I was in Jakarta, Indonesia, as one of the facilitators of the recent AHA Centre Executive Leadership in Emergency and Disaster Management Programme (ACE LEDMP) for ASEAN. It was the second time CBi was invited to be a part of the course, and this year, the focus for the 20-participant cohort representing nine countries was public-private partnership as well as innovation and technology in disaster management.
Over the course of three days, colleagues from the DHL Group, the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), and UNICEF worked together to share our insights and experience with this year’s cohort.
The programme was peppered with interactive exercises for the participants to identify challenges with tech and innovation implementation, understand the potential and limitations of technologies, and how they can work together to create context-specific solutions, and translate all of that to country-specific next steps.
Tech and innovation implementation challenges
Although innovation and technology are often considered as having near limitless potential to power solutions in most sectors, disaster management included, the truth is that there are important considerations to factor in when looking at any tech.
Two main questions addressed were:
- When data is generated, who owns it, and how can it be managed with integrity?
- What are the practical considerations of any given solution? Does it really fit the problem and the context? What are its limitations?
To bring these issues to life, an exercise was conducted whereby participants had to combine a maximum of three technologies and pitch the solution on a marketplace where everyone could upvote their preferred idea.
The winning concept was a combination of drone use with 5G and crowdsourcing in Haiti to provide real time mapping for search and rescue, carry out rapid assessments, enable the delivery of critical supplies, and facilitate the coordination between the national disaster management office, volunteers, and the private sector in the case of an earthquake.
Innovation sprints
Participants were split into three teams, each given a different emergency response scenario. In 20 minutes, they had to identify the tools and technology they wanted to use, put together an action plan, and pitch it. However, they were allowed to consult with ChatGPT and harness artificial intelligence to support their efforts.
What to look forward to in the region
On the last day, participants were asked to share country-specific reflections on the potential for public-private partnerships in disaster management as well as technology and innovation-powered solutions for emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. They also had to present a short action plan and share their commitment or pledge, encouraging specific follow-up to the course and implementation of skills learned.
Thailand, for example, hopes to sort through GIS data by the end of 2026, using innovative technology to sort and verify layers of data and working with a geoinformatics specialist to do so. Malaysia, on the other hand, is planning to integrate artificial intelligence into its stakeholder mapping efforts by 2028.
The nine countries represented included: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
It was fascinating to better understand different contexts in the region. For example, I had never thought about Brunei being so small that they don’t need any GIS technology and instead, rely solely on Google Maps.
Connecting with our partner in Indonesia
During my stay, I also joined an insightful conversation about disaster management, response coordination, and inclusive private sector engagement with our partner on the ground, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN).
In these challenging times, it is more important than ever to continue having these conversations around disaster management, to see how best we can work together to prepare, respond to, and recovery from crises. I look forward to continuing our work with the DHL Group, KADIN, PDRF, UNICEF, and beyond to further improving how we all engage with the private sector and mitigate the impact of crises on communities and businesses.