Modern trends in ICT play a critical role in disaster mitigation, management and recovery” said Dr. Sumeet Gupta, Professor, School of Electronics & Communication Engineering, Shri Mata Vaihno Devi University, while delivering an invited talk at the opening day of the National Conference on Emerging Trends in Electronics (NCETE-2026) organized by the Department of Electronics at the University of Jammu.
While presenting his views on the topic “Role of Information & Communication Technology in Disaster Mitigation & Management”, Dr. Gupta mentioned that “we are living in an era where the frequency of natural and manmade disasters is quite high; however, the loss of life and economic loss has reduced significantly, as compared to previous disasters, because of use of ICT over the decades.” The presentation discussed the different types of disaster scenarios including natural disasters like Earthquake, Cyclone, Floods, Tsunami, Hurricane, Landslides, Flashfloods, Wildfire, Avalanche, Lightening, Drought, Volcano and other disasters like Chemical leaks, Fire in buildings, Industrial accidents, epidemics, pandemics etc.
He informed that J&K sits on the highest hazard classification Zone VI, which makes it extremely vulnerable to earthquakes; however, the preparedness level of the citizens and the SDRF appears to be very poor and a concerted and urgent effort is needed in this direction.
He further focused on the usage of various ICT based techniques used for disaster mitigation. He pointed out that ICT facilitates all phases of disaster including mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
Techniques like IoT and sensor networks help in collection of data, AI & Big data help in creating predictive models for disaster forecasting based on the data collected and the historical trends, drones help in search and rescue, delivering supplies, assesses damage in hard-to-reach areas and restore communication in disaster affected areas, social media and crowdsourcing help in disseminating alerts and gathers real-time data from affected communities while techniques like blockchain ensured transparency in aid distribution and reduces misinformation. Technologies like UAVs, RIS, GPS, sensor networks, IoT, satellite phones, emergency mobile networks, cybersecurity, real-time data processing are also used for efficient management and coordination.
He took questions from the audience on the various ICT strategies Dr. Gupta was felicitated by the organizers of the conference Prof Susheel Kumar Sharma, Convener and Head of the Department of Electronics, University of Jammu, Prof. Parveen Lehana, and Prof. Rakesh Vaid.
