Pangasinan soon to operate GeoCloud GIS technology in disaster management

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LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, Jan. 18 (PNA) -- Pangasinan will soon be the first province in the country to operate the GeoCloud Integrated Geographic Information System (GIS), a pioneering tool for the advancement of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM).

Provincial DRRM officer, Rhodyn Lunchinvar Oro, has recently returned from a study tour under the Japan International Cooperation Agency's (JICA) GeoCloud Knowledge Co-Creation Program, held in the cities of Kawasaki and Yokohama and the Shizuoka Prefecture.

“The idea of being able to generate and access real-time, relevant data with the efficiency of retrieving information is in line with the vision of Governor Amado Espino III of good governance through accessible knowledge,” Oro said upon his return here Monday.

Oro said the GIS in Pangasinan will be operational by August.

He explained that the Japanese tri-local government unit immersion tour was an eye-opener, as it showed how the GeoCloud Technology is a good investment for disaster preparation, response and rehabilitation.

Through the program, Oro said, representatives of various Philippine government agencies will be able to have a hands-on know-how of the actual operation of the system to ensure its smooth launch in the province and the country.

He said that this is a great start to forge a good bilateral DRRM relationship with Japan.

In Kawasaki City, the participants visited the headquarters of the GIS solutions provider company, Informatix, and later attended a workshop. They were greeted by Informatix chairman Masanori Nagashima and chief executive officer Shoichi Mihara.

They went to Kawasaki City GIS to study its application of the technology on system management, family registry and residence service, crisis management and urban planning.

They then moved to Shizouka Prefecture to take a peek at its utilization of the system in wide-scale services and information generation.

In Yokohama City, they toured the Disaster Risk Reduction Learning Center, a state-of-the-art simulation center for people to learn to reduce and prevent disaster damage.

The field study culminated at JICA's headquarters in Yokohama.

Other recipients of the GIS technology are the towns of Lingayen and Binmaley and Dagupan City.