Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.

SahanaTW Disaster Simulation in Pingtung County, Taiwan

Source：Sahana Situation Room
 
From SahanaTW Project Manager Hsiaojan Liu:
 
On November 25th, 2010, a field exercise and simulation was held in Pingtung County, Taiwan where SahanaTW introduced Sahana software to over thirty participants from the government Labour and Social Affairs Department, the Pingtung County Family Support Center, the Southern District Office of the Eden Foundation and other local NPOs (non-profit organizations). The county experienced many challenges in managing resources and volunteers following Typhoon Morakat last year, and this was the reason behind their planning a simulation at this time.

Most of the participants were not use to using digital tools in their daily work, but their feedback from the practice of using Sahana during the simulation was that it was a good experience for them. During the simulation, Sahana’s capabilities for mapping, volunteers and project management, materials and warehouse management, donations and demand management were used. Participants were encouraged to implement IT solutions like Sahana for their daily operations and also for disaster management preparedness.   While the participants understood the value of IT solutions, their customary working habits will be a main obstacle to adoption.   However, their willingness to participate can be taken as a sign of their taking the first steps toward using IT solutions, both for their daily business operations and for disaster relief work.

One learning point from the simulation was that the “very clear instructions” prepared did not work as well as expected. To help participants understand the logic of the software themselves will reinforce the learning and they will remember what they have learned for a longer time. It is a challenge to find the right boundary between providing enough instruction and giving too much.

Photos of the simulation:

台灣Sahana發展論壇 Taiwan Sahana Development Forum and SahanaCamp

Sahana是一個免費開放原始碼(Free Open Source Software)災難管理系統。2004年南亞海嘯災後，斯里蘭卡的資訊志工開始開發一套災難管理系統以符合當時救災的迫切需求，之後全球開放軟體開發者陸續加入，並有來自包括IBM、Google等商業公司的支持。多年來Sahana的開發人員與佈建地區由南亞擴散到世界各地，2009年7月Sahana Software Foundation在美國加州成立，專注於慈善、科學與教育的目的，持續支持Sahana平台的開發與運作，讓全球可以享用這個免費與開放的平台，更讓Sahana的發展邁向新局。

近年來，各地大型災難災區運用Sahana整合災情資訊與救災資源，成效顯著。2010年一月海地發生強震，全世界各地的網路使用者運用各種網路工具協助救災，Sahana 在其中扮演重要角色，有效整合Google、 Ushahidi、 Twitter、OpenStreetMap 等Web 2.0新興資訊服務進行救災，2010年四月，Sahana更榮獲知名的Gartner Research公司選為「2010最佳危機管理與規範(Risk Management and Compliance)方案」，成為網路時代全球資訊救災新典範。

為協助發揮資訊科技救災效能，達成智慧台灣願景「建設台灣成為安心、便利、健康、人文的優質網路社會」，財團法人資訊工業策會特結合中華民國紅十字總會、中研院資訊科技創新研究中心、開拓文教基金會，籌辦本「台灣Sahana發展論壇」，藉由邀請　Sahana Software Foundation、紐西蘭Sahana Cluster等國際專家分享Sahana建置及運用心得、介紹台灣Sahana平台發展現況及願景，敬邀所有關心我國防救災工作的政府單位、公益團體及志工夥伴共同參與本論壇，共同擘劃我國防救災資訊平台之發展及Sahana的應用，提升防救災效能，減少受災民眾苦難。

更多活動資訊與Sahana Taiwan介紹資料，請前往台灣Sahana發展論壇網站

Taiwan Sahana Development Forum and SahanaCamp July 30-August 3, 2010

Taiwan Sahana Development Forum: The Science and Technology Advisory Group of the Executive Yuan / Ministry of Interior is sponsoring the Taiwan Sahana Development Forum on July 30, 2010 at the Howard International House in Taipei. This one-day event is designed to introduce Sahana to multiple governmental agencies and jurisdictions in Taiwan, along with many charitable non-profit organizations involved in disaster relief. This forum is the result of a lot of hard work on the part of the Sahana Taiwan team, who has been working on fixing bugs, customizing Sahana to Taiwan's needs, and completing a translation of Sahana Agasti over much of the past year.

Directors Chamindra de Silva, Darmendra Pradeeper and Gavin Treadgold are joining CEO Mark Prutsalis to represent the Sahana Software Foundation to speak to the expected audience of approximately 200 persons representing government, academia, industry and the non-profit sector. Read more at the Sahana Taiwan website

SahanaCamp 1.1: After attending SahanaCamp in Delhi, Hsiaojan Lui, the Project Manager for Sahana Taiwan wanted to repeat the event in Taiwan. Thanks to the support from Dr. Hsiao and sponsorship from the Research Center for Information Technology Innovation, Acadamia Sinica, Sahana Eden community members Michael Howden and Fran Boon will also be attending the Sahana Taiwan Development Forum and then facilitating SahanaCamp 1.1 from 31 July – 3 August. SahanaCamp 1.1 will be a opportunity for the Saha na Taiwan Team to go through Sahana Eden and simulate how it can be used in a disaster.