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Western Visayas pilots ‘SIGNAL’ project

ILOILO CITY (PIA) -- The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) 6 forged a partnership with the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) 6 and Police Regional Office (PRO) 6 to develop an online system for reporting critical and disastrous incidents and events.

In a press release, DOST 6, as the lead agency, dubbed the project as “Strategic Incident Georeferencing for Nationwide Alertness or "SIGNAL."

It is an online unified communication platform for reporting critical incidents and disastrous events for proper response and monitoring of government agencies.

(Seating from left to right) DOST 6 regional director Rowen R. Gelonga, OCD 6 regional director Jose Roberto R. Nuñez, and PRO-6 regional director Police Brigadier General Flynn E. Dongbo ink a partnership for the “Strategic Incident Georeferencing for Nationwide Alertness or ‘SIGNAL’ which will be initially launched here in Western Visayas. (FRG/PIA6/OCD6 photo)

The project came into being due to the issue pointed out with the absence of a dependable and robust database of disasters and other events that may be used by the agencies concerned for effective and efficient reports submission as well as strategic planning and analysis.

Also, there is a dependence on a limited number of automated hydromet stations to monitor weather-related events.

The online platform features will include the incident monitoring dashboard, notification, detailed information, response, resolution, and archives. 

DOST 6 also noted that the collaboration is initially limited to the said agencies but 

will soon expand partnerships with other agencies, especially the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offices (DRRMOs) of the local government units (LGUs).

Under the agreement, DRRM and other ICT Systems will be developed, and training will be conducted for personnel involved in the project as well as provision of other technical assistance and support from partner agencies.

The Project SIGNAL was officially launched during the Regional DRRM Summit held last June 22.

Meanwhile, it will initially be implemented in the region but will eventually be offered for use in other parts of the country as well.

“Western Visayas has the capacity to develop and use new digital technologies and innovations that can address its various development concerns including in the area of disaster risk reduction and management. We are confident that Project SIGNAL will also

eventually be adopted by other regions in the country,” said DOST regional director Rowen R. Gelonga.

It can be recalled that the DOST 6 was also the one that developed the "S-PASS" or Safe, Swift, and Smart Passage, which is an online travel management system used for domestic travel during the COVID-19 pandemic in the country when varying levels of travel restrictions were imposed by LGUs. (AAL/FRG/PIA6/Story from DOST 6)

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Franz Remar Garion

Region 6

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