Chapter 3

Accumulation and Provision of Information on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction□■3-5. Human Resource Information
3-5-1. Aim of Human Resource Database
The ADRC believes that the availability of human resource information on disasters in Asia, as well asaround the world, is vital for devising disaster prevention measures. Having the appropriate information
on which administrative officials and specialists to contact when disasters occur in a certain country
should speed up the management process. Moreover, since Asia is the most disaster-prone region in theworld, the availability of human resource information centering around Asia should contribute toexchanges on disasters in this region. The availability of such human resource information to thegeneral public will deepen extensive exchanges with other fields.
Unlike other fields, researchers with outstanding knowledge and skills are not the only ones who are
considered experts in disaster reduction activities. True disaster reduction measures can be realized onlywith a close network that allows the smooth exchange of information. The network is establishedbetween these researchers, administrative officials who plan policies based on the knowledge andtechniques of the researchers, and citizens, who act according to the policies give feedback to theadministrative side. The ADRC is thus soliciting human resource information, not from the narrow
sense of researchers with outstanding knowledge and techniques, but from the broad sense of humanresources that can handle disaster reduction extensively. Specifically, this includes academics, disaster
reduction researchers, engineers, personnel in charge of disaster reduction at administrative offices,
NGO experts mainly involved in disaster reduction activities, and the personnel in charge at disaster
reduction-related international organizations.
The human resource information acquired will be largely open to the public, with the exception of someinformation. However, if all the information is provided as it has been gathered, it will result in the flowof irrelevant information. Search functions are set up by country and by area of specialty to enable users
to gather information according to their needs.

3-5-2. Information Gathered and Provided
As shown in Table 3-5-2-1, new information on 612 people from 24 countries were added to thedatabase. All of this information is managed in the ADRC database, and provided when requested by auser. Users can request the information by the following two methods.
Acquire a list of all data available
Acquire a list of search results by country, area of research, and nameBy selecting the human resource information required from these lists, the user will be able to access all
information on that person (excluding items not intended for disclosure).
Information collected based on the policies on collecting and supplying personnel information is asfollows.

1)Workplace information

2)Personnel information

Title Name Date of Birth Sex
Name of workplace, address of workplace, country of workplace, position atworkplace, type of work, telephone number at workplace, fax number at workplace,e-mail at workplace, and homepage address of workplace.
Recommended homepage address, highest academic title, name of highest academic
title, final education, year of graduation, language abilities, work experience in (oncountry), work experience (abroad), field of research, papers presented, others.

Of the above, all items except date of birth, sex, final education, year of graduation, papers presented,
others are open.
Table 3-5-2-2 shows the results of a search carried out using the disaster name as the keyword of asearch function in the desired area of specialty using the ADRC human resource database.

33

■□ ADRC Annual Report 2000

Table 3-5-2-1

List of Human Resource Information Gathered by Country

M: Member country A: Advisor country
Country

Bangladesh
Ethiopia
FranceGhana
India
Indonesia
Japan
Korea
Lao P. D. R.
Malaysia
Nepal
P. R. China
PakistanPapua New Guinea
Philippines
Sri Lanka
Tajikistan
Tanzania
TurkeyUSAUnited Kingdom
Viet Nam
West Africa
Zimbabwe
TOTAL

No. of People※71125339
19111962022361216116511612

M

M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M

M

As shown in Fig. 3-5-2-1, the information gathered from the human resource information network
differs significantly according to the country and region, not because of the small number of experts inthat country or region, but to the limited number of regions surveyed by the ADRC in the first year.
Fig. 3-5-2-1
Fig. 3-5-2-2

Top Six Countries with Data on Human Resource (left)
Percentage of Human Resources with E-Mail (right)
Withe-mailaddress
27%

339350

Number of Registrations

300
250
200
150

96
65

100

3620

1950npa
Ja

ina

esChR.

pinam

Withoute-mailaddress
73%

P.

ilipPhltN

Ne

pa
VieI ndon

esia0Countries

More than 70% of the human resources registered on the human resource network have e-mailaddresses as shown in Figure 3-5-2-2. Though there is a tendency to think that not many own mailaddresses in developing countries, information can be provided to these human resources and contacts
made any time by e-mail. Excluding the mail addresses shared by several persons in the office, 94% of
those registered have their own e-mail addresses. As shown in Fig. 3-5-2-3, 23% of registrants are34

Chapter 3

Accumulation and Provision of Information on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction□■

female and this number of expected to continue increasing. As Fig. 3-5-2-4 shows, the number ofhuman resources having a doctorate degree, master degree, or bachelor degree is the same at around30%. Other types of personnel make up 19%, indicating that various personnel are available, However
the information collected is not necessarily limited to human resources with higher education.
Fig. 3-5-2-3
Fig. 3-5-2-4

Percentage by Gender (left)
Percentage by Educational Background (right)

Female23%

Others
19%

B. A.
29%

Ph. D.
27%

M. A.
25%

Male
77%

3-5-3. Future Developments
The ADRC E-net aims to track disasters and disaster reduction related personnel in Asia and in theworld to contribute to the reduction of damages from disasters. The ADRC is currently considering theregistration of new members as well as the use of mailing list to promote exchange between members
on disaster reduction. This is expected to enable the exchange of information and data between
members as well as mutual exchange through participation in conferences and training. It is also
possible to use mailing lists to provide regular and irregular information. The ADRC E-net is afundamental database for this purpose. The following shows the initial screen.

35