Speaker:
Craig Baty

Date(s):
03 Sep 2012 to 03 Sep 2012

Topic:

Japan's most powerful earthquake since records began struck the north-east coast on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed the lives of some 20,000 people. The tsunami and earthquake together caused widespread damage across north-eastern Japan, resulting in the progressive and cascading breakdown of critical infrastructure services and technological systems – including energy, telecommunications, transport, water, sanitation and healthcare. The manufacturing industry faced massive supply chain disruptions and business continuity was compromised across most sectors. Especially in the immediate aftermath, power cuts and communications in general were particularly problematic as both mobile and landline infrastructures were damaged and overloaded

Fujitsu is by far the largest computer and communications company in Japan and runs most of Japan’s infrastructure and systems…so an extremely large scale and rapid response from Fujitsu was essential to get the country back up and running quickly.

This presentation will introduce the role that technology played in  the restoration of daily life and the rebuilding of social infrastructure in the disaster area. Various information and communication technologies and services were delivered to increase the efficiency and success of relief and rebuild work. The scope of technologies included the innovative use of social media, cloud based services, advanced hardware, software and services, medical technology, software as a service, disaster recovery technology…and simple hardwork digging out essential infrastructure such as ATMs to assist the flow of money to survivors.

In acknowledgement of Fujitsu’s contribution we were named among the 2012 laureates recognized under the IDG Computerworld Honors Program. This initiative honors individuals and organizations who create and use information technology to promote and advance public welfare, contribute to the greater good of society and change the world for the better. We also received the  21st Century Achievement Award by Computerworld for our innovative response to the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. This award, which has been running for 24 years, recognizes organizations and individuals around the world whose visionary applications of information technology promote positive social, economic and educational change.