Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems
Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems

Strengthening the early warning system in the Dominican Republic

Fortalecimiento del Sistema de Alerta Temprana (SAT) en la República Dominicana

Eine Insel mit Palmen und Strand, der Himmel ist mit dunklen Gewitterwolken verhangen.
© istock / valio84sl

Every year, the Dominican Republic suffers from floods and other natural events that often have catastrophic consequences. Strategies for effective population warning via the existing local early warning system were already developed in a previous project in 2017. The goal now is to further strengthen the early warning system.

The targeted delivery of easy-to-understand warnings to the population is an essential part of the early warning process. Therefore, the existing early warning processes, including the media used to inform the population, is investigated in cooperation with Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The focus is mainly on the inclusion of local actors to create targeted warnings.

Fraunhofer FOKUS is responsible for the analysis of the technical platform and the existing warning app AlertaCOE. Based on the evaluation, current scientific findings and experiences from the operation of the warning system KATWARN in Germany, proposals and concepts for the improvement as well as the long-term and sustainable operation of the systems will be developed.

The project is carried out together with GIZ Mexico, AMEXCID from Mexico, Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development of the Dominican Republic (MEPyD) and the Emergency Center of the Dominican Republic (COE).

Pre-Project Expansion of the Early Warning System in the Dominican Republic (01.2017 – 12.2017)

In a first project phase, we improved the existing early warning system of the Dominican Republic and developed new solutions, also using new technologies, in order to warn the population effectively and specifically. The project was carried out in close cooperation with the Instituto Dominicano de Desarrollo Integral (IDDI) on site and the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). After an analysis of previous warning procedures and the actors involved, strategies for an effective dissemination of warnings were developed. A dialogue with responsible authorities, information service providers and citizens was established through several missions on site.