# Utilization of ICT as a Digital Infrastructure Concerning Disaster Countermeasures in Japan
## 4 The Significance of ICT as a Digital Infrastructure Concerning Disaster Countermeasures
### The Significance of ICT as a Digital Infrastructure  
The preconditions for using ICT as a digital infrastructure for disaster countermeasures is that the information communication environment (internet connection, electricity, and the use of information terminal) must be well-maintained all throughout Japan. The probability of issues concerning the information communication environment during disasters being solved in the near future is high, as technological development in the related fields are making rapid advances such as the establishment of mobile internet bases mounted on cars or balloons during disasters, the establishment of additional internet base stations during normal times, the supply of electricity using hybrid cars, and the implementation of battery saving mode in emergencies as well as battery extension of mobile information terminals. Additionally, the utilization of satellite communication networks can now be used in case the operand information network cannot be used immediately after a disaster. The Committee for Policy Planning on Disaster Management Final Report of the Central Disaster Management Council (2012) [30] indicated the need to gather information from private media including social media, as the government has its limitations in gathering information. Similarly, as the utilization of geographical space information (G space information) can be extremely effective in the coherence in situational awareness and decision-making support, the necessity of progressing maintenance and sharing of static information during normal times as well as development of a system to promptly gather dynamic information were also indicated. Additionally, the development of GIS is considered to be promoted in order to support disaster countermeasures in the Master Plan for Disaster Prevention (2016) [31] as well. Therefore, social media, which has been deeply rooted into our daily life and can rapidly spread information, and GIS, which enables the consolidation and sharing of information using digital maps, have become an important foundation of all general infrastructures as a digital infrastructure in modern-day Japan and are considered to fulfill a vital role in disaster countermeasures. In recent years, GIS has especially been useful in the work of information volunteer and GIS volunteer where disaster countermeasures are conducted using GIS. Utilization Potential of Social Media GIS for Disaster Information System as a Digital Infrastructure  
[PERSON] et al. (2015) [32] considered the changes in ICT as well as the role of a digital infrastructure in disaster countermeasures as mentioned in the previous sections, and indicated that it is possible for GIS to have an interactive communication function to be used between users as shown in Figure 2. It further proposed this new GIS called \"social media GIS\", differentiating it from the conventional Web-GIS. It developed the social media GIS which incorporated the accumulating and displaying functions of submitted information according to the location information and content with the system combining 3 Web applications including social media (social networking service (SNS) and Twitter) and Web-GIS, and utilized it in the operation in Mitaka City, Tokyo Metropolis, as a disaster information system for both disasters and normal times. The system design took the local characteristics of Mitaka City into consideration, and reflected the requests of various entities in the local community mainly for earthquakes. The system has 3 kinds of interfaces for users' PCs and mobile information terminals, and administrators' PCs. Figure 3 shows the interface for users' PCs. The system enables users to accumulate and share their knowledge from experience and everyday life as residents, which can be considered \"implicit knowledge\", by changing it into explicit knowledge.