| | March 20178CIOReviewIN MY OPINIONStrategizing the Best Disaster Recovery PlansBy Daniel Couture, CIO, UNICEFAs the frequency of humanitarian disasters remains high globally, response and recovery strategies are increasingly turning to Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-enabled solutions for enhanced effectiveness, often as a matter of life and death. Let us explore some key components of UNICEF's ICT strategies for disaster response. From perpetual warfare and civil unrest in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, to typhoons in Asia and hurricanes in the Caribbean, 2016 was not an unusual year for UNICEF and our partners in the humanitarian community. UNICEF was established 70 years ago with a primary aim to protect children's lives in precisely those types of tragedies. UNICEF's ICT function, operating in over 300 locations worldwide, has developed and gained tremendous experience over the years because of numerous successes as well as the occasional failures to be learned from. We have established--and are continuously improving--our disaster response and recovery strategies that have proven themselves successful time and time again.Several aspects of UNICEF's Disaster Response and Recovery Depend on ICTs:1. Disaster response mainly revolves around deployment of staff and resources to save children's lives. This requires the rapid deployment of the ICT services that emergency responders need to work in remote areas that are often difficult to access. Our ICT services in such scenarios mainly consist of data communications over mobile or fixed quick-deploy satellite terminals, pre-built as pre-stocked kits. They also include security communications for staff and vehicles, typically based on two-way VHF/UHF radio and Mobile Satellite Services (MSS), such as Iridium, Thuraya, and Inmarsat.2. Disaster recovery primarily revolves around re-establishing the most critical ICT services during and after a disaster, at the same or in an alternate location. In such situations, MSS, quick-deploy VSAT terminals and radio communications are employed.Maintaining a well-trained staff body with the right skill sets to deploy ICTs for response and recovery is critical. On an annual basis, UNICEF conducts Emergency ICT preparedness and response training of ICT staff, drawing together around 40 to 50 Daniel Couture
< Page 7 | Page 9 >