Building Resilient Infrastructure | IGF 2023 Day 0 Event #203

Seth Ayers

The escalating threat of climate change is disproportionately impacting developing nations, with estimates suggesting that extreme weather events could push as many as 130 million individuals into severe poverty. This downturn in living standards is leading to mass migration, altering economic and social dynamics in numerous countries.

On a brighter note, the advantages of resilient infrastructure, particularly in these developing nations, have been greatly emphasised. Every dollar invested in enhancing the resilience of infrastructure projects is believed to generate a fourfold return. This figure highlights the immense potential that resilient infrastructure offers for social and economic development, which could help counteract the adverse effects of climate change, decrease the level of poverty and stem migration.

Digital technologies represent another vital tool in combatting climate change. About half of the developing nations view digital technologies as an integral driver for mitigating the impacts of climate change. Furthermore, approximately 75% of countries deem these technologies essential in their adaptation strategies to climate change.

However, there is a glaring digital divide, as roughly a third of the world’s population remains offline. Countries with access to digital technologies can deliver services to their citizens three times faster than those without such advancements. This stark disparity underscores the immediate need for greater investment to bridge this digital divide and address the issue of insufficient internet access.

The concept of ‘greening’ the telecom infrastructure has been proposed as a fundamental response to climate change. The World Bank suggests two approaches: ‘greening digital,’ which involves making telecom infrastructure adaptable to climate change, and ‘greening with digital,’ which refers to the use of digital technologies to help reduce carbon emissions. The efficient implementation of these innovative strategies could combat the impending threats posed by climate change.

In addition, the ‘Lifeline Report,’ published by the World Bank in 2019, is notably significant in this context. This report assesses various forms of critical infrastructure through comprehensive country case studies and underlines the ‘one in four’ return on investment ratio for resilient infrastructure.

Open source data is acknowledged as essential for evaluations and the implementation of strategies, particularly by the World Bank. This institution utilises open source applications and data for in-country evaluations.

Lastly, there is a degree of uncertainty surrounding NetBlocks as a data source. Regardless, the analysis clearly demonstrates that urgent and strategic actions, particularly in the realms of resilient infrastructure, digital technologies, cybersecurity, and open data utilisation, are prerequisites in our fight against climate change and worldwide socio-economic challenges.

Tomohiro Otani

The analysis presents a vigorous, positive sentiment concerning the strategies prepared for disaster recovery and network environment monitoring. This readiness extends both locally and globally. Japan employs a robust strategy, operating a network of 12 centres spread out nationally, with the primary units located in Tokyo and Osaka. Advantageously, the time difference between Asian and European regions is leveraged for continuous global operations.

A notable facet of their strategy is the innovative use of advanced technology in disaster recovery. This includes a disaster recovery tool which proves instrumental in monitoring real-time situations and promptly coordinating teams to fix network failures. The disaster countermeasure dashboard efficiently collects data needed to delegate team members, considering the extent of environmental damage. Big data-based disaster management systems aid in simplifying the understanding of the situation’s scale and complexity. In conjunction with these technologies, drones are employed for remote monitoring, further bolstering recovery procedures.

Moreover, there is meticulous planning for recovery and continuity in cases of disasters. This comprises provisions for operators to download vital information to their devices before going on-site, crucial if telecommunication services fail. Also, no terrain is off-limits for network recovery efforts, including land, sky, sea, and even space.

Furthermore, regular training for disaster recovery and boosting network resilience is a key aspect of the strategy. This involves collaborations with various public sectors and municipalities, aiming not just to restore connections, but also to bring a sense of relief and positivity to the affected population.

The ongoing assurances to strengthen internet access were also underscored. Japanese operators are diligently constructing a 5G network nationwide, with the results showing substantial progress; over 90% availability has been realised in 5G coverage. However, Tomohiro Otani noted the disparities in coverage and speed between mobile and fixed services and conventions such as 4G and 5G. Otani suggests referring to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) website for precise figures on coverage and internet speed.

In conclusion, this widespread investment in disaster recovery, utilisation of cutting-edge technology, comprehensive continuity planning, and ongoing training, coupled with an ambitious 5G rollout programme, illustrates a progressive approach towards safeguarding and enhancing Japan’s digital infrastructure.

Roderic S. Santiago

PLDT Smart, awarded the title of fastest mobile network in the Philippines by GLOMO, has prioritised disaster resilience and sustainability. This aligns their corporate objectives with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9 and 11, which pertain to industry, innovation, infrastructure, and sustainable cities. Headed by Eric Santiago, the company has implemented a variety of measures to optimise network performance while ensuring service sustainability and continuity during calamities.

Harnessing renewable energy, Smart has set up solar-powered sites, particularly beneficial for the Philippines, a nation frequently tormented by approximately 20 typhoons annually. This innovative approach significantly emphasises the necessity for a robust and resilient network that can maintain function during such adverse times. Additional initiatives include the Emergency Cell Broadcast System and Smart Satellite, technologies which are pivotal for disaster response and ensuring continuity of service.

Moreover, recognising the importance of education regarding disaster preparedness, systematic efforts have been made to utilise different modes of learning. This includes devising and distributing short online videos imparting essential knowledge about disaster responses. These are disseminated widely through websites and text messages. However, acknowledging the challenges of digital literacy among the population, face-to-face learning initiatives have also been instigated. Certain areas are targeted using caravans to provide hands-on demonstrations, ensuring education is reach-inclusive, even for those who aren’t tech-savvy.

An interesting concept in action is intergenerational learning, leveraging young people’s updated knowledge and adaptability. Youth are encouraged to teach their older family members about disaster preparedness, leading to increased household awareness.

In conclusion, the actions of PLDT Smart reflect a comprehensive approach towards disaster resilience, established through technological innovation and extensive education efforts. Their strategies highlight the practical intersection of multiple SDGs, reciprocally integrating objectives focusing on industry, infrastructure, and urban resilience with education. It’s an exemplary model, demonstrating the potential synergies achievable through incorporating various SDGs in strategy formation and execution.

Ken Katayama

Ken Katayama inaugurated the session with a warm and welcoming introduction before seamlessly transitioning into his role as moderator for the discussion on ‘Building Resilient Infrastructure’, conducted in Kyoto. His commendable affiliations include the distinguished Keio University Global Research Institute and the globally recognised Toyota Motor Corporation. This clearly establishes his depth of knowledge in Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, and Quality Education, underscored by the primary themes of SDGs 9 and 4.

In a bid to maintain the efficiency and structure of the proceedings, Ken designated specific time allotments for speakers. Each contributor was assigned an eight-minute slot for their presentation, whilst a consolidated time of fifteen minutes was set aside for the entire Japanese delegation. This arrangement reflected Ken’s adept management skills and his emphasis on time efficiency, exemplifying a well-organised and succinct session.

In alignment with the principles of Quality Education (SDG 4), Ken championed interactive learning by encouraging attendees to participate actively. He specifically acknowledged Sugimoto-san’s potential to make valuable contributions to the conversation, thus fostering diverse viewpoints on the topics discussed.

With its focus on cultivating innovative solutions to reinforce resilient infrastructure and nurture sustainable cities and communities, the session manifested its alignment with SDGs 9 and 11. Inclusive and engaging moderation, alongside efficient time management, demonstrated Ken’s commitment to a productive dialogue.

In conclusion, Ken Katayama’s proficient moderation exemplified a well-structured, interactive dialogue centred on the development of resilient infrastructure. His prioritisation of effective time management, the promotion of audience interaction, and affiliation with impactful institutes highlighted his dedication to innovation, infrastructure development, and quality education. His work attests to the interconnected nature of these goals.

Masayoshi Morita

In 2011, the devastating Great East Japan Earthquake caused extensive damage to the nation, particularly impacting the critical communications infrastructure. This catastrophic event resulted in a worrying total of 385 communication buildings going offline, creating immense hurdles for the country’s emergency response systems. Additionally, sixteen communication buildings were severely damaged, and a staggering 1.5 million power lines were severed. This disaster starkly highlighted the vulnerability of Japan’s communication infrastructure to such destructive natural events and underscored the urgent necessity for efficacious and efficient disaster response strategies.

However, demonstrating fantastic resilience, the NTT group exhibited a robust response to the catastrophe. They mobilised an impressive workforce of 10,000, which remarkably enabled the restorative efforts of all affected communication buildings within a span of just 50 days, given the massive scale of devastation. This was primarily achieved by leveraging satellite communication devices and installing mobile base stations in the affected regions, establishing a vital lifeline in the mitigation of the overall aftermath of the disaster.

Learning from the calamitous event, the company has henceforth implemented several preventive measures to optimise their disaster response strategies. Key among these measures is the strategic initiative of relocating communication buildings and cables further inland or onto hillsides, thus reducing the risk of direct impact from tsunamis and floods. Innovative technologies, such as drones, have also been sought to predict potential disaster areas and plan efficient recovery procedures, thereby, significantly enhancing their disaster management strategy. Furthermore, a renewed emphasis on training, incorporating disaster response simulations and joint training initiatives with the Self-Defense Force, has been introduced to ensure a well-prepared, adept response team.

The company’s proactive approach aligns perfectly with two of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure and SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. By prioritising innovation in disaster management and developing resilient infrastructure, alongside creating sustainable and safe urban spaces, the strategies clearly embody these objectives.

In conclusion, the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake illuminates the essential importance of comprehensive, effective disaster management strategies within the field of communications infrastructure, emphasising the pivotal role industry innovation plays in enhancing resilience against natural disasters.

Audience

The panel discussion encompassed a wide array of topics, with a principal focus on cyber security, disaster control, training, and telecommunications. Attending the audience, Sasaki Motsumura serves Workforce Development in the cyber security division at NICT. He underlined the challenge of raising awareness and pre-emptive preparation for potential incidents. Drawing comparisons with disaster control, the significance of hands-on training and simulation exercises were highlighted as means to boost awareness and preparedness. Specifically, the analogy between disaster prevention and control when addressing issues of cyber security was brought forth.

Regarding the governmental structure of Australia, the discussion revolved around their collaboration with the telecommunications industry. It was observed that both the federal government and the states/territories take on separate roles when interacting with the telecommunications sector. Furthermore, throughout exigencies such as bushfires and floods, the Australian government reportedly liaises with the telecom industry on an individual case basis, illustrating a tailor-made crisis management approach rather than a blanket policy.

Investment and finance also held a vital place in the conversation. In particular, the need for deciphering the return on investment was spotlighted. A bold proposition suggesting every £1 of investment yields £4 return invited the audience’s scepticism. This underscored the necessity for a clear conception of return on investments, specifically in the broader context of national infrastructure.

An enquiry was also raised about the status of the internet in Japan, focusing specifically on coverage and speed outside of emergency situations. This line of questioning shows the audience’s interest in understanding standard operational procedures for internet access in Japan and its potential performance during a crisis.

Regarding education, questions revolved around strategies to inculcate resilience and effective communication among the population. It was advocated that for successful long-term benefits, a deep understanding and transparent reflection of investments in education and communication are crucial. This connects back to the previous enquiry about understanding return on investments and indicates a more comprehensive concern about resource distribution in these areas.

To sum up, the discussion yielded significant insights into disaster management, cybersecurity, infrastructure investment, and the education system. It underlined the essentiality for a clear understanding of investments, the significance of public education, and the critical role training and exercises play in cyber defence and disaster control.

Yasuhiro Otsuka

Situated in a region prone to natural disasters, Japan frequently contends with severe disturbances to its communication services. A significant 20% of global earthquakes with a magnitude of six or above occur in the country’s vicinity. These intense seismic activities, coupled with destructive typhoons, often trigger heavy rainfall, flooding, and landslides. These severe weather patterns subsequently cause drastic interruptions to the country’s communication networks.

The continuous provision of communication services has become integral to our modern lifestyles and the smooth operation of economic activities. Our societies’ growing dependence on these services emphasises the urgent need for resilient networks to withstand the frequent natural disasters that Japan experiences.

Taking heed of this call for resilience, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) in Japan has implemented revised technical standards. The aim of these changes is to extend the operational times of major base stations, thereby fortifying the stability of communication services across the country. These measures have facilitated the establishment of more than 9,000 mobile base stations, capable of continuous operation for 24 hours or longer. In addition, mobile power supply vehicles and portable generators have been deployed nationwide as part of a broader disaster response strategy. Notably, these advancements align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on industry, innovation, and infrastructure enhancement.

The MIC has also recognised the need for collaborative approaches to manage natural disasters. This has led to the establishment of partnerships with various government agencies, local municipalities, and public utility operators. These collaborative efforts aim to strengthen disaster resilience in Japan by leveraging the combined capabilities of different sectors. Platforms have been set up to facilitate collaboration on critical elements such as electricity, power, and fuel distribution, as well as the removal of obstacles on roads following disasters.

In conclusion, as Japan grapples with its susceptibility to natural disasters, the country is making positive strides towards industry innovation and infrastructure resilience. The vital role of communication services in contemporary society has been acknowledged, and a strong focus is placed on maintaining these services amidst natural disasters. This collaborative approach, which involves various sectors, is a significant step towards achieving the United Nations’ SDGs related to sustainable cities, communities, and infrastructural innovation.

Tara Konarzewki

Australia is grappling with a rise in extreme weather events, evidenced by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The summer of 2019-2020 witnessed widespread bushfires, causing extensive devastation and significantly impacting the nation’s telecommunications. These events, coupled with a recurrent pattern of destructive weather, underscore a pressing need for robust disaster resilience strategies.

The mandate for handling such disasters is shared amongst several entities. The federal government is in charge of managing policy and regulatory frameworks, whilst state and territory governments are charged with handling disaster response. Concurrently, the direct operation and maintenance of telecommunications networks fall upon the carriers themselves.

Key efforts towards strengthening disaster resilience include the Better Connectivity Plan by the Australian government. This initiative, supporting Goals 9 and 13 of the Sustainable Development Goals (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, and Climate Action), devotes over $1.1 billion to rural and regional communities in Australia. The plan incorporates numerous measures to fortify resilience against the natural disasters that Australia routinely faces.

Furthermore, Australia’s federal structure significantly influences disaster control and engagement methods. Incidents are tackled on a case-by-case basis, necessitating cooperation between the government and the telecommunications industry. This structure calls for event-specific planning given the cyclical nature of bushfires and floods at specified times of the year.

Overall, whilst there’s escalating action towards addressing the urgent issue of climate-induced disasters, more targeted planning and collaborative efforts between the government and telecommunication providers could boost Australia’s resilience to these extreme weather events. Long-tail keywords included in this summary include Australian government, extreme weather events, telecommunications, bushfires, disaster resilience strategies, Better Connectivity Plan, Sustainable Development Goals, Industry Innovation and Infrastructure, Climate Action, rural and regional communities, and federal structure.

Ken Katayama:
as well, too. Thank you. じゃあ始めちゃいますね。じゃあ、帝国になりましたので始めさせていただければと思います。 Now it’s 12 o’clock, so let’s get started on time. As I mentioned, for those who are on the outside, you’re more than welcome to sit with us. 外側に座っている方々、是非別に一緒に中に座っていただいても全然結構でございますので、 是非インタークティブなディスカッションをできればと思います。 So I’ll be the moderate… Wait, I don’t have… 私、通訳しなくてもいいんですよ。 I don’t have to translate for myself, right? Okay, so for the benefit of my non-Japanese speakers, welcome to Kyoto and welcome to the Building Resilient Infrastructure session. My name is Ken Katayama. I’ll be moderating in my role as the Keio University Global Research Institute role. My day job is I work for Toyota Motor Corporation. We’re a mobility company, but today I’ll be speaking in my role as Keio University. Thank you, Otsuka-san, for giving me the opportunity to be able to moderate this session. We’d like to keep this session on schedule. I’ve asked my speakers to keep to eight minutes each. The Japanese delegation of Otsuka-san and Morita-san and Otani-san will be speaking 15 minutes in total, and then Eric on my right will be speaking eight minutes, and then we have a speaker from Australia also doing eight minutes. So we want to provide also an opportunity for each of our speakers to be able to re-comment on some of the other things that they’ve heard, and also especially give the audience, like Tsukimoto-san, an opportunity to comment. So if I may, Seth, are you ready to speak? While you’re getting ready to… and are you online, Seth? Yes, I am. Can you hear me okay? Can everybody hear Seth? I guess you can, right? Seth, can you say something again? Yes. Good. Okay, so now… Yes, hi everyone. Great. Now I think also we have to get your slide on the screen. We can hear your voice, but… I think we have to show the slides of the first speaker, Seth. Ohtani-san, right? I’m glad I got it right. Do we have Seth’s slides up? I’m still trying to use some time. So it doesn’t seem like the slides are up. I’m still going to use some more time. The reason why I asked my former colleague Sugimoto-san from NICT… Do you know Sugimoto-san? She’s really super, super sharp. And so she used to work at NISC, which is our cyber security agency. And also she did privacy work at MICC before that as well too. So I know that she’s probably in a right position to make a comment. Because we want a comment. So Seth… Okay, so Seth, why don’t you just start talking… And we’ll figure out the slides as we go along.

Seth Ayers:
Please. Sure. Sure. Sounds good. Okay. All right. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you very much for this opportunity to participate in this discussion. And I’m sorry that I can’t be there in person with all of you in Kyoto, but very happy to have the opportunity to participate virtually. My name is Seth Ayers. I lead a business line in the World Bank that focuses on the nexus between digital technologies and climate change. And for the presentation today, I’ll talk a bit about how we think about these issues, the overlapping issues of digital and climate change and resilient infrastructure in particular as part of addressing the connectivity challenges that we’re facing globally. And I see it looks like my first slide, at least the cover slide is up. And actually, if you could please go to the next slide. Thank you. Great. So I wanted to begin the presentation just by giving a bit of context with a couple of key statistics on issues about climate change that many people may be aware of. Certainly climate change is impacting all countries globally, but for developing countries, the impact is far greater. And estimates that up to 130 million people will be pushed into poverty who currently are not in poverty. So they’re above the poverty line at the moment, but because of these severe weather events, whether it’s flooding or droughts are gonna be pushed into a poverty situation. And then we’re going to also, the predictions are for massive migration patterns. So significant changes to people’s economic and social situations as a result. of climate change. These challenges are particularly acute for small island developing states for reasons that many people would likely be aware because of their low-lying nature. They’re particularly susceptible to a number of severe events, such as rising sea levels and intensified cyclones and hurricanes and storm events. And on the positive side, the work that we’ve done has identified that if you do make an investment into making your digital infrastructure or any sort of infrastructure in general more resilient, that there’s a massive benefit for doing so. For every dollar that’s invested into making infrastructure more resilient, you actually get a $4 return. So significant upside to making your infrastructure more resilient. Next slide, please. OK. So the other thing I wanted to flag was that many developing countries are recognizing the significant potential that digital technologies. So when we talk about digital technologies, it’s telecom infrastructure, data infrastructure, as well as being able to use these technologies through digital skills. So developing countries are recognizing that digital technologies are going to be fundamental to both addressing our climate challenges as well as making sure that countries are able to adapt to these new dynamics. And so here is just we did a review of the nationally determined contributions of developing countries. And you can see on the mitigation side that nearly 50% of the countries look at digital technologies as a key driver. And in the case of adaptation, so helping countries adopt to climate change, nearly 75% of countries are putting digital technologies as a key driver. Next slide, please. So if we recognize that digital technologies are critical to tackling climate change, and that we know we need to make this infrastructure more resilient, what are some of the challenges that we face in building this infrastructure globally? So as we went through the pandemic, and we were reliant on doing more virtual activities in countries in which digital technologies existed, they were able to deliver services to their citizens at a rate of three times. They were able to get services to three times the number of individuals than countries that did not have these digital technologies. So whether you’re dealing with a pandemic or a severe climate event, having digital infrastructure is essential for service delivery. Yet there’s about 3 billion people globally who do not have access to the internet. So about a third of the world’s population is not online. So that’s a huge challenge is if we recognize the power of digital, both for not just ensuring service delivery and helping people adapt to climate change, but also as a tool for helping high emitting sectors such as transport and energy reduce emissions, we’ve got to address this connectivity gap and to do so in a sustainable and green way. Next slide, please. Okay, so at the World Bank, we’re tackling this issue on two fronts. We have what we call greening digital, so ways in which we look at the sector itself. And this is, I’m gonna dive a bit deeper into some of the work that we do here on resilient infrastructure. So when we talk about greening digital, it’s greening the digital infrastructure, both from a resilience standpoint on the adaptation side, and then also from a mitigation perspective. So the digital sector emits about the same amount of GHG emissions as the airline industry. So it’s somewhere between 1.5 to 4% of global emissions come from the digital sector. So it’s not a nominal amount. So it is important also, as we talk about resilience today, also to see the sector as also a generator of GHG and how to tackle that issue as well. And then the other piece that we look at is greening with digital. And this is ways in which digital technology can help countries adapt to climate change, develop new tools, early warning systems, et cetera, that can make countries be better prepared to climate events. And then also to use digital technologies to reduce emissions in other key sectors, such as energy, transport, agriculture. These sectors that are very high emitters, how can digital technologies help to reduce those emissions? Next slide, please. One more minute, Seth. One more minute, thank you. Okay. So I’ll go through, actually, if I could go to the next slide. All right. So, and actually, let me, I’ll jump into the country example to Kenya, please. Next slide. This was just identifying some of the issues that telecom infrastructure faces, which are amplified as a result of climate change. So next slide, please. Okay, very good. So in the case of Kenya, so Kenya has quite good telecom coverage, nearly 100% of the population has some sort of connectivity to the mobile network, and it has a decent fiber network as well. It is particularly susceptible to floods and storms and you can see from these pictures, how it was impacted in 2022, as well as in 2023. Next slide. Okay, and then, so what we’ve been doing with the Kenyan government is using GIS to be able to map all of the mobile network sites, particularly the base stations, and to overlay that data using flood prediction, and to be able to then determine which base stations are likely to be impacted or could be impacted by floods, and then to be able to make assessments on what the potential costs could be in order to then make adjustments and to improve the resiliency of that mobile infrastructure. Next slide, please. All right, and so then, not just looking at the country level, but more broadly, this gives you a sense of at different stages of the telecom infrastructure, whether it’s looking at international connectivity and submarine cables, steps that can be taken in order to reduce the potential threat or risk of climate events on this infrastructure. And this is where redundancy comes into particular play. And then next slide, and I’ll wrap up. This just shows you a bit more on the details with the other aspects of the telecom infrastructure, but maybe four quick things to wrap up on that developing countries are particularly vulnerable to climate change and severe weather events. So resiliency is key for telecom infrastructure as a driver for economic and social development. Two, there’s a high return on investment, $1 of resilient infrastructure investments returns $4. There’s generally uneven implementation, urban areas, high populated areas tend to have better resilient infrastructure, but more work needs to be done on rural areas. And in order to do this well, you need to do proper risk assessments and then make sure that redundancy and diversification are part of your plans going forward. Thank you very much.

Ken Katayama:
All right, thank you, Seth. I mean, again, I’ll give you time afterwards also to reiterate some of your points, but I appreciate the global view as well as the explanation on Kenya. So from Kenya, we’d like to go to Japan for our three speakers from Japan, starting with Mr. Otsuka from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Otsuka-san, five minutes, please.

Yasuhiro Otsuka:
Thank you, Katayama-san, for allowing my intervention. Good morning, everybody. My name is Yasuhiro Otsuka of Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. I’m in charge of policies related to today’s topic of how to deal with increasing risk of natural disasters and keeping our people connected. So now let me start my presentation. Seth-san just explained an increasing risk caused by climate change, and Japan is a country prone to such disasters. Next slide, please. Now let, oh, sorry. Earthquakes and typhoons are typical examples of natural disasters that affect the communication services in Japan. About 20% of earthquakes with magnitude six or greater occur around Japan. Later, Morita-san of NTT will explain the impacts of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. on communication services and the efforts to recover from the damage. The typhoon may be related to presentation of ERIC-SAN data, but typhoons often cause heavy rain, flooding and landslides and have huge impact on communication service in Japan as well. Next slide, please. Here is an example of typhoon, Fakusai, what we call by number in Japanese, number 15 in September 2019. Very strong winds with a maximum instantaneous velocity of more than 50 meters per second caused collapse of power transmission towers and utility poles and triggered large-scale power outages of up to 930,000 households in Tokyo metropolitan area and around. Restoration of power took a long time, and as a result, many mobile base stations ran out of batteries and stopped operation. During the worst period of damage, as shown in the map, more than 2,000 base stations of mobile operators combined stopped operation, mainly in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo. Next slide, please. As our daily lives and economic activities depend much more on communication services, the demand for continuous provision of communication services is getting even higher. The MIC, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, is working closely with operators to ensure stable provision of communication services. The role of MIC is to set the frameworks to realise resilient networks, and operators are expected to build and operate resilient networks based on such frameworks. As you can see in the dotted line, let me explain three examples of such frameworks. Next slide, please. The first example is to set technical requirements of networks in the form of regulations or guidelines. In the event of typhoon Faksai in 2019, which I mentioned earlier, prolonged power outages caused many mobile base stations to suspend their operations. In respect, the MIC revised the technical standards and stipulated that major base stations should be able to operate for a longer period. Specifically, as shown in the slide, base stations covering local government offices are required to satisfy operation time of 24 hours or longer. And base stations covering prefectural offices are recommended to satisfy operation time of 72 hours or longer. Based on the standards, now 9,000 mobile base stations satisfy operation time of 24 hours or longer nationwide. And in addition, some 4,000 mobile power supply vehicles and portable generators are deployed nationwide. One minute. And next slide, please. The second example, collaboration of related parties that includes MIC operators as government agencies and local municipalities and other public utility operators are essential to deal with natural disasters. So MIC set up platforms to such collaborations. Collaborations on electricity power, fuel, and cooperation on restoration of obstacles blocking roads are being implemented. For example, with information on the prospect of power restoration, communication operators can manage their mobile power supply vehicles more effectively to avoid suspension of operation. The next slide, please. This is a final slide of my presentation. Studies are being conducted at the MIC to realize inter-carrier roaming in the event of major disasters. It is expected that users of carrier A who have stopped operation will be rescued by the network of another carrier B. Study is under way to realise inter-carrier roaming by the end of 2025. I explained three examples of the role of MIC to set frameworks to realise resilient networks. I give the floor to Morita-san of NTT and Otani-san of KDDI. They will present their activities in the past and at the present to make their network resilient, as well as to recover from the damages promptly. Thank you for your attention. Thank you, Otsuka-san.

Ken Katayama:
Morita-san and Otani-san will be speaking in Japanese, so… So, Morita-san, please give us five minutes of your time.

Masayoshi Morita:
Thank you. My name is Morita, and I am in charge of disaster prevention at NTT. I will be speaking in Japanese. I am in charge of disaster response in the NTT group in Japan. So, I will be speaking in Japanese. I am in charge of disaster response in the NTT group in Japan. I will be speaking in Japanese. As Mr. Otsuka mentioned earlier, Japan is a country that is subject to many disasters. Today, I would like to talk about the situation of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which was the largest earthquake in Japan’s history. As you can see on the X mark, this was in March 2011. 9.0 magnitude earthquake occurred on the 11th of November. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and the tsunami that followed have caused great damage to Japan. Next slide, please. This is the damage to the communication facilities at the time. Due to the impact of the tsunami, power was cut off, and communication buildings were shut down in 385 locations. In addition, 16 communication buildings were damaged by the tsunami. There were 28,000 power poles that connected the cables. There were 1.5 million power lines that were cut off. This was a major damage. Next slide, please. This is the reconstruction of communication buildings. From the 8th to the 2nd day of the earthquake, power was maintained using batteries and emergency engines. However, it was difficult to procure the fuel needed for supply. Three days after the quake, power was cut off in 385 locations. The NTT group mobilized 10,000 people and friends and recovered all the buildings within 50 days. Next slide, please. Next, I will introduce the efforts to secure the communication of those who were actually affected. We brought satellite communication devices and mobile base stations to the affected areas to secure communication in those areas. Next slide, please. In addition, we provided voice message services to secure communication to confirm the safety of the affected areas. We set up 1.2 million voice calls for free. We also set up free internet connections. Next slide, please. This is about securing the power supply of the communication building. Since the commercial power supply has been shut down, we have installed batteries, self-generating devices, and other mobile power generators to secure the communication. Next slide, please. This is a picture of the recovery of the intermediate line. This is a picture of the recovery of the intermediate line. As you can see in the picture, the cable was washed away by the tsunami along with the line. In order to recover this, we have installed 11 batteries in the vicinity to restore the communication cable. Next slide, please. Now, I would like to introduce the efforts to strengthen our disaster response. Next slide, please. Regarding the communication building itself, we have made efforts to relocate the communication building to the hillside in order to prevent the tsunami or flood. Next slide, please. One minute left. In the same way, we have relocated the communication cable to the inland in order to prevent the tsunami or flood. We have made efforts to relocate the communication cable to the inland in order to prevent the tsunami or flood. Next slide, please. We have also used various drones. We have used various drones, such as large-scale ones, to investigate from above, or small-scale ones, to investigate from above. We have used various tools. The data on the left shows the weather forecast. In the area where the disaster was predicted, we placed personnel in advance, and on the right is the situation of the power of the communication building. We used this as a one-dimensional observation and used it for the estimation of an efficient recovery plan. Next slide, please. This is the last slide, but it is about training for disaster response. We carry out simulation on the ground, disaster response training and joint training with the Self-Defense Force, so that we can recover in the early stages of maintenance. As I have explained so far, we make various efforts to maintain the communication of our customers in the early stages of maintenance, and to recover them in the early stages of maintenance. That’s all from me. Thank you.

Ken Katayama:
Thank you, Mr. Morita. Thank you for your concrete efforts. Next, Mr. Otani, please.

Tomohiro Otani:
In order to prepare for disaster and monitoring, assess network environment, we have prepared for network operation center locally and globally. In terms of local operation in Japan, we have 12 network centers all over Japan. The main center is in Tokyo and Osaka. It’s a dual operation for resiliency. In the case of global operation, we have Tokyo. Asian part and European part are taking advantage of time difference from day to day. And today, we would like to introduce our recovery mechanism for in the case of disaster to pinpoint to handle the situation and let people on site. We are equipped with a very brand new IT gears from the point of ICT sense. And this is the disaster recovery tool which indicates how we monitor current situation and how we assign the people to fix the network failures. And also, we have a dashboard for disaster countermeasures, collecting from various data. And we can easily assign people to on site considering the current situation of the affected environment. And also, we have disaster management systems based on big data as well. We collected a bunch of data from network equipment, traffic, operators, and so forth. And we can easily understand what is going on and what will go on. in the environment. And also, operator on site will utilize smartphone and like iPad types of gear. But in the case of disaster, the communication services also out of services. So before going to the site, they download various information to their devices, and they can still utilize the information even on site where the telecommunication service is no more available. One more minute, please. And also, we have a drone to monitor remotely. We can get the information 2D, 3D, even movies. So we can effectively manage, understand what happened in the areas. And we can send the people to fix the network failure from land, sky, sea, as well as space. Recently, we introduced a starting brand new technology, even in the case of disasters. So this is new information. And lastly, we keep training ourselves thanks to other public sectors and municipalities, locally, even internal. We hope we can provide relief from connection and make you smile. This is the end. Thank you very much.

Ken Katayama:
Thank you so much, Otani-san. Thank you. Let me give the clicker to Eric. So, Eric from Philippines.

Roderic S. Santiago:
Thank you. All right. Konnichiwa, everyone. My name is Eric Santiago from PLDT Smart. So before I start, I just wanted to ask if you’re familiar about the Philippines having 7,107 islands, and that depends if it’s high tide or low tide. So aside from that, as you know, we are also a typhoon-prone country. There’s approximately 20 typhoons entering our area of responsibility every year. So by just saying that, it is crucial, it is critical for us to have resiliency embedded in the design of our network. And because of that, I just wanted to share one of this award. So Smart is the wireless arm of PLDT. It’s the – PLDT is the Philippines’ leading integrated telco company. So this was in MWC where we were awarded by UCLOS, the Philippines’ fastest and best mobile network. Having best mobile network includes not only the coverage but especially the resiliency of the network during the time of calamity. We are doing numerous things to optimize it with energy-efficient solutions to further enhance customer experience and also to promote sustainability. So we have deployed a lot of solar-powered sites to be able to reduce power consumption and also help the environment. We have accelerated our rollout not only on the macro sites or outdoor sites but also on in-building. to further enhance our services. But one thing to note is really the disaster resilience. We have been supporting the United Nations Office Humanitarian Affairs mandate on how to support subscribers, especially during time of disasters. By doing so, we have promoted some of these products, particularly the emergency cell broadcast system. This is the first one that we deployed first in the Philippines to ensure that we will provide promptly alerts to all the subscribers prior to any disasters. We have been providing some of the smart satellite, just like my colleagues here. We also provide resiliency through satellite backhaul during time of calamity, especially when the terrestrial sites are damaged, are not functional. We have provided a lot of text broadcasting and a lot of support during time of calamities. In that way, it is important for us that during and after the time of the disaster, we will be providing some hotlines, smart phones, SIM cards, and all of those free communication access to our subscribers. We have recently deployed this and it became very popular. It’s a one-stop emergency comms kit that will include a solar panel, smartphone, satellite phone, a wifi, a megaphone, a wheel cell, a flashlight, and a lot of emergency comms training. This one here really saved a lot of lives. Aside from that, maging laging handa is always, it’s a Tagalog word for. for always being prepared. So we have caravan teaching around the nation on how to be able to be prepared in times of calamities and what’s the first thing to do. As I mentioned, I just wanted to reiterate, building a resilient network is embedded in our design. We have transport network not only within the Philippines but also submarine cables that we have resiliency. So in time of piper cuts that we will have other routes to be able to continuously provide connectivity. We are expanding them to almost 1.1 kilometers right now of a piper network. And our emergency operations center is always ready to be able to provide services during time of calamity. The last one that we got hit by the super typhoon Rai in December, 2021, it was around Christmas time where we have deployed a lot of our supports by air, by land, and by sea, just to be able to provide connection during that time. With that said, I would like to highlight this one. This is an outstanding award from our national response and cluster highlighting that VLDT Smart has truly been a partner during time of disaster by utilizing a resilient network that no Filipino will be left behind during this time. And with that said, I also would like to show you this video to summarize everything that I said. Thank you. Thank you. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Thank you so much for the opportunity to present and share with you some of the initiatives we’re doing to deliver the resilient network to our fellow Filipinos in the Philippines. Thank you.

Ken Katayama:
Thank you so much, Eric. Very nice video as well, too. I appreciate that. Thank you. I think we have Dr. Kornazeski online. Hello? Hello. Yes, hello. Thank you. Welcome from Australia. I believe we were not able to do our pre-briefing today, Dr. Kornazeski. I was asking the speakers, Seth from the World Bank and Eric from the Philippines and yourself, for eight minutes each and then to provide an opportunity. for the audience and also some of the speakers to re-comment as well. So if I could ask you kindly to wrap up by about 12.48, our time, 12.49. I think if you’re in Australia, I guess that’s about 2.48. So I give the floor to you, Dr. Konowiecki. Thank you.

Tara Konarzewki:
Great. OK, great. Thank you very much. Thank you. There we go. Is that working? Can everyone see my screen? Yes, we can see your screen. Great. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me here at the forum today. All right. In the interest of time, I’ll get started. As in many parts of the world, Australia has experienced its fair share of extreme weather events in recent years. And the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has noted in recent reports that this warming is likely to continue. The effects of this warming in particular were demonstrated during the Australia 2019-2020 summer when large parts of the country were severely affected by bushfires. These bushfires resulted in tens of billions of hectares of land being destroyed, destruction of thousands of properties. Tragically, 33 lives were lost as well, including the death or displacement of an estimated 3 billion animals. Since then, a succession of La Niña weather events has caused significant flooding, impacting many communities across Australia over 2022. And the flooding has affected the everyday lives of many Australians, with many parts of the country, such as Sydney, experiencing its wettest year on record. I’ll just quickly go through these slides. So obviously, everyone in the room is aware of the impact of telecommunications from these disasters, such as fire. and floods, and I’m sure everyone in the room is also well aware of the impacts on communities, so in the interest of time, I’ll just pass through. Before I cover the key actions that the Australian government is taking to improve the resilience of telecommunications against disasters, I thought I’d just provide a general overview as to what the government’s role is when it comes to telecommunications disaster resiliency. So under Australia’s federal government structure, the Australian government is responsible for this includes responsibility for managing policy and regulatory settings for the sector, as well as providing grant funding to encourage certain activities, such as expanding mobile coverage in regional and remote areas. However, in Australia, it’s our state and territory governments, of which there are eight, that are primarily responsible for responding to disasters. Australia’s telecommunications carriers are likewise responsible for the direct operation and maintenance of their networks. This means that when a disaster occurs, telecommunications companies will typically work directly with the relevant state or territory government in accordance with the emergency management arrangements within that jurisdiction. The Australian government’s main role in this context is therefore to help prepare the sector to respond and assist with recovery from disasters. Now, this is just a general overview. And in practice, the state and territory governments will often work with the sector to help prepare them for disasters, such as by involving them in emergency planning. Likewise, the Australian government more broadly provides assistance to telecommunications companies on occasion when it’s necessary. So for example, the image up on the screen there is during a severe flooding event that impacted the northwest coast in January 2023, where floodwaters destroyed a major arterial bridge, which contained fibre optic cables. This caused major outages. And in response, assistance was provided by the Australian government in the form of a military aircraft to be able to get those technicians across the bridge. So in terms of what the Australian government has been doing to help prepare the sector for disasters, there are a range of actions that have been taken, recognising the serious impact of the 2019-2020 bushfires on Australia’s telecommunications network. The government has been implementing resiliency improvement initiatives through four core measures, which I’ll go through now. The first is the Mobile Network Hardening Programme Round 2, which is delivering around 1,000 mobile network resiliency upgrade projects across regional and remote Australia. So Stage 1 provided $13.2 million to upgrade battery backup power to a minimum of 12 hours at 467 base stations. Stage 2 provided $10.9 million for 536 resiliency upgrades. Over 461 of these upgrades have been completed so far, and they’ve included the installation of permanent power generators, increased battery reserves, transmission resiliency upgrades to protect against outages, and site hardening measures such as protective ember screening to protect sites from the potential impact of embers, radiation or flames. The second element is the SkyMaster Satellite Deployment Programme. So this programme has installed fixed satellite internet connections at over 1,000 evacuation centres and emergency service depots across Australia. This provides free backup connectivity via satellite. While many of these facilities already had fixed line connections, this way we can keep our emergency personnel connected and focused on the emergency response. The third element is the Temporary Infrastructure Deployment Programme, which is expanding the availability of portable assets such as cells on wheels and portable satellite kits which provide temporary coverage following a disaster. The final element is our communications program, which has been involved in developing communications material and other resources for stakeholders to use in an effort to improve general community awareness and preparedness for outages during disasters. All of these projects have had a real impact in improving the availability of telecommunications during natural disasters to date, and simple messages can help communities and tourists prepare and know how to get information and get help such as our radio broadcasting services. For example, during the March 2022 floods, temporary facilities were able to be deployed to evacuation centres in flood affected areas across the state of New South Wales, which provided critical connectivity for evacuated residents in their time of need. Another example of this was during major flooding in the state of Victoria when the communities of Bem River and Marlowe were isolated both geographically and in their connectivity, with both communities being able to access the internet through satellite services which were installed in the months prior. So while these examples have made a material difference, it is clear from more recent disasters that the threat posed is ongoing and that more needs to be done to improve the readiness of Australia’s telecommunications infrastructure. In acknowledgement of this, the Australian Government recently announced the Better Connectivity Plan for Regional and Rural Australia last year. The plan forms part of the Australian Government’s telecommunications agenda and is providing more than $1.1 billion to rural and regional communities in Australia. The plan includes $656 million over five years to improve mobile broadband connectivity and resilience in rural and regional Australia. As part of this, the Better Connectivity Plan includes $100 million in funding for additional measures aimed at further strengthening resilience against natural disasters. One more minute, please. Thank you. So of that $100 million, there’s two programs that are included in that. So the first one here is our Mobile Network Hardening Program, round two. And our second one is the Telecommunications Disaster Resilience Innovation Program. And if anyone would like any more information on either of those two initiatives, my contact details are up there on the screen. Thank you very much for your time today. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Ken Katayama:
Well, you had 30 more seconds, I think. Dr. Skipper, I appreciate you wrapping up. Thank you so much. Well, I appreciate all of my speakers keeping to time. As promised, I have 10 minutes for questions. Also, maybe some for some follow-up. I do recognize, since Tara and Seth are online, in the audience, I have some colleagues. Ms. Sugimoto, she’s from the National Institute for Communications and Technology, as well as Dr. Komiyama. He’s from JPCert. They’ll probably have good questions and comments. But before I point out them, Seth, do you have something that you wanted to add that you weren’t able to cover in your presentation?

Seth Ayers:
I’m good. I think I was able to cover everything as needed and look forward to the questions. Great, that’s fantastic. Thank you.

Ken Katayama:
Thank you. Mr. Otsuka, did you have anything you wanted to add? Thank you.

Masayoshi Morita:
I’ll speak in Japanese. I’ll wait for your question. Thank you. Mr. Morita, do you have anything you wanted to add? I’m good, too. Thank you for this precious opportunity.

Ken Katayama:
Eric, anything else you wanted to add before we go? I’m sorry, Tara, was there anything you wanted to add, because you still have 30 seconds left? No?

Tara Konarzewki:
No further comments from me, thank you.

Ken Katayama:
Okay, sure. Great, thank you. Sasaki Motsumura, did you have a comment or question? Well, thank you for the… And you should say where you’re from, I didn’t explain NICT, I’m sorry.

Audience:
Thank you for the impressive presentations. I’m from NICT, I work for Workforce Development regarding cyber security, and we always use analogy with disaster prevention and disaster control when emphasising the importance of cyber security and incident handling. So I have a question for Tara-san about Australian measure for disaster control, do you have any training or exercise mechanism with operators for the disaster control? Because I always feel it’s difficult to raise awareness and prepare beforehand when nothing is happening, so thank you.

Tara Konarzewki:
Thank you for the question. Yes, unfortunately, the way that the government is structured, with the federal government having a very separate role to our states and territories, the way that we engage with our telecommunications industry is probably a little bit different to some other countries around the world, but we do engage on a case-by-case basis when events do happen, obviously there is engagement between the governments or jurisdictions in Australia that are affected and the telecommunications industry, but it’s my understanding that there is some planning that does go into certain events that we can predict, obviously, Australia as a nation, we’ve got a lot of work to do do suffer from bushfires and floods, and they do happen at particular times of year, as experienced by many countries in the world. But if you would like to send me an email, I might be able to follow up with a few more specific projects. Thank you.

Audience:
Thank you so much.

Ken Katayama:
Thank you, Tara. Thank you so much for the question. Okay, sure. Do you have a microphone, if you could identify yourself and let us know who you are.

Audience:
I thank you all for your talks and your presentations. My name is Jarell James, and I represent Koala and Internet Alliance here at the IGF. I just have two quick questions, and if you’ll take them. One is for Seth. You had briefly mentioned that $1 of investment would do $4 in return, but it was a little quick and unclear as to kind of the metrics behind that. And then my next question is actually for the kind gentleman from the Philippines. If you could just speak to how you educated the population on the importance of communication, the resiliency, these would be very valuable. Thank you.

Ken Katayama:
Thank you. Seth, would you like to take the first question? Sure.

Seth Ayers:
In regards to that data point comes from a report that the World Bank published. I believe it was 2019. It’s called the Lifeline Report. I don’t think I can put in the chat, but I can send, but if you were to search for Lifeline World Bank report, it was on all infrastructure, basically looking at a variety of critical infrastructure and then doing evaluations. There’s also a number of really interesting country case studies on different types of infrastructure in addition to telecom specifically. But the one in four is in reference to overall return on investment for resilient infrastructure. Yeah, so it’s often referred to as the Lifeline Report. So if you put in Lifeline reports, World Bank, it should pop up in your search engine. Is just a quick follow-up, is this the similar data that’s being used by folks like NetBlocks to calculate particular regional shutdowns or internet blackouts and how they would affect the economic situation on the ground? I don’t know if you know NetBlocks, but netblocks.org, they’re using a lot of open source data, but I didn’t know if some of it was coming from the World Bank. Yeah, so it’s a very good question. I’m not sure of those details. The map that I showed for Kenya is based on open source data. So we do do a lot of work in country with open source applications and data in order to do some of the evaluations. I’m not sure specifically on that piece of it, but we do publish most of our data is available online at data.worldbank.org.

Ken Katayama:
Thank you. Eric?

Roderic S. Santiago:
All right, well, thanks for the question. So educating our constituent is a continuous journey, but let me divide it into three segments, right? Number one, online learning. So we are developing short videos to clearly showcase how and what to do during time of disaster. During time of disaster. And we distribute that one through our channels online, our websites, and via text messages. Second item is really, we use caravans to go to specific areas to do face-to-face learning, right? Because some people are not that tech savvy that you need to really show it to them and demonstrate, and that’s very powerful. And the third one is really informing the youth of today, in our country. to ensure, to encourage, and teach their grandmas, grandparents, and parents in their family. In that way, it will be a continuous learning to everybody. Thank you.

Ken Katayama:
So, are you satisfied with the two answers? Is that okay? Okay, well, all right. If you do, well, I work for a company which is important, called Just-In-Time. So, there’s two more minutes left. And so, if there’s no… So, if I could ask you to keep your question within two minutes. So, please, I’ll give you the microphone, if that’s okay to you. Is there a microphone over there? Please, you can pass the mic. So, if you could quickly identify yourself.

Audience:
No, no, I’m from Kazakhstan. Hello, my name is Arman Andrasilov. And I just want a question from the Japanese group. I’d like to know the current situation, I mean, in common situation, the percent of coverage of Japan and average speed of internet for common time. Because your presentation was about emergency time, but I don’t know about common time. Have any problems in common time?

Ken Katayama:
Coverage and internet speed.

Tomohiro Otani:
Hello, thank you very much for your questions. And we are not sure the exact number of… the percentage of coverage and the average speed of internet access, since there are differences between mobile and fixed services. And also even between 4G and 5G, there are service quality differences. Currently Japanese operators are eager to construct 5G network nationwide. I believe recently more than 90% availability in terms of 5G, but please visit MIC website to find exact numbers. In terms of 4G, we believe that 1990 point something, but the number is really fluctuating depending on the time and the day and the year, so please confirm the website.

Audience:
Okay, thank you. So you have no problem with resilience in the comment time?

Ken Katayama:
So maybe if we can use that question after the session. I’m going to stop now. Thank you. So thank you for answering. It’s 1 o’clock, as promised, we are finishing on time. Seth and Tara, thank you very much for participating from overseas. Thank you. And thank you, everybody. So if we can give all of us a hand of applause for participation. Thank you. Thank you.