In preparation for the nation-wide launch of PetaBencana.id, @america hosted an interactive session on February 5th: “Banjir, Bots, and Gotong Royong: Strengthening Civic Participation for Climate Adaptation in Indonesia”.
Opened by Jason Seuc, Deputy Director of the Environment Office of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the session focused on the significance of community-led information sharing during disaster events.
Harlan Hale, Regional Advisor for the US Agency of International Development Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID OFDA), shared the importance of resident reporting in supporting response efforts by humanitarian and government agencies. Residents on-the-ground often have the most up-to-date information – the knowledge of local communities and the dense network of mobile sensors connected via social media, provides a data source of unprecedented resolution for mitigating urban risk.
In order to transform the “noise” of social media into actionable information, Nashin Mahtani, director of Yayasan Peta Bencana, shared how the PetaBencana.id platform employs chatbots to engage in AI assisted conversations with residents to confirm flooding.
As new tools, applications, and software are adopted by governments and NGOs for the identification and management of urban risk, Maryanto, S. Kom, Head of data management and information systems at BNPB, iterated the significance of data sharing and integration of various data.
The event was live streamed at several American Chapters including ITB, UMY, and UIN. Participants engaged in a lively discussion, raising questions about the verification of crowd-sourced reporting, privacy and ethics of information gathering, and the potential latency of online platforms during high periods of surging activity.
Following a live-demo led by Hotniida AMW Sinambela, Research Operations Coordinator of Yayasan Peta Bencana, participants simulated real-time flood reporting and information sharing through PetaBencana.id.
In preparation for the national-launch of PetaBencana.id, to be held on February 11th, @america set up an exclusive preview of their participation in the #112Challenge. The #112Challenge is the first country-wide disaster preparedness event of its kind, where over 125 organizations in Indonesia will participate in a nation-wide competition to increase disaster awareness. On the 11th of February, 3D flood murals will be set up in over 125 locations across Indonesia. Organizations will encourage their communities to use their mural selfies to practice submitting flood reports via Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram. @america is one of the participating locations, and the event on February 5th enabled participants to engage in an exclusive preview of the #112Challenge! Make sure you visit the venue on February 11th to support your city in winning! To find locations near you check the map at: info.petabencana.id/112challenge.
PetaBencana.id is a platform run by Yayasan Peta Bencana as a free, transparent platform for emergency response and disaster management in megacities in South and Southeast Asia. PetaBencana.id is a part of the USAID BNPB InAWARE: Disaster Management Early Warning and Decision Support Capacity Enhancement Project in Indonesia.