IN FOCUS this month: Digital waves to hit the Philippines

The technology currently used to support the safety and security of humanitarian staff in the field is about 15 years old; models have changed, handsets have been upgraded, but the background remains unchanged. It takes a pioneering team with a vision to bring the humanitarian community to the next generation of digital radio communications.

The Country Team in the Philippines has taken up the challenge, under a WFP project blessed by the IASC (Inter-Agency Standing Committee) Sub-Working Group on Emergency Telecommunications (WGET). In the coming months, they will be piloting this groundbreaking system in Manila, with a possibility to later extend coverage to other areas of the country where the humanitarian community operates. The new system, in addition to partially reducing equipment costs, will allow users to experience cell phone-like features like SMS and private calls. Users will no longer need to constantly listen to the old "bzzzz" background noise to catch that emergency call; they will have a "number" to be called on.

The days of forgetting to charge the battery, of leaving the radio on a shelf, of not having it ready when needed are gone. Digital radios will become a critical operational tool.

The project is supported by WFP/Vodafone Foundation/United Nations Foundation Partnership and CERF, in collaboration with Motorola, Danimex and UNDSS.

>>Read more inside InfobITs

La technologie digitale parle Français  

Lionel Marre, the '' champion'' of the DMR project, is a Research and Development Manager based in WFP Rome who has led the Digital Mobile Radio solution project from the beginning.
Lionel,a French national, has extensive experience in the field of technology and logistics. Before joining the UN World Food Programme in 1996, he has covered many roles with different NGOs such as: Médecins Sans Frontières, Action Contre la Faim, Médecins du Monde, Care International, before creating his own NGO, Atlas Logistique with friends. Since joining WFP, he has been working in the field of emergency relief for years starting with the Bosnian Conflict in 1996 until the Tsunami emergency in late 2004.Lionel is an adventure freak: jumping off a plane in the desert? Done. Diving,cliff jumping, rock climbing, flying a plane, paragliding, sailing? Done. As part of his work with aviation, Lionel monitors and supports WFP's entire plane fleet, comprised on average of 70 planes, and he supported search and rescue operations in several parts of the world… If you are lost in the desert, Lionel is the person to have with you!.

Lionel says..."Digital radio will enable the integration of any handset with any actual or future VoIP system which will improve WFP's work in the field. Communication is vital for staff during emergency, to support successfully their missions as well as their safety."

 

Preparations for a revolution...


• Watch our technical team unpacking and installing  part of the Mototrbo pilot system in Rome where FAO, IFAD and WFP, are interconnected through wireless and wired networks to provide the backbone to the first UHF Digital MOTOTRBO network WFP has ever deployed.

• Pictures from the DMR workshop in Sonderborg, Denmark where the WGET DMR sub-working group members UNHCR and WFP together with partners Motorola and Danimex discussed the new technology.
 

Complete project documentation: project plans, presentations, status updates etc. posted in the Forum

...straight from Manila

Michael Godfrey, an Australian national, has been working in Manila for one year and half as Security Advisor for the Philippines' UN Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS). Previously, he had been with UNDSS in Afghanistan for a period of three years and before that he spent twenty nine years in the Australian army. He is part of the MOTOTRBO pilot implementation in the Philippines, expanding the actual VHF system in the huge metropolitan area of Manila.

Michael, as an experienced Security Advisor, sees a lot of benefits from the MOTOTRBO implementation: "....this project will significantly improve the safety of UN staff in areas at risk from natural disasters, like Manila, and also markedly enhance the security of staff and programmes in conflict areas, such as Mindanao in the southern Philippines. The Mototrbo VHF digital system will not only extend our VHF coverage and guarantee better communications but will also allow us to track and respond to staff in both a natural disaster emergency or in the volitile and unpredictable conflict environment we have in the south.''

Field stories

• A litte adventure in Burundi Ryan tells us a story from the heart of Africa
   
• " A deep field experience" in the Democratic Republic of Congo
   
• ''FAST FOOD'' operation in Dungu...

Photo Galleries

• A taste of the colourful Burundi
   
• FOUR beautiful galleries from DRC, Haut Uelle Operation

Videos

• Burundi- a trip up to the mountains
   
• Oscar Caleman     is driving through Kabul...

"You better listen to the radio..."

This is what Elvis Costello use to say in his famous ‘Radio Radio' song in the 70's…And, yes, you better listen to the radio if you're working in Dungu, the deep field in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); but we're talking here about another kind of radio, the one that could simply safe your life in case of danger. This is part of the goal of two WFP FITTEST technicians, Rob Buurveld and Ivan Klicko, in their one-month mission to DRC: raise awareness among WFP humanitarian workers on the importance of having and using telecommunications for their own safety.

Since 1996, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been cursed by conflict, which has devastated and destabilised the country and claimed the lives of an estimated five million civilians. People continue to live in crisis conditions in many parts of the country. Haut-Uélé district of the Orientale province has been specially destabilized by a succession of armed groups including the Lords Resistance Army from Uganda intensifying attacks against the civilian population, looting towns and villages, burning down houses, abducting hundreds of children, raping and killing people....more>>

Complete project documentation available in the Forum

"Emergency restructuring" within WFP

Up until June 2009, WFP used to have ‘two emergency teams'. The Rome team was handling policy, roll-out projects, private sector partnerships and emergency preparedness, while the Dubai team was responsible for operational and IT emergency management on the ground. The two teams have been merged in June, and can now cover the entire range of IT emergency activities under the same umbrella. From R&D projects to field response, inter-agency projects and private sector partnerships aiming at improving the response process, now it all comes from a single source....more>> 

Project updates

• Crisis Management Training- building a cradle of sustainable expertise in crisis management, trained to respond to extreme and challenging situations first reponders face when a catastrophic event has taken place. Current status: course curriculum defined;request for proposal drafted for tendering of training services....more>>

• Mentoring program - a project that is instituting a program that will pair promising emergency responders (mentee) with experienced EPR managers (mentor) to allow an exchange of knowledge and experience. Ultimately, the mentee will take on emergency management responsibilities. Current status: offers received for provision of Mentoring training... more>>