2. Inforamation Sharing

2-6. Framework of Natural Disaster Databases
One of the very important means for the establishment of effective countermeasures for
future natural disasters is information on previous disasters, including what measures weretaken for what scale of natural disasters, how effective or ineffective they were, and what
lessons were learned from the experiences. A comprehensive database on natural disasters thathave occurred in Asia in this century will provide a valuable asset for the next century.
At present, several organizations have their own statistical databases on natural disasters
that have occurred in this century. Natcat, a Munich reinsurer, has accumulated information
on more than 15,000 disasters dating back as far as to 79 A.D., Sigma, a Swiss reinsurer, has adatabase containing information on more than 7,000 disasters which have occurred since 1970,and EM-DAT of the CRED (Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters,
Universite Catholique de Louvain) in Belgium has information on more than 12,000 disasters
dating back to 1900. In addition, disaster information is disseminated over the Internet byvarious organizations, including the UN OCHA that provides Situation Reports on majordisasters experienced after 1980.
At the ADRC International Meeting (annual meeting of member counties) in December
1999, the ADRC stressed the importance of making good use of these existing databases, aswell as the importance of constructing a comprehensive database of natural disasters in the20th century, which is linked up with the existing databases. To promote such information
networking globally, the ADRC became a member of GDIN (Global Disaster Information
Network) in April 2000, and proposed the use of a global disaster ID system at the GDIN
conference, Canberra, in March 2001. The disaster ID system proposed by the ADRC waslaunched as a pilot project in 2001. Since 2002, the ADRC has been encouraging variousactivities for more effective sharing of disaster information as an ISDR Inter-Agency Task
Force member. In 2003, the ADRC co-organized a GLIDE technical meeting with theUN/ISDR and RelifWeb. The intentions of the meeting were well received by many
international/regional organizations. And since May 2004 GLIDEnumber.net(http://glidenumber.net/) has been up and generating GLIDE numbers online.

2-6-1. Current Situation of Disaster Information Sharing
Many organizations collect and analyze disaster information relevant only to their own
priority themes, and provide some of the results through media including the Internet. Manyof these organizations link their websites to relevant organizations for information sharing.
Among such organizations, the UN OCHA has already started to provide highly reliabledisaster information. The UN OCHA has set up ReliefWeb on the Internet to provide disaster
information collected from all over the world. ReliefWeb contains detailed Situation Reports
and other references on disasters experienced after 1980. These resources are available on
document basis. Thus, the site allows access to the synopses of disasters that have occurred
during the past 20 years, and those of countermeasures taken in response.
The UN OCHA opened its Kobe Office in August 2001, and has been providing disaster
information on a 24/7 basis from three cities, Kobe, Geneva and New York.
The CRED in Brussels, Belgium, provides statistical data mainly of natural andtechnological disasters that have occurred with more than 10 deaths since 1900 over theInternet.
In addition, LaRED based in Latin America collects and provides information on smallto medium-scale natural disasters that are neither covered by ReliefWeb nor the CRED.
In addition to the organizations above, universities and institutes around the world haveinformation on disasters that have occurred in their respective areas, and information related
to their fields of interests, and give out some of their data over the Internet.
As for some disasters in the past, typically floods or droughts, however, it is often difficult
to determine the exact time of occurrence. Recorded dates of disasters may vary depending on
databases. Also, it frequently happens that a disaster is classified and named differently from

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source to source. These factors make it difficult to identify one disaster record available fromone source with those from another, especially when the disaster happened in a distant past.
As for disasters that have occurred in Japan, comprehensive detailedreferences are available including the “Chronological Scientific Tables” and“Meteorological Yearbook”. A list of major disasters in Japan registered on the“Disaster Prevention White Paper” is available on the Internet for download. TheDisaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution of Hyogo Prefecture
launched a comprehensive disaster database using the GLIDE system, a global
disaster ID system to be explained in Section 2-6-3, to facilitate informationsharing. The GLIDE system is also used by the national Research Institute for
Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) for its "Digital Typhoon Project"site and database on typhoons that have occurred in the recent 50 years.

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2-6-2. Asia Natural Disaster Data Book in the 20th Century
Natural disasters can have serious impact on social life in general and in particular on
economic development. As revealed by the statistics over the past 100 years, Asia is more
prone to natural disasters than any other region of the world, and accounts for more than 90%of the world's entire affected population and 50% of both the world's total death toll andeconomic losses. Therefore, it is very important to analyze individual disaster events in thepast while examining their general tendencies over the years from the perspective ofdevelopment mechanism. Based on its agreement with the Center for Research on theEpidemiology of Disasters (CRED), Catholic University of Louvain, the ADRC has beenanalyzing the data of the EM-DAT of the CRED.
In July 2000, the ADRC published the Data Book on Asian Natural Disasters in the 20thCentury, which incorporates the member country data accumulated on the EM-DAT intotables, and diverse statistics and analyses. In August 2002, its revised edition, Data Book on
Asia Natural Disasters in the 20th Century Vol.2, was also published.
In addition, the ADRC published reports titled Natural Disasters Data Book 2002 in March
2003 and Natural Disasters Data Book 2003 in March 2004. Through these data books, theADRC provides helpful information to policy-makers, academicians, as well as
grassroot-level activists involved in community disaster prevention activities.

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2-6-3. “GLIDE” proposal by the Asian Disaster Reduction Center１） Disaster information sharing based on GLobal unique disaster
IDEntifier (GLIDE) number
There are many organizations thatdesign and develop their own disasterdatabases for free access over the Internet.
When a disaster occurs, information is
distributed over the Internet not only byorganizations in the affected country but
also by organizations and the mass media
in other countries. When a disaster occurs
in any part of the world, the ADRC
collects information from websites ofrelevant organizations and news agencies
all over the world, or by sending e-mailto the contact person in the affected area.
The “ADRC Latest Disaster Information” page on its website is the results of the ADRC's
efforts in information collection.
The problems with the conventional information collection include:(1) It is necessary to search the Internet for websites of relevant individual organizations
every time a disaster occurs.
(2) There is no standardized naming protocol for disasters. With different organization
naming same disasters differently, even search engines such as Google or Yahoo
sometimes return no hits.
(3) Website links may be lost when the structure of the database or homepage of anorganization is modified.

The GLobal unique disaster IDEntifier (GLIDE) number system will be a solution to theseproblems. The GLIDE system will significantly improve the efficiency of retrieval of
information on past and on-going disasters from databases and the Web.
At the Global Disaster Information Network (GDIN) Conference held in Canberra, Australiain March 2001, the ADRC proposed to develop a standardized code system for managinginformation on disasters around the world. This proposal was accepted and launched as apilot project.
In 2004, GLIDEnumber.net, which the ADRC and the OCHA ReliefWeb jointly developedwith technical assistance from LaRED, has become operational to issue GLIDE numbers todisasters immediately after their occurrences. Moreover, the ADRC, jointly with the CRED,
IRI/Columbia University, the USAID/OFDA, the WMO, the IFRC, the UNDP, and the ISDR
Secretariat, agreed to use the GLIDE number format as the standard format for disaster
identification numbers.

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The GLIDE number format was revised in 2004 as follows:
AA-BBBB-CCCCCC-DDD-EEE
AA: Disaster classification
Drought
Heat Wave
Cold Wave
Tropical Cyclone
Extratropical Cyclone
TornadoViolent Wind
Severe Local StormFlood
Flash Flood
Land Slide
Snow Avalanche
Mud Slide
VolcanoEarthquake
Fire
TsunamiStorm Surge
Epidemic
Insect Infestation
Wild Fire
OthersComplex Emergency
TechnologicalDR
HWCWTC
EC
TO
VW
SL
FLFF
LS
AVMS
VO
EQ
FR
TS
SS
EPIN
WFOT
CE
AC

BBBB: Year of occurrence (4-digit numeric figure)
CCCCCC: Serial number by year
DDD: Country code (ISO code. e.g., JPN for Japan)
EEE: Region code (e.g., 013 for Tokyo)
The region code at the end was added for the convenience of the user countries inorganizing their national databases. The region code is not included in GLIDE numbers
actually circulated.
The pilot phase of the GLIDE system started in January 2002. The GLIDE generation andnotification procedure is as follows:(1) Upon the occurrence of a disaster, ReliefWeb generates a new GLIDE number andnotifies the CRED via e-mail.
(2) For disasters other than ones generated in (1) above, the CRED generates GLIDE
numbers within one week from the dates of their occurrences.
(3) The CRED informs the ADRC and other related organizations of the GLIDE numbers
generated in (1) and (2) above on a weekly basis via e-mail.
(4) The ADRC dispatches the GLIDE numbers to individual organizations
through the“ADRC Highlights” communication channel.
This procedure was temporary and was replaced by GLIDEnumber.net for full automationof the entire process, from GLIDE number issuance to notification, in May 2004.
A new GLIDE number is entered into the current version of database in the following threesteps:(1) Add a GLIDE column to the database table on the screen.

2. Inforamation Sharing(2) Refer to data on past disasters at http://www.cred.be/emdat/disdat1.htm.
(3) Search for the name and GLIDE number of the disaster registered. Enter theappropriate number into the column created in step 1 above.
Then, the GLIDE number is used as the key to retrieve the necessary data from thedatabase:(4) Use the GLIDE number as the key to create a program for retrieving and displaying thenecessary data from the database.
An organization that already allows open access to its databases has only to make minor
adjustments to the existing program, and can add quick access links for visitors to jump toother sites containing relevant information. To add such a link, use the following method:(5) Create a button that contains a URL link to a relevant organization's site and therelevant GLIDE number in it.
(6) Apply to GLIDEnumber.net for the registration of your database.
Now the organization has its database connected to other databases all over the world via
the GLIDE system.
In order to promote a wider use of the GLIDE system, the ADRC and the OCHA
ReliefWeb have developed and started operating GLIDEnumber.net (http://glidenumber.net/).
The GLIDEnumber.net provides services and functions such as explanation of the GLIDEsystem, search of the latest disaster information, and registration to the GLIDE mailing list,
registration for GLIDE membership, and generation of new GLIDE numbers. The ADRC
expects GLIDEnumber.net to help a wider use of the GLIDE system among member countries
and disaster-related organizations. Databases connected via the GLIDE system will provide
the following advantages:--A parameterized search function allows easy association between pieces of disaster
information archived by various organizations.
A search engine, developed with the focus placed on parameters particularly important for
user organizations, allows a one-stop search and display of all the necessary data,
eliminating the need of repeating search for data possessed separately by individualorganizations (Note, however, the problem described in the following section).
Thus, direct reference to the GLIDE numbers allows individual organizations to modify
their database designs without preventing users from viewing the same data as the originalone. Another benefit is the ease of changing the search method on the viewer's side.

2) Challenges in implementing the system
There are some challenges that must be overcome to ensure efficient operation of this system:----

The he basic premise for the use of the GLIDE system for retrieval of data on a pastdisaster is that the disaster needs to have been registered in the GLIDE database. However,
not every single disaster in the past has its own GLIDE number yet.
A GLIDE member organization has to do extra preparatory works, such as incorporationof GLIDE numbers to its own open database(s) to accept inbound access requests via theGLIDE system.
When direct search into an organization's database for content data is impossible becauseof the server's structure or for security reasons, an additional database will be necessary toincorporate ID codes into the organization metadata (storage location information).
At present, the CRED-run database (EM-DAT) is known to have no data on somedisasters, in particular, those that occurred in the distant past. The ADRC made inquiries
to member countries for data, not coverd by the EM-DAT, and compiled and forwarded acollection of corrected records of past disasters to CRED. No updates to the EM-DAT,
however, have been made yet.

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3)

Activities at the United Nations
In May and November 2004, GLIDE Technical Meetings were held in Geneva. In January2005 a parallel session on disaster data was held during WCDR Kobe. Agreements werereached on:(1) Use of the GLIDE system as a standard tool to facilitate disaster information databasesharing. (May)(2) Preparation of an interim report on GLIDEnumber.net and automatic GLIDE generation.
(November)(3) Promotion of the use of the GLIDE system for disaster databases developed at thenational level. (January)

4)

Further promotion of GLIDE
In order to further promote disaster information sharing, it is necessary to enhance
GLIDEnumber.net for easier and faster registration and search of GLIDE numbers, and toincrease partners for full-scale operation of the GLIDE system.
The ADRC will use the UN/ISDR framework and host GLIDE partner conferences in order
to discuss these issues in depth, to provide solutions to the tasks lying ahead, and to promote awider use of the GLIDE system.
In 2004, the CDERA and the UN FAO joined the GLIDE partnership. The CDERA is one ofthe GLIDE operators in the Caribbean.