Malaysian Armed Forces Proposes Use Of Technology For Quick Response In Disasters

KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Armed Forces proposes the usage of state-of-the-art technology on Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief (HADR) for the relevant agencies to give quick response and action during disasters. Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) chief Admiral Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin said the use of technology would enable better information sharing and build closer networks between humanitarian players, military and civilians. He said such technology played a crucial role in several different areas including in monitoring and warning as well as in disaster preparedness and response. "In monitoring and warning, enormous progress has already been made, especially in terms of being able to take action ahead of extreme weather events, such as drought or winter storms, and especially hurricanes and cyclones," he said when opening the HADR conference here Tuesday. The conference was held in conjunction with the four-day exhibition and conferences of the Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2016. Ahmad Kamarulzaman also said having the HADR conference as one of the highlight events in DSA 2016 was appropriate in meeting its objectives with the theme “HADR: Advances and Application of Technology”. "This conference brings the opportunity for participants to share their expertise, experiences and knowledge in optimising the application of technology in HADR Operations. "The greatest challenge in disaster operations is to ensure the fastest response with the most accurate information at ground zero in order to save lives," he said. -- BERNAMA