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Main Page on 1999 Preparations |
GDIN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
JULY 16-17, 1998
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
ASSISTANT SECRETARY PRINCETON N. LYMAN
GOOD MORNING. IT IS MY PLEASURE TO WELCOME YOU TO THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND TO THIS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TO ADDRESS THE UTILITY AND FEASIBILITY OF A
GLOBAL DISASTER INFORMATION NETWORK -- GDIN FOR SHORT. MANY OF YOU HAVE TRAVELED THOUSANDS OF MILES TO BE HERE TODAY AND TOMORROW. WE ESPECIALLY APPRECIATE YOUR COMMITMENT OF TIME AND EFFORT.IN RECENT YEARS THERE HAS BEEN MUCH ADVANCEMENT IN OUR ABILITY TO REACT TO NATURAL AND MAN-MADE DISASTERS. WE ARE PROUD HERE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE OF OUR ROLE IN WORKING WITH THE UNITED NATIONS AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
RELIEFWEB, A DATA BASE FOR RESPONDING TO THE TERRIBLE TRAGEDIES OF REFUGEE FLOWS AND CONFLICT. NATURAL DISASTERS HAVE AN EVEN MORE INTERNATIONAL REACH. THEY AFFLICT A TERRIBLE TOLL ON LITERALLY EVERY COUNTRY ON EARTH.THANKS TO RAPIDLY DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGY WE CAN DO A MUCH BETTER JOB THAN A DECADE AGO, EVEN FIVE YEARS AGO, IN PREDICTING NATURAL DISASTERS AND IN PREPARING FOR AND RESPONDING TO THEM. WE CAN DO MORE IN BUILDING DISASTER-RESILIENT COMMUNITIES. ALREADY SUCH TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES HAVE INCREASED WARNING TIME AND LOWERED DRAMATICALLY THE CASUALTIES FROM STORMS, FLOODS, AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS. BUT THERE IS MUCH MORE WE CAN DO. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY, MOREOVER, WE CAN SHARE CAPACITIES AND INFORMATION AS NEVER BEFORE, BREACHING THE GAPS BETWEEN RICH AND POOR NATIONS, AND SPEEDING THE INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO DISASTERS WHEREVER THEY OCCUR.
CENTRAL TO INCREASED INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION ON NATURAL DISASTERS IS BETTER SHARING OF INFORMATION. ALREADY TODAY, VOLUMES OF DISASTER INFORMATION ARE GENERATED DAILY BY THOUSANDS OF SOURCES THROUGHOUT THE GLOBE; AND WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME EVEN MORE AND BETTER INFORMATION WILL BECOME AVAILABLE. THEY KEY TASK, AS WE SEE IT, IS TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO ALL THIS INFORMATION, SO THAT DECISION-MAKERS THROUGHOUT THE GLOBE CAN GET THE INFORMATION THEY NEED AT THE RIGHT TIME AND IN THE RIGHT FORMAT. HENCE THE IDEA OF A GLOBAL DISASTER INFORMATION NETWORK, AS A MEANS OF LINKING TOGETHER DISPARATE SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND MAKING THEM RALLY ACCESSIBLE TO ALL WHO NEED THEM.
IN ADVANCE OF THIS CONFERENCE, WE HAVE CIRCULATED A CONCEPT PAPER THAT GIVES OUR IDEAS AS TO HOW GDIN MIGHT FUNCTION. I HOPE THAT YOU HAVE HAD TIME TO READ AND REFLECT ON IT. LET ME EMPHASIZE THAT THIS PAPER IS NOT INTENDED AS A FINISHED PRODUCT, BUT RATHER AS FOOD FOR THOUGHT -- A WAY TO HELP PROVOKE DISCUSSION OF THE SUBJECT. THIS CONFERENCE IS DESIGNED TO BE AN EXCHANGE OF IDEAS. I HOPE YOU WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS CONFERENCE TO EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS ON THE MERITS OF GDIN, ON THE FUNCTIONS IT MIGHT BE CALLED UPON TO PERFORM, AND HOW INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION MIGHT BEST BE ORGANIZED IN PRACTICE.
YOU WILL ALSO HAVE SEEN THE AGENDA THAT WE HAVE PREPARED FOR THIS CONFERENCE. THIS MORNING WILL BE DEVOTED TO INTRODUCING THE CONCEPT OF GDIN AND DISCUSSING GENERALLY INFORMATION NEEDS IN NATURAL DISASTERS. THIS AFTERNOON AND TOMORROW A SERIES OF MORE SPECIALIZED PANELS WILL EXAMINE IN MORE DETAIL ISSUES OF GENERATING AND SHARING INFORMATION IN NATURAL DISASTERS. IN THE CONCLUDING SESSION TOMORROW AFTERNOON, WE WILL ATTEMPT TO SUM UP THE DISCUSSION AND REACH SOME CONSENSUS ON NEXT STEPS TO BE TAKEN.
AS THE CONFERENCE PROGRESSES, I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO BE THINKING ABOUT WHETHER GDIN CAN IN FACT BE A VIABLE ENTERPRISE, AS WE BELIEVE IT CAN, AND OF SO, WHERE WE GO FROM HERE. THERE IS NO AMERICAN BLUEPRINT FOR GDIN. WE ARE LOOKING FOR, INDEED NEED, A CONSENSUS IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY OF ALL THOSE WHO ARE INVOLVED IN SOME FORM OR FASHION IN COPING WITH NATURAL DISASTERS. TOGETHER, I THINK WE CAN FASHION SOMETHING UNIQUE AND POWERFUL, AND A BOON TO PEOPLE EVERYWHERE.
ONCE AGAIN, LET ME WELCOME YOU TO THIS CONFERENCE AND EXPRESS OUR APPRECIATION FOR YOUR COMING TO WASHINGTON TO ADDRESS THIS IMPORTANT CONCERN. I WILL NOW TURN OVER THE PODIUM TO LEON FUERTH, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR TO VICE PRESIDENT GORE. NO ONE IN THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT HAS GIVEN MORE ATTENTION AND SUPPORT TO THE GDIN CONCEPT THAT VICE PRESIDENT GORE. HIS UNIQUE INSIGHTS INTO THE POWER AND POTENTIAL OF MODERN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND HIS DEEP CONCERN WITH ALLEVIATING HUMAN SUFFERING, HAVE MADE HIM A CHAMPION OF THE WORK TO DATE TO DEVELOP THIS CONCEPT. LEON FUERTH HAS BEEN A DRIVING FORCE IN THESE DELIBERATIONS AND SOMEONE WITH SPECIAL EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE. IT IS A GREAT PLEASURE TO INTRODUCE HIM TO YOU NOW TO PROVIDE A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE POTENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND OPERATION OF GDIN AS WE VIEW THEM FROM HERE IN THE UNITED STATES.