First of all, my condolences to Bangla brothers and sisters. We are sad to hear about the calamity, which in my opinion, should not have happened in a time we talk so much about the marvels of technology.

Natural disasters frequently remind us the importance of staying connected and informed. Isolation and ignorance make people vulnerable. The massive death toll in the aftermath of any disaster in this part of the world has more to do with the lack of the communication and information infrastructure rather than the lack of other resources. People die not only because there is no effective disaster warning and evacuation mechanism, but also there is no communication in the aftermath to support and provide relief to victims at the right time. Even in a poor country, disaster management would be much better if right ICT infrastructure is in place.

Government officials are happy to assure that ‘every possible step’ has been taken to avoid disasters, but repetition of the same calamity proves we still have long way to go. No third world government can assure its population is protected from natural disasters unless the issues of ‘connectivity’ and ‘education’ are addressed. In the 21st century, ‘empowering people’ means not just making them rich but making them ‘connected’ and ‘informed’ as well. Unfortunate incidents like these will be repeated till we realize that simple point.

One may argue Bangladesh already has the ICT infrastructure, but it still fails the acid test. Hazar kms of dark fiber means nothing unless it works for the people. How many knew this hazard in advance? Was the time of warning adequate for them to take precautionary actions? Were they educated/informed about these actions? Did all the links in the disaster management chain worked well? Does not this repeatedly remind us that no matter what we assume still there are weaker links in the disaster management chain?

I have addressed these issues in detail in ‘ICT for Disaster Management’ primer released few months back. (PDF version available at http://www.apdip.net/publications/iespprimers/eprimer-dm.pdf) The governments now have two options. Either built the right ICT infrastructure and protect people or let the same process repeat, may not be in Bangladesh next time.

How come a cyclone come from nowhere with no warnings? Even we knew hours, if not days before Katrina came. It was all over the net. But Bangladeshis caught unawares.

Is that just because Bangladesh is poor? So nobody cares.

I would like to know how many international news channels passed this warning. In case of Katrina they all did.