Development of Real-Time Collection, Integration, and Sharing Technology for Infrastructure Damage Information

Abstract

At the time of a disaster, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) inspects the facilities under its jurisdiction and promptly collects infrastructure damage information. It may be difficult to grasp the damage information depending on when the disaster occurred; the time, size, and distribution of the damage; the weather; and so forth. Even in such a case, it is necessary to grasp the damage situation based on the limited available information, establish a system for the initial response, and proceed with the disaster response. National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management (NILIM) has developed the technology to collect infrastructure damage information with the necessary promptness, coverage, and reliability, using every kind of technology available and providing the necessary information for decision making. This study conducted a survey of officials who had been engaged in earthquake response following the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes, among others. The necessary technology has been developed to collect, integrate, and share disaster damage information according to the situation by considering that the information needs in disaster response changes from moment to moment, and such technology has been successively implemented on site. This paper describes the results of and the knowledge gained from this technological development and notes the study’s findings on the information needs and the efforts that need to be made in the future.