Description

In 21st century, the development scenario of communities worldwide has been marked

by its economic growth, social stability, and technological advancement. Moreover,

in this age of information, the collection, storage, transmission and use of information

has further strengthened the development and sustainability of the communities.

In this direction, the incorporation of Information and Communication Technologies

(ICT) in different aspects of human life focuses on improving the quality of life and

strengthening the human capabilities for facing various challenges. The advent of ICT

in various fields has influenced the innovation to an unimaginable extent and provided

various smart solutions to deal with the existing challenges viz. healthcare, agriculture

, transportation, education, urbanization, etc.

This dimension of disaster management system design is called ICT-based disaster management 6].

The disasters have significantly impacted societies and economies worldwide, and it

can be well illustrated through the figures related to the occurrences, casualties, and

economic losses caused due to disasters in the past (as shown in Fig. 1.1). The analysis

of Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) 7] has depicted a total of 8223 natural

disasters worldwide during the period 1997-2017. The presented statistics show how

disasters have affected both the life and habitats on this planet, and it was mainly

due to the lack of the communities' abilities to handle the disaster-associated threats

and challenges. However, with the course of time, these surging grave consequences

of disasters viz. demographic, environmental, and socio-economic disruptions, and

the innovative penetration of ICT in various fields, have shifted the focus of various

communities and nations towards the exploration of ICT-based disaster managementrelated

solutions.

Because of this, many initiatives at the world level viz. ICT for Disaster Management in Philippines, AMS Emergency Telecommunications, Bhutan: Hydromet Services and Disaster Resilience Regional Project, and Fintech Innovation for Disaster Relief, have been initiated. This transition at the global level has drawn an enormous interest of the different research communities

from various corners of the world, paving the way for the communities to include ICT-based smart solutions to handle

the disruptive effects of disasters. The employment of ICT-based smart solutions enables the minimization of disruptions, human and socio-economic losses, and various other issues that emerge due to communities' vulnerability to disasters in more

structured and systematic ways using a common operating picture. This dimension of disaster management system design is called ICT-based disaster management.

The innovations in the domain of ICT have led to the development of cutting edge technologies and evolved a new computing model, where data is perceived from the physical spaces and analyzed at the cyber spaces for providing insightful data analytics

in the form of information services to the concerned stakeholders. In this regard, he paradigms of cloud computing and Internet of Things (IoT) prototype of wireless sensor network have become the forefront technologies in facilitating this computing

environment. The advancements in sensor technology and wireless communication and their assimilation in the IoT has promoted the wide-scale deployment of smart things and mobile devices in various domains.