Interviews
Creating "Disaster Prevention Tech" to reduce the risk of disasters in the world from Sendai that experienced the mega earthquake
2021.02.25
In 2011, Sendai City experienced a once-in-a-millennium mega-disaster. Nearly 10 years have passed since then, and now there is a growing movement in Sendai City to create "disaster prevention tech" products and services in the disaster prevention field that utilize IT technology.
This project aims to foster businesses in the field of disaster prevention by collaborating with major domestic and overseas companies, local companies, universities, and governments, and to disseminate them from Sendai to the world. We asked Takashi Kamikura, Section Manager of the Sendai City Industrial Promotion Division, and Nobuyuki Koike, Chief of the Sendai City Industrial Promotion Division, about their thoughts and background of this project.
This project aims to foster businesses in the field of disaster prevention by collaborating with major domestic and overseas companies, local companies, universities, and governments, and to disseminate them from Sendai to the world. We asked Takashi Kamikura, Section Manager of the Sendai City Industrial Promotion Division, and Nobuyuki Koike, Chief of the Sendai City Industrial Promotion Division, about their thoughts and background of this project.
Incorporating "disaster prevention" into people's lives
“BosaiTech” --This unfamiliar word is a coined word that combines "disaster prevention" and "technology." Since 2019, Sendai City has been undertaking various efforts by collaborating with local universities and companies to create new products and services "Disaster Prevention Tech” in the field of disaster prevention that utilize IT.
The pillar of the efforts is the "Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction" adopted at the 2015 World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai. This framework, which sets international goals in the field of disaster prevention, was stipulated in the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), and it was also an opportunity for the name of "Sendai" to be known worldwide.
Before the 10th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Mr. Kamikura said:
"As time goes by after the earthquake, their memory will fade away.
When I thought about how Sendai City could disseminate the experience of the earthquake, the key was the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. I heard that the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction was widely known overseas among people involved in disaster prevention, and it has become a policy for Sendai City to consider industrial promotion in the field of disaster prevention centered on this framework. "
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction stipulates the needs of preparations for disaster risk reduction and better ways for reconstructions, and it also stipulates the need to involve diverse stakeholders such as academic institutions and private companies. "It is important how we can incorporate the disaster prevention perspective described in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction into our products, our lives, and people's hearts. It must be implemented in society in various ways.” Based on the idea, Sendai City's efforts to create "disaster prevention tech" have begun in the open innovation form by collaborating with universities and private companies in Japan and overseas.
The pillar of the efforts is the "Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction" adopted at the 2015 World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai. This framework, which sets international goals in the field of disaster prevention, was stipulated in the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), and it was also an opportunity for the name of "Sendai" to be known worldwide.
Before the 10th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Mr. Kamikura said:
"As time goes by after the earthquake, their memory will fade away.
When I thought about how Sendai City could disseminate the experience of the earthquake, the key was the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. I heard that the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction was widely known overseas among people involved in disaster prevention, and it has become a policy for Sendai City to consider industrial promotion in the field of disaster prevention centered on this framework. "
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction stipulates the needs of preparations for disaster risk reduction and better ways for reconstructions, and it also stipulates the need to involve diverse stakeholders such as academic institutions and private companies. "It is important how we can incorporate the disaster prevention perspective described in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction into our products, our lives, and people's hearts. It must be implemented in society in various ways.” Based on the idea, Sendai City's efforts to create "disaster prevention tech" have begun in the open innovation form by collaborating with universities and private companies in Japan and overseas.