Gaurav Relhan AFTUW Nov 1 st, 2011

Transcription

1 Municipal ICT Capacity and its Impact on Climate Change-Affected Urban Poor Communities: The Case of Mozambique An AFR PSIA MDTF Project Gaurav Relhan AFTUW Nov 1 st,

2 Introduction: The Case of Mozambique - Mozambique 3 rd most climate- change vulnerable country in Africa - A major natural disaster has struck Mozambique every 5 years: Translating to an average loss of GDP growth of 1% per year - Flooding situation aggravated due to climate change - Major coastal urban centers highly vulnerable to flooding: Host +30% population,+70% contribution to GDP -The need to protect cities from regular flooding: key to Mozambique s economic growth. Local Governments/Municipalities lack capacity to deal with the climate crisis 2

3 The ICT Reality of Africa An ICT Revolution has swept across the Developing world, esp. in Africa Region Snapshot of ICT Growth Telecom Growth: Since 2004, No. of Telephone subscriptions in Developing regions exceeded those in Developed countries. Mobile Telephony: Since 2007, 200 Million+ Cell Phone users in Africa. 50%+ population now has access to mobile telephony! Internet Penetration: In 2008, 6%. In 2009, 9%. 50% growth in Africa. Highest rate in the world! Power of ICT: Already, financial, health, transport, education, etc services utilizing ICTs making huge impacts in developing countries. The extensive prevalence of ICTs can be leveraged to extend the reach and quality of governance & public services in cities!

4 Widespread use of ICT tools in the Urban Ecosystem Honolulu: GIS tool for accurate flood risk level assessment of properties and assets USA: E- governance tools develop drainage, settlement plans for cities Port-au-Prince: Ushahidi s SMS based disaster response mechanism saved 100+ lives Westminster: Telemetry tools monitor sewage overflows and bottleneck locations Uganda: SMS-based service for rural water, sanitation information Madagascar: GIS tools perform bacteriological analysis of urban water sources Allahabad, India: GIS used to assess drainage, water supply system problems and gaps For Disaster Risk Management: GIS, E-Governance, Early Warning Systems (EWS)/Telemetry, Wireless technology most widely-used Local Government ICT tools

5 PSIA Policy Framework National ICT Policy (2000) ICT Strategy (2002) Public Sector Reform PARPA (Policy on Reduction of dire poverty) The objective of this study is to assess performance of the ICT-PARPA policy framework by evaluating ICT efficacy over a dimension of poverty that disproportionally affects the poor (i.e., climate-change/flooding) In Mozambique, a number of agencies actively investing in upgrading ICT capacity of Local governments for improving governance capabilities. 5

6 PSIA Objective Universally, uninformed/misguided ICT policies can actually lead to formation of Digital Divides within communities Digital Divides: The poor, or services oriented towards the poor, are rendered with little, if any, ICT capacity/capability to mitigate shocks. In Mozambique, a number of agencies actively investing in upgrading ICT capacity of Local governments for improving governance capabilities. This will help answer some key questions: 1] Has growth in municipal ICT mechanisms (GIS, E-Gov, EWS, Wireless) been equitable & advantageous for the vulnerable urban poor? 2] Have increasing ICT penetration rates amongst urban poor groups rendered them with additional capability to tackle effects of climate change? 3] How should ICT be embedded as a component of upcoming Coastal Cities & Climate Change Project (C4P)? Assessments carried out in coastal cities (covered under C4P initiative): Maputo, Beira, Pemba, Xai-Xai, Matola, Macia, Manhica, Chibuto 6

7 Assessments: Municipal IT Infrastructure Good IT infrastructure triggers a range of activities within local governments: - Streamlined municipal communication (for instance, via correspondence) - Secure data storage - Better accounting (e.g., using Excel spreadsheets), etc. - Strong municipal IT core fundamental to acquiring advanced ICT capability, such as IFMIS (for strengthened financial management), GIS (for better urban planning capacity), social accountability initiatives, etc. Methodology For each municipality, data was gathered on key parameters associated with: - The number of functional computer systems (PC/laptop) - Access to IT equipment - Speed of internet connection, if available - Availability of skilled IT technicians - General IT skill level of municipal officials - Local market support for IT infrastructure sustainability RESULTS Overall, municipal IT infrastructure capacity remains low in Mozambique, but advances 7 noticeably with prominence of metropolitan region

8 Assessments: GIS GIS can play an invaluable role in municipalities by providing: - Powerful clues on population/location of citizens most susceptible to flooding - Information on location/proximity of vulnerable citizens to roads and hospitals leads to the development of evacuation strategies for communities in real-time. - The display and analysis of this information on digital maps can assist in better urban planning and informed rehabilitation of affected communities. Methodology For each municipality, evaluation of the following mapping layers was performed: - Level of detailing of informal settlements - Topography - Drainage systems - Road networks - Hospitals/emergency-centers 2] Based upon a cross-comparison of depicted data on available open source maps, the level/quality of feature portrayal on the GIS digital maps was assigned a score from 0 10 (10 highest). 3] GIS capacity of municipality + INGC was evaluated to assess the coverage/quality of a GIS-enabled disaster response. (Note: an INGC field office is present in every city). RESULTS Municipal GIS capacity tends to increase with level of city s economic prominence, but 8 overall distribution of impact (across social strata) remains (overall) balanced across cities

9 Assessments: Early Warning Systems (EWS) - EWS involving: Telemetry (SCADA); Precipitation Simulation software; and Sensor-induced alarm mechanisms can forecast in advance: floods, typhoons, landslides, tsunamis, etc. - EWS provide timely estimates of the potential risk faced by communities, economies and the environment via real-time monitoring and predicting capabilities. Methodology 1] The prediction of hydro-meteorological hazards (such as floods) in Mozambique is the responsibility of the National Water Management Agency (ARA). > EWS ICT capacity of the three ARA centers (ARA-SUL, ARA-CENTRAL, ARA-NORDE) assessed 2] For each municipality, sanitation department officials interviewed + drainage system maps surveyed to assess implementation of sensors/scada/telemetry in the drainage systems RESULTS Overall impact of EWS is high in the Southern province cities due to installation of effective Flood prediction software at ARA-SUL. However, overall distribution of impact across communities remains equal across cities. 9

10 Assessments: E-Governance Tools Worldwide, E-governance tools (such as E-Land management systems) control/prevent issuance of construction licenses on flood-prone (low-lying) plots. Reduces vulnerability of communities to flooding. Methodology In Mozambique, salient E-government projects launched/underway: Government Electronic Network (GovNet); State Personnel Information System (SIP 2000), Financial Administrative and Management System (e-sistafe); Computerized Land Registry and Management system (LMIS); Civil Identification System; Health information system, etc. -For each municipality, capabilities of available E-governance systems surveyed to assess whether any of these helped enhance urban climate resilience. RESULTS While currently installed E-Governance tools do not contribute much to enhancing climate resilience, overall distribution of the installed capacity s impact for poorer communities tends to increase inversely with economic prominence of city. 10

11 Assessments: Wireless Communications Mobile telephony and Radio communication systems can be important mediums to help cities tackle the effects of climate change. For instance: Local governments can use these systems to broadcast warning messages (using SMS, for instance) to citizens on upcoming weather conditions or disseminate information on available relief facilities/services in the event of disaster. Communities can harness these mediums to instantaneously monitor and communicate environmental issues and encourage environmental activism. Methodology Municipal PR departments in each city were interviewed on any collaborative arrangements with mobile phone operators and radio channels. Availability of relevant mobile-phone apps was surveyed. Currently, the mobile telecom medium is not being harnessed towards enhancing urban climate resilience. However, there exist vibrant Local government community Radio/TV 11 channel relationships.

12 Analysis of Results/Conclusions Overall capability of municipalities to leverage ICT for Disaster Risk Management increases with economic significance levels. But, the overall distribution of (any) existing ICT impact tends to be more equal or greater for the poor in smaller, poorer cities. 12

13 Applicability Findings very significant in context of low-capacity countries reliant on external donor aid and TA: Situation replicates in other countries of sub-saharan Africa? ICT over-investment in major urban centers creating Digital Divides? Better ICT capability for smaller cities tackles poverty more effectively? Donor-sponsored Intra-agency projects counter-productive? - Promotes Silo culture - System inflexibility - Lack of municipal ownership - Lack of sustainability/continuity emphasis 13

14 Next Steps 1. Showcase findings in upcoming 4CP workshop to raise awareness amongst stakeholders regarding the capabilities of ICT for Climate-change adaptation + existing situation in Mozambique Municipal officials to pick-and-choose ICT aspects for integration EWS, open source urban mapping, telecom-operator collaboration lowhanging fruits 2. CSOs, Citizens to be sensitized on ICT potential; CSOs to be supported on initiating pilots as entry points for furthering ICT-Urban agenda. 3. Comprehensive Bank report to completed by end-jan: Dissemination tool Report to be used for generating dialogue in CMU: ICT in CAS Trusted guiding tool for leveraging ICT for DRM in Mozambique 4. Generate high-policy dialogue on impact/adoption of ICT Strategy on PARPA objectives > Integration of data silo overlaps amongst DRM agencies Streamlining of ICT mechanisms, goals, direction towards reducing poverty 14

15 Questions? Concerns? Gaurav Relhan ICT Specialist, AFTUW 15

16 APPENDIX 16

17 Results/Findings: Municipal IT Infrastructure Overall, municipal IT infrastructure capacity remains low in Mozambique, but advances 17 noticeably with prominence of metropolitan region

18 Results/Findings: GIS Municipal GIS capacity tends to increase with level of city s economic prominence, but 18 overall distribution of impact (across social strata) remains (overall) balanced across cities

19 Results/Findings: Early Warning Systems Overall impact of EWS is high in the Southern province cities due to installation of effective Flood prediction software at ARA-SUL. However, overall distribution of impact across communities remains equal across cities. 19

20 Results/Findings: E-Governance Tools While currently installed E-Governance tools do not contribute much to enhancing climate resilience, overall distribution of the installed capacity s impact for poorer communities tends to increase inversely with economic prominence of city. 20

21 Results/Findings: Wireless Communications Currently, the mobile telecom medium is not being harnessed towards enhancing urban climate resilience. However, there exist vibrant Local government community Radio/TV 21 channel relationships.