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UGM launches app to help you help disaster victims
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Disaster volunteers are encouraged to download the GOTRO Relawan app from the Google Play store, while people wanting information regarding evacuees are advised to download GOTRO. (Shutterstock/File)
T
hrough its Center for Natural Disaster Studies (PSBA), Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University (UGM) has launched a disaster information system named GOTRO that can be accessed through smartphones running Android.
GOTRO, which stands for gotong royong (mutual cooperation), contains information about the latest situation and the needs of natural disaster survivors in evacuation centers.
GOTRO developer team leader M. Anggri Setiawan noted that most apps related to disaster focused only on the hazard, while there was no information system to provide accurate information about the locations of and conditions at evacuation centers following natural disasters.
“GOTRO is here to help create more effective and efficient community-based emergency response management, especially in logistics distribution procedures for disaster survivors,” Anggri told journalists on the campus on Friday.
He said information that could be accessed through the GOTRO application included the number of evacuees at an evacuation center, details on their age and gender as well as what they needed in terms of supplies, medical care, psychological help and donations.
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He said GOTRO was being developed since early 2018. It comes with three subsystems, namely GOTRO Relawan for volunteers, Admin for administrators and GOTRO for the general public.
Disaster volunteers are encouraged to download the GOTRO Relawan app from the Google Play store, while people wanting information regarding evacuees are advised to download GOTRO.
GOTRO works by updating reports already verified by the admin system on the situation at a disaster post from volunteers. GOTRO users will receive notifications on the latest developments at the post. This will also enable users to select what to donate and how to hand over the donation.
“With this app, information on disasters can hopefully reach the community faster,” said Anggri, adding that the app also allowed people to access disaster information based on the latest incident or the region closest to the user.
Anggri said the app had been presented at the annual scientific meeting of the Association of Disaster Experts in Padang, West Sumatra, from May 1-4. It was declared the first mobile application on disasters in Indonesia capable of providing information about disaster evacuation centers.
“The app can be downloaded for free,” said Anggri, adding that users could range from personnel of disaster mitigation agencies to military or police personnel, academics, regional administrations workers and the general public. (kes)
