Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Sendai city, Miyagi Prefecture, has launched programs to help technology companies in the region partner up with major companies for disaster management initiatives.
Prime Value, a digital content producer based in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, has linked with communication provider NEC Platforms to create a system to address the need for rapid delivery of food and daily necessities to evacuation centers.
Prime Value President Ryoji Yoshida has designed the service with accessibility in mind, as the system allows orders to be placed by phone, fax, or the internet. It will convert information about orders placed via phone and fax into a digital format.
The company also aims to create a database of previous order records to help determine what kind of relief supplies and foods are needed during emergencies.
To address problems that occur during and immediately after a disaster, software developer Andex in Sendai is developing two mobile phone apps.
One app guides people to evacuation centers by showing the route to the nearest shelters; the other app will be used to support the operation of the centers by using Artificial Intelligence to recognize the gender, age, and number of people in a shelter to determine necessary supplies.
In 2018, Andex obtained a license for regional broadband mobile wireless access so that if mobile carriers restrict calls in times of disaster, Andex will not be affected.
Similarly, developer Trek Co. created a system that uses tablets installed at the entrance of evacuation centers to recognize the faces of evacuees and send data on their age and gender to local governments. With a 5G network, people can quickly be notified where their family members have evacuated based on their photos, and then share information on how crowded shelters are.
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