Technology firm Cisco’s Philippine office developed the Cisco KONEKTADO solution aimed at helping disaster-prone LGUs (local government unit) that are constantly exposed to risks brought by natural calamities.

“The way we address emergencies has benefitted from technology’s development to help save lives when disaster strikes like we’ve seen in the use of social media to help disseminate critical information during calamities,” said Karrie Ilagan, Cisco Philippines Managing Director. “But technology’s potential can now be further harnessed to help shift reactive disaster response to one anchored on prevention through the creation of a more robust disaster plan before it’s too late.”

Cisco KONEKTADO has several disaster-resilient components that allow faster communication and collaboration among LGUs. The all-in-one connectivity, communications, and collaboration solution can be used to establish or strengthen connections among LGUs and their respective municipalities.

Through its “video in a box” functionalities, risk-prone LGUs can facilitate training and shorten critical meetings through video conferencing. This helps in expediting strategic planning sessions by improving information sharing among parties for intel-gathering and up-to-the-minute updates.

Another important component of Cisco KONEKTADO is its capability to establish networks when infrastructure is down. CISCO KONEKTADO provides a resilient, lightweight “network in a box” that can facilitate better coordination for search, rescue, and retrieval capacities to areas with no cellular signal or internet. “The solution was built with components that are easy to scale as Cisco’s experience during Yolanda underlined mobility was key when it came to disaster response,” said Ilagan. “Cisco KONEKTADO is capable of establishing a reliable network that can aid tactical deployments for immediate disaster response with little to no downtime.”

The all-Cisco hardware and software suite was also built to be interoperable with legacy solutions each LGU might already have in place, reducing the need to overhaul well-functioning systems while innovating their local processes.

“Each high-functioning component of the solution is made to be easily installed, programmed, and used by non-technical people, eliminating the need for dedicated specialists and cutting downtime for staging and deployment when action is crucial,” added Ilagan. “And outside of disaster response, the suite can help increase productivity in any municipality’s day to day business as well.”

With the development of Cisco KONEKTADO, Cisco hopes to enrich the country’s disaster response by also planning to reach out to LGUs all over the country through roadshows set to help deepen their education as well as training on DRRM throughout the year.