Speaker
Description
On December 5, 2022, in the Official Gazette numbered 32034 (Repeated), the "Procedures and Principles for the Production and Sharing of Geographic Data Related to Disasters and Emergencies" were published. However, the related legislation and the work under disaster risk management are still insufficient. When looking at the dominant disaster types occurring in Turkiye, we see landslides, avalanches, rock falls, floods, earthquakes, and forest fires that have emerged due to the impact of climate change. Particularly, the chaotic environment experienced during the earthquakes on February 6, 2023, and the difficulties in accessing accurate information made the deficiencies in the aforementioned legal regulations and disaster risk management more pronounced.
During and after disasters, there have been disruptions in accessing geographic data and sharing that data, contributing to the increased destructive effects of the earthquake. The insufficient efforts in disaster risk management in Turkey, along with the inadequacies of public institutions in this regard, undefined inter-institutional coordination, lack of defined data formats and standards, and the uncertainty of data update periods by data-producing institutions, have led to the inability to manage disaster processes. This situation results in the loss of life and property.
Access to up-to-date geographic data during a disaster process is crucial for reducing the destructive effects of disasters, enabling effective intervention, and crisis management. Geographic data allows for rapid assessment of the disaster's impact, development of accurate intervention strategies, and guidance in post-disaster recovery processes. It also ensures correct public communication during the disaster, enables pre-disaster risk analysis and facilitates coordination among various institutions during the disaster. In this context, the legislation in Turkiye needs to be updated.
The objective of this study is to create legal regulations that enable the systematic collection of geographic data to intervene more quickly and effectively in disasters and improve disaster management processes. Another goal is to establish standards for the geographic data that will be shared during disasters, define the types of data required during the disaster, and increase the diversity of geographic data layers in a way that enables more effective data analysis.
In this context, the study emphasizes how disaster risk management should be developed within the context of geospatial data. It focuses on what this data should be, how it is represented in the Turkish National Geographic Information Infrastructure (TUCBS), how it can be integrated into the AYDES application managed by the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), and which institutions are responsible for producing this data. The study also examines how integrated information systems can be established in disaster risk management, how integrated disaster risk management activities can be sustained, and what the interoperability principles should be in this context.
Developing systems that cover the demands of citizens, public institutions, and users, creating applications capable of analysis and evaluation, preparing thematic risk maps, and identifying areas at risk within disaster risk management will help prevent potential disasters. Therefore, the improvement of legislation and the development of disaster risk management platforms through the use of modern information technologies are essential. This study also discusses how improvements should be made and how current risk management practices can be developed, with examples from around the world, aiming to reduce the destructive effects of disasters.
| Keywords | geographical data list, disaster risk management |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
