2. Information Sharing

2-3. Collection of Information
2-3-1. Methodology
With the consent of the 24 countries in the Asian region, the ADRC has been collecting andorganizing information on the situation of natural disasters in each member country as well as
information, knowledge and experience related to the systems, plans, and specific measures ofeach country for disaster reduction, in order to facilitate information sharing between member
countries. The ADRC has been committed to establishing the foundation for such an
information network in order to promote the establishment of a national disaster reduction
framework in each member country, and multinational cooperation for disaster reduction inAsia.
In addition, the ADRC has collected information from related materials available, the disaster
reduction officers of various countries and other related organizations, and constructed an
up-to-date database on natural disasters and disaster reduction specialist resources, to help
disseminate the collected information. Furthermore, through collaboration with visiting foreign
researchers, the Asian Unit of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (UN OCHA), and the OCHA ReliefWeb Office in Kobe, the ADRC has also obtainedquick access to more detailed and specific information, which is incorporated in informationthat the ADRC disseminates.
The ADRC will continue collecting and releasing detailed information on the following items
through the Internet and other media:- Disaster management systems (legal frameworks, organizations, basic plans, and disastermanagement manuals, etc.)- Actual cases of disaster countermeasures (taken by member countries in the past)- Information on natural disasters (descriptions of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods,cyclones, etc., and resulting damages)- Human resources information (disaster reduction administrators, academic experts,international organizations, private companies, NGO members, etc.)

2-3-2. Collection of Information from MemberCountries
In 2004, as in the previous year, the ADRC collected disaster reduction-related information
on member countries through the following methods:

１）

Requests to member countries for information
The ADRC has made efforts to gain the understanding of each member country on thepurposes of the ADRC and the need for multinational disaster reduction cooperation. Upon therequest from the ADRC, member countries have been providing natural disaster information, aswell as information on actual disaster management measures and disaster reduction systems.

２）

ADRC International Meeting 2005
At the Seventh ADRC International Meeting (January 19, 2005), member countries,advisor countries, observer countries and organizations provided natural disaster information
including country reports, and other materials on actual cases of disaster management, anddisaster reduction systems. They also voiced their requests concerning the activities of theADRC.
The Seventh ADRC International Meeting attracted attendance of many disaster-related
international organizations, which also participated in the UNWCDR (World Conference onDisaster Reduction, Jan. 18-22, 2005, Kobe). Thus, the Seventh ADRC International Meetingprovided a meaningful opportunity for reconfirming the need of building an international
cooperation system for more diversified collaboration and more efficient disaster information
sharing.

３）

Use of WWW (World Wide Web)
- Disaster reduction information of each member country

2. Information Sharing

As it did in the previous year, the ADRC is collecting information on the disaster
reduction systems of member countries from WWW sites, in addition to related information
provided by administrators in charge at international organizations and in respectivecountries.
In the future, it will be important to keep a close eye on disaster reduction information
provided by member countries, and provide technical support and other forms of assistanceto member countries in order to construct disaster information databases for an information
network that facilitates active involvement of member countries in information
dissemination.
- Disaster reduction information provided by academic research institutions andinternational organizations
There are other international organizations and research institutions engaged incollecting and providing disaster reduction information from various perspectives. The
Internet has expanded over recent years, gradually providing an infrastructure for access tosuch information.
However, such information circulates via various and independent channels. As aresult, it is not always easy to access the exact information needed. To resolve this problem
and promote disaster-related information sharing, the ADRC has proposed the use ofcommon disaster IDs. The disaster database (EM-DAT) run by the CRED of Louvain
Catholic University in Belgium provides access to statistical data of disasters all over theworld via the Internet. While the EM-DAT serves as a statistical database, the OCHA
provides information on natural disasters and reliable information on disastercountermeasures and management via its “ReliefWeb” site on the Internet in order tosupport humanitarian activities during disasters. Use of common disaster IDs for thedisaster reduction information will facilitate easy access to information of both theEM-DAT and the OCHA. The ADRC intends to further promote the GLIDE (GLobalunique disaster IDEntifier number) project launched in 2001 in order to facilitate effective
integration of information disseminated by many disaster management-relatedorganizations on the same disasters. The ADRC developed GLIDEnumber.net(http://glidenumber.net/) as not only a promotion site but also for registration of all new
disasters and distribution of new GLIDE numbers since May 2004.