Current Status and Issues of Information Sharing in Disaster Response in Japan: Information Linkage by “SIP4D”

Information sharing by related organizations is crucial in disaster response. In the event of a large-scale disaster that makes it difficult for the affected local government to respond independently, support from the central government and non-affected local governments is required. In such cases, effective activities by support organizations cannot be expected unless sufficient information is shared. The authors are currently working on the research and development of a platform for sharing information held by related organizations in a Japanese government project. In particular, they focus on the common operational picture (COP) necessary for effective activities by unifying the situational awareness of related organizations. This paper reports on the progress of the project, which commenced in 2014, and introduces current issues, directions for solving them, and efforts toward the advanced use of disaster information. Based on the results of a questionnaire distributed among local governments nationwide at the beginning of the project, the authors provide an overview of the state of disaster information system development in 2014. Based on the experience of actual disaster response, the authors will discuss the activity status of the Information Support Team (ISUT), the current status and issues of Shared Information Platform for Disaster Management (SIP4D), and NIED-Disaster Information-Sharing System (NIED-DISS).