Smart taps schools for disaster monitoring via mobile

By Lawrence Casiraya - INQUIRER.net
CEBU CITY -- Mobile operator Smart Communications is tapping universities to become part of a nationwide monitoring network for natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons.

In particular, Smart wants to tap partner schools under the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP) initiative, which trains teachers from these schools on mobile and networking technologies.

“We want to involve these schools into a nationwide network of disaster monitoring systems,” said Mar Tamayo, head of Smart’s network services division, during the company's annual SWEEP competition held here.

Tamayo was referring to the development of such systems by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PhiVolcs), which is under the Department of Science and Technology.

Engineering faculty from the SWEEP partner schools met with PhiVolcs officials last October and presented proposals for low-cost “intensity meters” for monitoring earthquakes using GPS (global positioning system) technology.

Each school also gave updates on their respective disaster monitoring initiatives while agreeing to use these earthquake intensity meters in their respective schools.

Using wireless technology for disaster preparedness is the theme of this year’s SWEEP competition among schools. The winning school receives P500,000.

Smart's SWEEP competition is now on its fourth year. Mon Isberto, Smart’s public affairs spokesperson, said succeeding contests will focus more on wireless broadband areas and go beyond simpler GSM applications especially SMS or texting.