{"id":79,"date":"2019-11-08T20:23:57","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T20:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mission2023.wpengine.com\/?page_id=79"},"modified":"2019-11-27T07:12:01","modified_gmt":"2019-11-27T07:12:01","slug":"communication","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mission2023.mit.edu\/?page_id=79","title":{"rendered":"Communication"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

One vital aspect of storm response and recovery which might initially be overlooked is communication. First responders and people distributing aid must know where help is required and coordinate efforts to get it there. Officials may need to communicate plans with their communities, update responders and organizations on community needs, and keep in touch with the rest of the community as recovery progresses. People in general can find comfort in hearing from friends, relatives, and other communities, and can be more prepared for disasters in the first place given information about how to prepare, as well as timely warnings about what to expect.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Figure 1: Outline of some communications-dependent tasks which might be performed by different people at different times. Our proposals together seek to enable these functions.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, Puerto Rico\u2019s communications were largely paralyzed by Maria, for reasons ranging from extended loss of power and staff to the wholesale destruction of infrastructure. To help ensure the aforementioned functions for communication can be fulfilled in the future, we\u2019ve devised a collection of proposals regarding technologies such as satellite<\/a>, cellular<\/a>, and radio-based<\/a> communications, as well as general guidelines for education and mental health<\/a>, and emergency alerts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Technology<\/strong><\/td>Use case<\/strong><\/td>Users<\/strong><\/td>Benefits<\/strong><\/td>Weaknesses<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Cellular<\/a><\/strong><\/td>
General use, calls and text messaging, emergency alerts
<\/td>		General public<\/td>Can provide access to online sources, communications while <\/td>
A large quantity of infrastructure can be disrupted in storms
<\/td><\/tr>
Online<\/strong><\/td>General use<\/td>General public<\/td>Wide variety of information available, on-demand<\/td>Communication lines can be vulnerable to storms<\/td><\/tr>
Satellite<\/a>
(WISECOM)<\/strong><\/td>		Emergency
deployment,
restore
connectivity to areas without
cell service <\/td>		General public<\/td>No
dependence on existing
ground
infrastructure,works with
existing
cellular
devices<\/td>		Not yet widely available for
public use (but similar system
already used
by militaries)<\/td><\/tr>
Satellite
(Phones)<\/strong><\/td>		Reliable,
independent
communica-
tions over
arbitrary
distances for
conveying
critical needs
or updates

<\/td>		Mayors,
officials,
journalists<\/td>		Essentially no
ground
infrastructure
requirement,
highly resilient<\/td>		Expensive to
purchase
phones and
plans<\/td><\/tr>
Television<\/strong><\/td>
Receiving and distributing information when available, especially for visuals

<\/td>		General public(mostly
one-way), journalists and reporters<\/td>		Audio and
video
information ismade
available,
relatively
common<\/td>		Minimal two-way communication,
interference
from weather
conditions<\/td><\/tr>
Radio (AM)<\/a><\/strong><\/td>Primarily
when other
communications and
power are
unavailable, or if preferring
listening<\/td>		General public(mostly one-
way), first
responders
(two-way)<\/td>		Accessible,
long-ranged,
less
infrastructure
required<\/td>		Two-way
communica-
tion difficult
for civilians,
transmit only
audio<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Although there are other means of communication which we do not touch on, including some listed above, those which we chose to address we believe to be representative of the widest variety of roles in storm response and recovery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Funding<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Communication is an issue which may warrant funding from the Puerto Rican government and outside donations. Some services like public and private radio stations which operate as informational centers during the storm are vital, but may not be profitable enough to autonomously afford certain infrastructure modifications suggested for long-term resilience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donations from communities may be viable, given the value provided by communications services; it is in the interests of the public, organizations and businesses to keep communication infrastructure well maintained in case of emergency. Some of our proposals regarding radio stations and emergency alert systems require relatively little funding, and may be well-supported by donations and volunteer work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our funding proposal mainly focuses receiving funds from the government and donations, but certain projects, such as Project Loon and Cell on Wings could be invested in by businesses.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Project Proposal Budget<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Project Proposals<\/td> <\/td>Estimated Cost (USD)<\/td><\/tr>
Iridium Communications Company satellite phones<\/td><\/td>$552,000<\/td><\/tr>
WISECOM<\/td><\/td>$3.66M<\/td><\/tr>
Radio stations<\/td><\/td>$4.3M<\/td><\/tr>
Education plans<\/td><\/td>$10.7M<\/td><\/tr>
Mental Health Programs<\/td><\/td>$4M<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Total:<\/td>$23.2M<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Figure 2: The estimated cost of providing communication during emergency, investing in improving the education plan and mental health programs.<\/em>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Proposal Overview<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Next Page – Hurricane Education<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction One vital aspect of storm response and recovery which might initially be overlooked is communication. First responders and people distributing aid must know where help is required and coordinate efforts to get it there. Officials may need to communicate plans with their communities, update responders and organizations on community needs, and keep in touch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":101,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-79","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mission2023.mit.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/79","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mission2023.mit.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mission2023.mit.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mission2023.mit.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mission2023.mit.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mission2023.mit.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/79\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mission2023.mit.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mission2023.mit.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}