Taiwan has completed a three-day Disaster Management Workshop in Koror, Palau, in partnership with the US, the Ministry of Science and Technology said on Thursday.
As part of the US-hosted Pacific Partnership, the event, which ran from Tuesday to Thursday, was conducted to enhance joint capabilities, technology sharing and coordination in humanitarian relief, the ministry said in a news release.
Taiwan was invited for being an innovator of technologies utilized in disaster response and for the ministry-affiliated National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR), it said.
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Palau’s telecommunications, power and water systems were damaged by Typhoon Surigae in April, which highlighted the need to improve disaster management, Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr said at the workshop on Tuesday.
Palau must gain knowledge and experience in preventing and mitigating natural disasters to meet the challenges of climate change and extreme weather, he said.
Palauan Vice President J. Uduch Sengebau Sr said natural disaster resiliency and sustainablility are universal issues that Palau would continue to discuss with Taiwan.
Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Lin Minn-tsong (林敏聰), who attended the event by teleconference, said Taiwan would share early warning systems and analytics for earthquakes, droughts and typhoons.
The ministry’s disaster management program is to continue its focus on innovative technologies and sustainable development, in line with the New Southbound Policy as it pertains to smart technology, he said.
Taiwan is to share expertise for applying big data analysis in disaster management, knowledge that it acquired after creating and operating 400 governmental databases, NCDR Director Hongey Chen (陳宏宇) told the event.
An international version of the platform is being created by the center in collaboration with the Philippines, Bhutan and Nepal as part of a smart disaster prevention program launched by the ministry in 2018, Chen said.
Taiwanese officials are to discuss the creation of Palau’s information network for receiving and distributing intelligence about natural disasters, as well as the utilization of redundant systems for alerting the public, he said.
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