A geographic information system (GIS) used for monitoring the country’s road system proved effective at keeping motorists away from potentially dangerous roads when Taiwan was struck by Typhoon Fanapi late last month, the Directorate General of Highways (DGH) said.
The first-hand information provided by the system allowed the DGH to monitor many vulnerable road sections and bridges prior to and during the storm and reduce the risk of casualties, said Chen Shou-chiang (陳守強), an engineer with the DGH’s Central Emergency Command Center.
The DGH said that 18 road sections were completely blocked by landslides and other natural obstacles triggered by the typhoon, and another 48 suffered minor damage. All of the affected sections were tracked by the system.
Because of the GIS, the agency was able to close off some roads and bridges before the storm hit to prevent motorists from being caught in sudden road or bridge collapses and it also monitored the roads in real-time to warn vehicles away soon after problems occurred.
The DGH added that all 66 of the affected road sections were open to traffic by the end of last month.
The installation in April of the NT$1.3 million (US$41,000) cloud computing system was aimed at integrating information from relevant government branches to enhance the government’s response to natural disasters, Chen said.
He said the system has encouraged cross-department collaboration. Agencies with access to the platform’s database are all able to share instant typhoon information to improve response efficiency.
Participating agencies include the Central Weather Bureau, the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction, the Water Resources Agency, as well as the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, the DGH said.
Until now, however, the system has been only partially open to the public because of the Computer-Processed Personal Data Protection Act (電腦處理個人資料保護法).
“Technically speaking, the system is ready to go online anytime,” Chen said. “We hope a public edition without specific information is launched soon.”
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all