笹倉所長（Director Sasakura）

The Disaster Prevention Research Institute, which NTT East launched in April, is committed to on-site research and places emphasis on implementing a new disaster prevention model in the community. Currently, it promotes research activities based on three pillars: 1) “Identifying disaster prevention risks according to the characteristics of each area and visualizing the disaster prevention capabilities of local governments,” 2) “Working with the community to develop a disaster prevention plan (BCP plan) that suits the area and implementing it in the local community,” and 3) “Developing human resources who will take on regional disaster prevention through disaster prevention drills and skill acquisition.” We interviewed Director Satoshi Sasakura to hear about the institute’s policy.

–Background to the launch of the Disaster Prevention Research Institute
During the Great East Japan Earthquake, I was in charge of controlling communication restoration in the Disaster Countermeasures Office of NTT Holdings, and I witnessed how local activities came to a halt when communication was cut off. It also highlighted the weakening of the mutual assistance capabilities of local communities. From the experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake, we have come to believe that there is a limit to how much a disaster prevention system centered on public assistance can overcome a disaster, and that a model in which private companies, including designated public institutions like ours, are deeply involved in regional disaster prevention is necessary. We would like to implement the experience and know-how that we have cultivated through the Disaster Prevention Research Institute in regional disaster prevention.

–Key points of research activities
We are focusing on “social networks that protect lives,” and currently we are working on visualizing regional disaster prevention response capabilities. This has revealed that important events that concern human lives are an issue for many local governments. In particular, evacuation guidance for the elderly and those with special needs is not being done well. With a shortage of local local government employees, how can we quickly set up a disaster countermeasure headquarters and connect it to optimal and advanced activities? This is a major challenge.

Therefore, we are conducting research to predict the future from past data. We collect and analyze data such as past disaster information, people flow, traffic volume, and the state of social infrastructure when a disaster occurs, and predict the future. Local government employees can predict the scale of the damage and the number of victims in advance, and can speed up initial action such as the allocation of optimal human resources.

In addition, the area is currently overflowing with a huge amount of local information, such as weather data, open data, and SNS. Local government officials are often so busy processing information that they end up becoming confused. If that is the case, shouldn’t private companies be responsible for collecting and analyzing information? In the event of a disaster, private companies can create a pattern for when and what information to send to the local government, and what activities the local government will do with that information, so that the initial response can be made without confusion. We are currently researching how to create such patterns.

We are focusing on research aimed at improving the sophistication and efficiency of local disaster countermeasures, but we also place importance on phase-free. We will focus on implementing a social model that eliminates the distinction between peacetime and emergency situations and allows everyday items to be used in disaster situations.

For example, welfare work has not been defined as a type of rescue under the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act or the Disaster Relief Act. In other words, welfare staff have not been legally responsible for protecting the elderly when a disaster occurs, but with the revision of the law, they will be responsible. Therefore, it is necessary to make the welfare network in peacetime able to withstand emergencies as well.

–Aiming for on-site style research
In the event of a disaster, the first thing to be protected are the elderly and other people who need special care, as they are more likely to be exposed to life-threatening risks. For example, we will model a series of processes that will enable us to know where elderly people and other people requiring special care are who have not come to evacuation shelters, by implementing the operation of digital tools that can issue prompt and appropriate evacuation instructions in the event of a disaster, instruct the opening of evacuation shelters, and keep track of who entered which shelter and when, and then lead to local implementation.
Many people requiring special care usually use local welfare and nursing care services. We have been going to the actual site and conducting repeated interviews with the parties involved to find out who they are interacting with and how.
Through this initiative, we would like to clarify the functions and services that are truly necessary, and create a new local network that protects the lives of elderly people and people requiring special care. We will also actively develop proposals for creating new local networks.
In addition, disaster prevention radio has become established in the region. We would like to clarify whether the announcements on the disaster prevention radio really encourage residents to take action. How can we encourage residents to take action through information on the disaster prevention radio? This is an important research topic.
There are areas that should be done analogically and areas that should be done digitally, so we would like to propose a way of doing things that is rooted in the community. That is why field demonstrations are key.

— “Understanding causal relationships” is also a research theme
For example, if roads are flooded, logistics will stop, and if logistics stop, supplies will stop. In this way, the risk of stagnation in social activities will increase in a chain reaction. Furthermore, because the number of people supporting such social activities is decreasing, the impact of disasters is becoming more severe and prolonged.
As mentioned above, we are focusing on the social implementation of evacuation guidance models, but to guide people to evacuations, a passable route is necessary, and the road must be safe. Furthermore, if there is a risk of reckless driving on the road, it must be eliminated in advance. Traffic accidents that are likely to occur on the road and the state of deterioration must also be known in advance.
Understanding the connections between social activities in this way will become increasingly important in the future.
Even if the number of people supporting society decreases due to population decline, I believe that by uncovering the causal relationships of social activities, we can find a social model that can be supported by a small number of people.
Of course, this assumes the realization of a social model that utilizes digital technology. That is why it is necessary to change the system so that private companies that operate digital technology can support the community. There is no legal provision that requires private companies to take on regional disaster prevention, so we would like to develop proposals that include legal reforms.

–About research collaboration
Currently, we are conducting joint research with the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience. The National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience is Japan’s top research institute, and has a wealth of results from basic research on disaster prevention.
Japan has a wealth of results from basic research, but regional disaster prevention has not changed. There is a dilemma that research results are not implemented in society. By combining basic research with the social implementation capabilities and rule-making know-how we have cultivated in the telecommunications business, we may be able to get closer to the society that it should be.
In terms of collaboration, we also work with lifeline operators such as Tokyo Electric Power Company and Tokyo Gas. As a business that supports the region, it is important to expand disaster prevention cooperation. Furthermore, we would like to share our research results with local supermarkets and logistics companies, and create a new regional disaster prevention network that supports the region together.

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