The document summarizes Sahana, an open source software ecosystem for disaster management information systems. Sahana was created in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and has since been deployed for many disasters worldwide. It provides scalable, efficient, and real-time information management tools to help coordinate disaster response and relief efforts. The Sahana Software Foundation is a nonprofit that maintains the platform and supports a global community of volunteers and organizations implementing Sahana.

1. Sahana Opens Source Ecosystem for supplying
Disaster Management IT Systems
ITU Asia-Pacific Centre of Excellences Training on ICT Applications on
Mitigating Natural Disaster
2013 November 29
Crowne Plaza, Hanoi, Vietnam
Nuwan Waidyanatha
Director - Sahana Software Foundation
nuwan[AT]sahanafoundation[DOT]org
http://www.lirneasia.net/profiles/nuwan-waidyanatha
Mobile: +8613888446352 (cn) +94773710394 (lk)

2. Outline
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History of Sahana
The Sahana Software Foundation
What is the Sahana Software
Who is using the Software
Why is important
Conclusion
Resources
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3. If you were to manage it manually
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Channels N(N-1)/2 = O(N2)
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Information Lost in relay and propagation
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Redundant Data Collection
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Inconsistent Terminology
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Manual Collation / Calculation
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Delayed Situational-Awareness
N=5
N=8
N=16

4. Can IT help?
❑ Scalable management of information
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No stacks of forms and files to manage
❑ Efficient distribution of information
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Accessibility of information on demand
❑ Automatic collation and calculation
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No delay for assessments and calculations
❑ Live Situation Awareness
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Reports are updated live as data goes in
IT Improves Manageability =
TotalTime / ∑  Weight i∗Timei∗Stepsi 

5. How Sahana got started
Immediate
Immediate
Requirement
Requirement
Sri Lankan
Sri Lankan
IT Community
IT Community
Lanka Software Foundation
Lanka Linux User Group
IT Industry
Academia
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Sahana
Sahana
Software
Software

6. Deployments aiding major catestrophies
Floods,
Venezuela
Sichuan
Earthquake,
China
Landslide,
Philippines
Cyclone
Nargis,
Myanmar
Kashmir
Earthquake,
Pakistan
Floods,
Pakistan
Ica
Earthquake,
Peru
Yogjakarta
Earthquake,
Indonesia
Tsunami,
Sri Lanka
2005
Hurricane in
Veracruz,
Mexico
Earthquake,
Chile
Bihar
Floods,
India
Cyclone
Sidr,
Bangladesh
2006
2007
Earthquake,
Haiti
Floods,
Sri Lanka
2008
2009
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Tornado in
Joplin,
Missouri
Typhoon
Yolanda/
Haiyan
Philippines
Earthquake &
Tsunami in
Japan
Christchurch
Earthquake,
New Zealand
Floods in
Colombia
2011
2010
Hurricane
Sandy, USA
Wildfire,
Chile
2013
2012

7. Avid users
Red Cross
UN World Food Programme
Asia Disaster Preparedness Center
Philippines Government: DSWD
Nepal Government: DHM
Timor-Leste Government: NDMD
City of Los Angeles
India, Japan, Taiwan, Portugal
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8. A quick overview
TOOLKIT – Essentially a set of software building
blocks
HFOSS – Humanitarian Free and Open Source
Software platform built specifically for Disaster
Management
MODULAR - Highly Configurable so that it can be
used in a wide variety of different contexts
ADAPTABLE - Easy to modify to build Custom
Solutions to adapt to changing environments
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9. Deployment Options
Host locally in the
command center
on a Laptop
Host in the
Cloud
Synchronize these 2 together...

10. Currently in the Phillipines
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Help the International Open Source Network
(IOSN) with using Sahana for the National
Telehealth Center
Managing requests and donations for organizations
and sites
collect, share and map information about the status
of their clinics and other facilities affected
Nurses in the Department of Health call center are
now using Sahana to help plan their relief efforts
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In 2012 a the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD), in the Philippines, implemented a Relief Goods
Inventory & Monitoring System (RGIMS) using Sahana
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DSWD wanted to use the RGIMS to receive relief goods on
behalf of external organizations - members of the Sahana
Community implement a solution, in less that 24 hours, and the
next day this was deployed to DSWD’s Servers!
Just in – President's Office Requested additions

11. Sahana request and response

12. IFRC Resource Management System
“The RMS isn’t just a piece of software. For the first time in the history of the Red
Cross and Red Crescent, RMS enables National Societies to view and analyze
hazards and vulnerabilities together with their material and human resources like
volunteers, staff, offices and warehouses on a digital up to date map to examine how
well its people and resources are positioned.”
- John Gwynn, Head of Organisational Development
IFRC Asia Pacific zone

13. Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
Maps and more …
Much faster to
understand data

14. Powerful analyses and data sharing tools
Quick and easy selection of
attributes to create Pivot tables
Filter data with drill down
options
Visualize the data with
Charts
Import/Export to XML, PDF,
XL, or JSON files
Create a RSS/Atom data
feed with

15. Community Resilience Mapping Tool
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CRMT provides coalition members with the
opportunity to create maps of their neighborhoods
that can be overlaid
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Help make communities better prepared with
good information about their situation
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System brings together
2010 Census Data,
2011 American Community Survey data,
USGS and California Geological Survey Hazards
data,
FEMA flood zone data,
70,000 points of interest within LA County:
schools, churches, health facilities, government
offices, municipal services, social services
agencies, arts and recreation facilities
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16. Disaster Risk Reduction Portal
An initiative of the UNISDR Asia Partnership on
Disaster Reduction (IAP)
Funding support from the Asian Development Bank
(ADP)
Executed by the Asian Disaster Preparedness
Center (ADPC)
 http://www.drrprojects.net/
Features
 Project list – a searchable list including links to
lead organizations and donors of the projects;
projects can be entered by any user
 Customizable graphs and matrix reports – helping
to visualize trends; graphs can be downloaded as
images
 Interactive map showing DRR projects by country
– risk layers such as tsunami risk can be shown
on the map
 List of downloadable DRR frameworks, strategies
and roadmaps
 ‘My Page’ where logged in users can save
searches, graphs and maps, and subscribe to
email updates

17. Climate Data Portal
Consolidate and standardize old
data
Build an asset of climate data
Apply climate models (built using
'R')
Share data with other analysts
Project advocated and managed
by ADPC

18. Sahana Software Foundation: Community of Practice
Sahana Software Foundation (501c3)
Google
 Google Summer of Code
 Google Code-In
Documentation:
 Wiki
 Book
Mailing List
IRC
Free & Open
Source
Software
Community
Emergency
Management
Community
Sahana
Community
Humanitarian
Community
(NGOs / Gov)
Commercial Companies
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Academic &
Research
Community
SahanaCamps – technical
training sessions for
anyone wanting learn how
to use and develop with
Sahana
Implementation training –
specialized focused
training for organizations
adopting Sahana for
specific disaster
management activities

19. Sahana @ IOTX Lanka
“10 Year of Tsunami Recovery: the Role of ICT in Disaster Risk Reduction”
18, 20 – 21 June 2014
www.iotxconvention.org
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20. Thank You
Nuwan Waidyanatha
Nuwan [AT] sahanafoundation [DOT] org
www.sahanafoundation.org