Crowdsourced bi-directional disaster reporting and alerting on smartphones in Lao PDR

Abstract: Natural disasters are a large threat for people especially in developing countries such as Laos. ICT-based disaster management systems aim at supporting disaster warning and response efforts. However, the ability to directly communicate in both directions between local and administrative level is often not supported, and a tight integration into administrative workflows is missing. In this paper, we present the smartphone-based disaster and reporting system Mobile4D. It allows for bi-directional communication while being fully involved in administrative processes. We present the system setup and discuss integration into administrative structures in Lao PDR.