Locating disaster communication in changing communicative ecologies across the Pacific
Main Article Content
Keywords
disaster communication
Abstract
The Pacific Island region is geographically and culturally diverse, with a significant range of communication infrastructures and challenges. Access and use of mobile phones has risen exponentially over the past five years. According to ITU statistics, around 60 percent of Pacific Islanders had access to a mobile in 2012, compared to just 10 percent in 2006. In many Pacific countries mobile phones are, therefore, emerging as a key element of the local communication systems, and are being be built into disaster management and communication plans. For these plans to be effective, however, we argue that access to, and affordability of, technologies represent only one dimension of what needs to be considered in effective disaster communication plans. They also need to consider appropriate technologies, local communicative ecologies, systems for the ownership and maintenance of infrastructures, and local knowledge and belief systems. With a focus on mobile and other telecommunications technologies, this paper provides an overview of disaster communication systems and infrastructures, practices and challenges in the region.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Andersen, B. 2013. ‘Tricks, Lies, and Mobile Phones: “Phone Friend” Stories in Papua New Guinea’ Culture, Theory and Critique 54:3, 318-334
Bengtsson, L; Lu, X; Thorson, A; Garfield, R; Von Schreeb, J. 2011. Improved response to disasters and outbreaks by tracking population movements with mobile phone network data: a post-earthquake geospatial study in Haiti. PLoS medicine, 8(8), e1001083.
Cave, D. 2012. Digital Islands; How the Pacific's ICT Revolution is transforming the region. Accessed January 23, 2014. Available at: http://www.lowyinstitute.org/files/cave_digital_islands_web.pdf .
Donner, J. 2010. 'Framing M4D: The Utility of Continuity and the Dual Heritage of" Mobiles and Development"' The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries Vol. 44 (3), pp. 1-16
Donner, J. 2008. Research Approaches to Mobile Use in the Developing World: A Review of the Literature. The Information Society 24(3), 140-159. See: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01972240802019970#.VI6eXHtvDXs
Duffield, Lee; Watson, Amanda H.A.; Hayes, Mark. 2008. “Media and Communication Capacities in the Pacific region” ejournalist Vol 8. (1) p 20-34.
Farbotko, C; Lazrus, H. 2011. The first climate refugees? Contesting global narratives of climate change in Tuvalu. Global Environmental Change, 22(2), pp.382-390.
Handman, C. 2013. ‘Text Messaging in Tok Pisin: Etymologies and Orthographies in Cosmopolitan Papua New Guinea’ Culture, Theory and Critique 54:3, 265-284
Heinzelman, J; Waters. C. 2010. Crowdsourcing crisis information in disaster-affected Haiti. US Institute of Peace.
Horst, H. A. 2013. ‘The Infrastructures of Mobile Media: Towards a Future Research Agenda’ in Mobile Media and Communication 1(1). 147-52.
Horst, H. A; Taylor, E. B. 2014. ‘The role of mobile phones in the mediation of border crossings: A study of Haiti and the Dominican Republic’. The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 25: 155-170.
Horst, H; Miller, D. 2006. The Cell Phone: An Anthropology of Communication. Oxford: Berg.
Intermedia Europe. 2012. “Citizens Access to Information in Papua New Guinea”, ABC International Development. Available at: http://www.abcinternationaldevelopment.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/ABC-PNG-Report.pdf .
Jensen, R. 2007. The digital provide: Information (technology), market performance, and welfare in the South Indian fisheries sector. The quarterly journal of economics, 879-924
Lefale, P.F. 2009. Ua ‘afa le Aso Stormy weather today: traditional ecological knowledge of weather and climate. The Samoa experience. Climatic Change, 100(2), pp.317-335. Available at: http://www.springerlink.com/index/10.1007/s10584-009-9722-z .
Ling, R; Horst, H.A. 2011. ‘Mobile communication in the global south’ New Media & Society 13 363-374
Lipset, D. 2013. ‘Mobail: Moral Ambivalence and the Domestication of Mobile Telephones in Peri-Urban Papua New Guinea’. Culture, Theory and Critique 54:3, 335-354
Mas, I; Morawczynski, O. 2009. ‘Designing mobile money services lessons from M-PESA.’ Innovations 4.2, 77-91.
Muliaumaseali’i, M. 2014. “#didntfeelathing: Mobile phones and tsunami warnings in Samoa”. Accessed from: https://sites.google.com/site/mobilisingmediainthepacific/research-from-the-field/mobilephonesinsamoa
Paton, K; Fairbaine-Dunlop, P. 2010. “Listening to local voices: Tuvaluans respond to climate change” in Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability Vol 15 (7) pp 687-698.
Pertierra, R; Ugarte, E.F; Pingol, A; Hernandez, J; Lexis Dacanay, N. 2002. Texting selves: Cellphones and Philippine modernity. Manila, Philippines: De La Salle University Press.
Reading, A. 2009. ‘Mobile witnessing: Ethics and the camera phone in the “War on Terror”’. Globalizations 6.1: 61-76.
Rika, N. 2013. “Climate Change is a justice issue for Pacific people”. Pacific Islands News Association. Available at: http://www.pina.com.fj/?p=pacnews&m=read&o=812058780527b13b72dcec48e18d0c
Roche, S; Propeck-Zimmermann, E; Mericskay, B. 2013. ‘GeoWeb and crisis management: issues and perspectives of volunteered geographic information.’ GeoJournal 78:1, 21-40.
Sey, A. 2011. ‘We use it different, different’: Making sense of trends in mobile phone use in Ghana’ New Media & Society 13 375-390
Slater, Don. 2013. New Media, Development and Globalization: Making Connections in the Global South. John Wiley & Sons.
de Souza e Silva, A; Sutko, D.M; Salis, F.A; de Souza e Silva, C. 2011. ‘Mobile phone appropriation in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’ New Media & Society;13 411-426
Tacchi, Jo. (2014) ‘Being Meaningfully Mobile: mobile phones and development’ In Servaes, J. (Ed.) Technological determinism and Communication for Sustainable Social Change. Lexington Books.
Tacchi, Jo; Kitner, Kathi. R; Crawford, Kate. 2012. Meaningful Mobility: Gender, development and mobile phones. Feminist Media Studies, 12(4), 528-537.
Tacchi, Jo; Horst, Heather; Papoutsaki, Evangelia; Thomas, Verena; Eggins, Joys. 2013. “PACMAS: State of the Media and Communication Report”, Melbourne: PACMAS/ABC International Development. Available at: http://www.pacmas.org/profile/pacmas-state-of-media-and-communication-report-2013
Tenhunen, Sirpa. 2008. Mobile technology in the village: ICTs, culture, and social logistics in India. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 14(3), 515-534.
Wallis, C. 2013. Technomobility in China: Young Migrant Women and Mobile Phones. NYU Press.
Wallis, C. 2011. ‘Mobile phones without guarantees: The promises of technology and the contingencies of culture’. New Media & Society 13. 471-485
Watson, A. 2011. The mobile phone: the new communication drum of Papua New Guinea. PhD thesis, Queensland University of Technology Available at: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Watson,_Amanda.html
Bengtsson, L; Lu, X; Thorson, A; Garfield, R; Von Schreeb, J. 2011. Improved response to disasters and outbreaks by tracking population movements with mobile phone network data: a post-earthquake geospatial study in Haiti. PLoS medicine, 8(8), e1001083.
Cave, D. 2012. Digital Islands; How the Pacific's ICT Revolution is transforming the region. Accessed January 23, 2014. Available at: http://www.lowyinstitute.org/files/cave_digital_islands_web.pdf .
Donner, J. 2010. 'Framing M4D: The Utility of Continuity and the Dual Heritage of" Mobiles and Development"' The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries Vol. 44 (3), pp. 1-16
Donner, J. 2008. Research Approaches to Mobile Use in the Developing World: A Review of the Literature. The Information Society 24(3), 140-159. See: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01972240802019970#.VI6eXHtvDXs
Duffield, Lee; Watson, Amanda H.A.; Hayes, Mark. 2008. “Media and Communication Capacities in the Pacific region” ejournalist Vol 8. (1) p 20-34.
Farbotko, C; Lazrus, H. 2011. The first climate refugees? Contesting global narratives of climate change in Tuvalu. Global Environmental Change, 22(2), pp.382-390.
Handman, C. 2013. ‘Text Messaging in Tok Pisin: Etymologies and Orthographies in Cosmopolitan Papua New Guinea’ Culture, Theory and Critique 54:3, 265-284
Heinzelman, J; Waters. C. 2010. Crowdsourcing crisis information in disaster-affected Haiti. US Institute of Peace.
Horst, H. A. 2013. ‘The Infrastructures of Mobile Media: Towards a Future Research Agenda’ in Mobile Media and Communication 1(1). 147-52.
Horst, H. A; Taylor, E. B. 2014. ‘The role of mobile phones in the mediation of border crossings: A study of Haiti and the Dominican Republic’. The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 25: 155-170.
Horst, H; Miller, D. 2006. The Cell Phone: An Anthropology of Communication. Oxford: Berg.
Intermedia Europe. 2012. “Citizens Access to Information in Papua New Guinea”, ABC International Development. Available at: http://www.abcinternationaldevelopment.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/ABC-PNG-Report.pdf .
Jensen, R. 2007. The digital provide: Information (technology), market performance, and welfare in the South Indian fisheries sector. The quarterly journal of economics, 879-924
Lefale, P.F. 2009. Ua ‘afa le Aso Stormy weather today: traditional ecological knowledge of weather and climate. The Samoa experience. Climatic Change, 100(2), pp.317-335. Available at: http://www.springerlink.com/index/10.1007/s10584-009-9722-z .
Ling, R; Horst, H.A. 2011. ‘Mobile communication in the global south’ New Media & Society 13 363-374
Lipset, D. 2013. ‘Mobail: Moral Ambivalence and the Domestication of Mobile Telephones in Peri-Urban Papua New Guinea’. Culture, Theory and Critique 54:3, 335-354
Mas, I; Morawczynski, O. 2009. ‘Designing mobile money services lessons from M-PESA.’ Innovations 4.2, 77-91.
Muliaumaseali’i, M. 2014. “#didntfeelathing: Mobile phones and tsunami warnings in Samoa”. Accessed from: https://sites.google.com/site/mobilisingmediainthepacific/research-from-the-field/mobilephonesinsamoa
Paton, K; Fairbaine-Dunlop, P. 2010. “Listening to local voices: Tuvaluans respond to climate change” in Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability Vol 15 (7) pp 687-698.
Pertierra, R; Ugarte, E.F; Pingol, A; Hernandez, J; Lexis Dacanay, N. 2002. Texting selves: Cellphones and Philippine modernity. Manila, Philippines: De La Salle University Press.
Reading, A. 2009. ‘Mobile witnessing: Ethics and the camera phone in the “War on Terror”’. Globalizations 6.1: 61-76.
Rika, N. 2013. “Climate Change is a justice issue for Pacific people”. Pacific Islands News Association. Available at: http://www.pina.com.fj/?p=pacnews&m=read&o=812058780527b13b72dcec48e18d0c
Roche, S; Propeck-Zimmermann, E; Mericskay, B. 2013. ‘GeoWeb and crisis management: issues and perspectives of volunteered geographic information.’ GeoJournal 78:1, 21-40.
Sey, A. 2011. ‘We use it different, different’: Making sense of trends in mobile phone use in Ghana’ New Media & Society 13 375-390
Slater, Don. 2013. New Media, Development and Globalization: Making Connections in the Global South. John Wiley & Sons.
de Souza e Silva, A; Sutko, D.M; Salis, F.A; de Souza e Silva, C. 2011. ‘Mobile phone appropriation in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’ New Media & Society;13 411-426
Tacchi, Jo. (2014) ‘Being Meaningfully Mobile: mobile phones and development’ In Servaes, J. (Ed.) Technological determinism and Communication for Sustainable Social Change. Lexington Books.
Tacchi, Jo; Kitner, Kathi. R; Crawford, Kate. 2012. Meaningful Mobility: Gender, development and mobile phones. Feminist Media Studies, 12(4), 528-537.
Tacchi, Jo; Horst, Heather; Papoutsaki, Evangelia; Thomas, Verena; Eggins, Joys. 2013. “PACMAS: State of the Media and Communication Report”, Melbourne: PACMAS/ABC International Development. Available at: http://www.pacmas.org/profile/pacmas-state-of-media-and-communication-report-2013
Tenhunen, Sirpa. 2008. Mobile technology in the village: ICTs, culture, and social logistics in India. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 14(3), 515-534.
Wallis, C. 2013. Technomobility in China: Young Migrant Women and Mobile Phones. NYU Press.
Wallis, C. 2011. ‘Mobile phones without guarantees: The promises of technology and the contingencies of culture’. New Media & Society 13. 471-485
Watson, A. 2011. The mobile phone: the new communication drum of Papua New Guinea. PhD thesis, Queensland University of Technology Available at: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Watson,_Amanda.html
Article Sidebar
Published
May 26, 2020
Article Details
How to Cite
Noske-Turner, J., Tacchi, J. ., Horst, H. ., & Papoutsaki, E. . (2020). Locating disaster communication in changing communicative ecologies across the Pacific. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 2(4), 18. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v2n4.272
Issue
Section
Telecommunications
Copyright Telecommunications Association Inc.
