Groundbreaking new tsunami warning system set for 2015 India launch
A new groundbreaking tsunami warning system, based in Hyderabad, India, has been scheduled for launch in the first quarter of 2015.
The warning service, developed by UK-based health services firm, RegPoint, will have the ability to send SMS messages immediately to all mobile phones in a designated locality, pinpointing precise warnings, guidance or other information to a specific geographical region before a disaster strikes. It will be able to provide citizens, in the case of a tsunami, with accurate and rapid information on the size, scale and expected time of the disaster, as well as with advice on how best to secure their safety.
The Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 killed 230,000 people in fourteen countries around the Indian Ocean. Nearly two million people were displaced. The wave cost the Indian economy an estimated £3 billion. Despite a significant time lag between the earthquake and the impact of the tsunami, nearly all of the victims were taken by surprise. There were no tsunami warning systems in place, and people paid the price.
In the nine year period between the Tsunami and today, despite huge advances in mobile health technology, effective and modern early warning systems remain conspicuous by their absence across much of the Indian Ocean, despite being readily available.
The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has recognised how imperative an effective early warning system is and has been working RegPoint to put one in place. RegPoint’s SMS disaster early-warning system recently won the Aegis Graham Bell award in mobile health.
“Even in a technologically advanced 21st century, we remain dangerously exposed to the worst Mother Nature has to offer,” RegPoint’s chief executive, Sophia Salenius, said. “When we launch our new warning service in 2015, which we have been developing in conjunction with the Indian government, we will have gone a long way to preventing future loss of life. When the final technological development is completed early next year, we will have the capability to utilise a wealth of information and state of the art scientific analysis to significantly improve survival rates when disasters hit.”
RegPoint is focused on bringing wireless technology to the global health care community. It offers services in disease and disaster management. The company has opened a new office in India, run by Siddhartha Das, newly-appointed director of India operations. Das commented: “We have been faced with some technical challenges over the last six months that we are now beginning to overcome. With the help of a new technical partner on site in Hyderabad, we are making the final improvements to a system that will undoubtedly save hundreds of lives.”