SAGIP Disaster Resilience Technologies Digital Exhibit

SAGIP means to save, or to rescue, in Filipino. Saving people in disaster situations need not be grand, only efficient. AIC’s innovations are designed not only to help people in real-time disaster situations, but also empowers people and communities to find ways to save themselves through these accessible and affordable makeshift technologies

Innovative technology that is practical and mindful of context-specific concerns is needed for disaster resiliency. When resources are meager and the situation is far from ideal, makeshift interventions through innovative technology are lifesaving. The Ateneo Innovation Center’s (AIC) efforts are oriented towards this end. SAGIP walks you through how AIC’s technologies help bridge the gap between basic needs and the constraints brought about by disaster situations.

Ateneo de Manila University President Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin, SJ, PhD (CCARPH Project Holder), and Dr. Mélanie Robertson (IDRC Senior Program Specialist, Climate Change Program) join Dr. Emma Porio (CCARPH Project Leader & Principal Investigator) in officially opening the SAGIP exhibit to the public last February 13, 2019.

(Photo from Arielle Acosta of Areté)

NEED 1: COMMUNICATION

Information and data are plenty, coming from everywhere. Coordination towards organized evacuation, relief efforts, and victim finding and rescue is dependent on this information. Every need needs accounting for.

But the phone lines are down. No cell coverage. No internet.

NEAR CLOUD

Near Cloud allows you to upload, share, and download documents onto your mobile devices without access to the Web. Designed specifically for disaster contexts, Near Cloud is accessible within an approximately 10-meter radius. It makes use of a rapidly deployable plug computer paired with terabyte external hard drives cached with targeted pre-loaded content. These Near Cloud nodes are used as wireless servers for mobile command and control centers and for evacuation centers.

The technology is currently being developed alongside a facial recognition system connected to a database stored in the Cloud, for the purposes of victim finding and identification.

IMAGE TRANSFER VIA RADIO

Images provide clearer pictures. Faces need be known, situations need be recognized. But again, the lines are down, there is no cell coverage, no internet. All you have: cellphones and radios.

NEED 2: FOOD AND WATER

It’s been raining nonstop, been flooding for days. Water is everywhere, but it is unsafe to drink. Food is scarce. Relief too often comes in cans, plastics, and tetra packs. Land ravaged by rain, produce is difficult to grow.

WATER FILTRATION

This portable system allows you to harvest rainwater and filter four liters of water per minute. Aside from being fast, it is user-friendly, efficient, and low-cost. AIC can install and provide communities training for its use and maintenance in just a few days.

Further, entrepreneurial training can be provided so that the water system can be used as a source of livelihood.

AQUAPONICS

This system addresses the need for a sustainable source of healthy food. With it, you can grow plants and fish. It saves water, does not require fertilizer, and is self-contained. It is efficient and affordable, it minimizes waste, and it can become a source of livelihood.

NEED 3: MEDICAL SUPPORT

There is no power. Hospitals are too far away and inaccessible, and the community health centers can only do so much with what little they have.

BICYCLE CHARGER

When there is no power, you find ways to generate it. This bicycle charger is an alternative power source. It can be used to charge batteries and power medical devices.

NEBULIZERS

Nebulizers are used to administer medication in the form of mist inhaled into the lungs. This one is a far less expensive model which uses easier to find materials and which are easier to assemble.

They are also manual. They can be used despite the lack of electricity in an area.

PHOTOTHERAPY INCUBATOR

This low-cost and efficient incubator is designed for low-resource hospitals. It makes use of light emitting diodes (LED), which are power efficient, low heat producing light sources, and can be used for shorter treatment time.

DIGITAL STETHOSCOPE

This stethoscope allows you to record the heartbeat. The stethoscope head has a small microphone which can be connected to a PC or a phone. Free apps like audacity or Garage Band can be used to amplify the acoustic signal or recording. Community health workers can send the recordings to offsite doctors for faster diagnosis.

HEAT BLANKET

A heat blanket is created with just a regular blanket or towel and a heat pad. The heat pad can be bought in drugstores. It is filled with sodium acetate which can be made simply by cooking vinegar and baking soda.

The heat will last up to two and a half hours. The blanket can be used for infants and in cases of flood or typhoon rescues.

The Coastal Cities at Risk in the Philippines: Investing in Climate and Disaster Resilience project (CCARPH) welcomed Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto to the Sagip exhibit – An Exhibition on Makeshift Disaster Resilience Technologies last June 14, 2019.

(Photo from Jirehlene Zerrudo of CCARPH)

EXHIBIT PARTNERS

The Ateneo Innovation Center

The Ateneo Innovation Center is a research organization that engages in technology development and training with the goals of empowering disadvantaged communities, as well as the next generation of innovators and technopreneurs.

Our process of innovation, research, and commercialization is really simple: we look for really good ideas from ourselves in Ateneo, from our partners, and from around the world (through literature) for products, services, and models. We would then spend a year of research and development time to create prototypes and proof of concepts. Being an open innovation center we show these to our close partners and get feedback, buy-in, and investment. We work and work until something gels, or we vector into another direction that has more promise.

Coastal Cities at Risk in the Philippines

Spearheaded by Dr. Emma Porio of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology is a project that aims to strengthen disaster resilience by highlighting the multi-stakeholder nature of risk creation and reduction. In collaboration with the Ateneo de Manila University's School of Social Sciences, the School of Science and Engineering, the Manila Observatory, the National Resilience Council, and the Ateneo Innovation Center, CCARPH addresses the issues of disaster risk and resiliency through capacity-building. Its collaboration with Areté yields From Risk to Resilience, a data-driven exhibit that frames disaster intervention as a proactive rather than a responsive endeavor. The project has also been one of the first to be granted a Sandbox Residency by Areté.

Areté

As Ateneo de Manila’s hub for creativity and innovation, Areté not only provides space for the university’s conventional artistic endeavors; it also wants to incubate interdisciplinary collaborations to develop new, impactful ideas that arise from the meeting of minds from varying perspectives and disciplines. Through the Sandbox Programs, Areté provides connection, grants, space, and a series of activities that help its residents meet their specific objectives through transdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration.

The Coastal Cities at Risk: Investing in Climate and Disaster Resilience (CCARPH) project is a transdisciplinary action research project of the Ateneo de Manila University and the Manila Observatory in partnership with the National Resilience Council and with support from the International Development Research Centre (Canada).

To learn more about the project, you may contact ccarph@ateneo.edu, or call +632 8426 6001 local 5395

Created By

Coastal Cities at Risk in the Philippines (CCARPH)

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