ARISE Japan Public Symposium 2024: Successes and challenges in DRR innovation—including early findings from the Noto Peninsula Earthquake

Time

15.30-18.00 JST (Room opens 15:15)

About

UNDRR’s private sector group ARISE has always recommended an attitude of constant innovation, taking into account the rapid changes in society, proactively adopting the latest technologies, preparing from new perspectives, in disaster risk reduction actions towards resilience. The theme of this year’s symposium is to share the status of such innovation in the Asia region and emerging challenges, so that insights can be shared in the upcoming Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) in the Philippines this October.

Businesses in Japan have been actively working to strengthen their business continuity through innovation, drawing on lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. The M.7.6 Noto Peninsula Earthquake that occurred on New Year's Day in 2024 was a large-scale disaster that, in addition to earthquake damage, caused the largest tsunami damage since the Great East Japan Earthquake. While the findings will still be preliminary, we will share and discuss what worked and what did not work in preparedness, with the aim to identify further opportunities for innovation in disaster risk reduction for businesses.

Tentative programme

Note: The event is both Japanese and English with AI subtitles. 

15:30 Welcome remarks 

• Mr. Masato Takamatsu, ARISE Japan Lead; President, Tourism Resilience Japan
• Mr. Marco Toscana-Rivalta, Chief, UNDRR Regional Office for Asia-Pacific

15:40 Innovation in DRR in the Asia-Pacific region

• Business examples from the Philippines | VAdm Alexander Pama, ARISE Board member, ARISE Philippines
• Business examples from India | Brig. Bhagat Khanna, ARISE Board member, ARISE India
• Collaboration among Asia ARISE networks | Ms. Yuki Matsuoka, Head, UNDRR Kobe Office

16:05 Panel discussion – findings from the Noto Peninsula Earthquake

Moderator: Mr. Shigeki Honda, Adviser, Minerva Veritas Co., Ltd. 

• DRR innovation through digital technology | Mr. Makoto Kobayashi, CEO, I-Resilience Corporation
• Survey and analysis of spatial information for disasters | Mr. Hiroyuki Shimomura, Disaster Control Department, Corporate Strategy HQ, PASCO CORPORATION
• Disaster monitoring through earth observation satellites | Dr. Ryoichi Furuta, General Manager, Research and Development Department, Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan (RESTEC)
• Emergency response for guests and business continuity in the tourism industry | Mr. Masato Takamatsu, President, Tourism Resilience Japan
• Science-based decision making: use of digital technology in DRR | Mr. Koichi Ishizuka, Engineering and Sales, Kozo Keikaku Engineering Inc. 
• Proactive disclosure for business continuity | Ms. Yoshiko Abe, Secretariat, ARISE Japan

17:30 Way forward for DRR innovation in the Asia-Pacific and APMCDRR

Mr. Marco Toscana-Rivalta, Chief, UNDRR Regional Office for Asia-Pacific

17:40 Closing remarks

Mr. Satoshi Hijikata, ARISE Board member; President, Kokusai Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Supporting organizations

Global Compact Network Japan (GCNJ)

Association for Resilience Japan (ARJ)

Japan Bosai Platform (JBP)

Sponsors

Bridge Multilingual Solutions 

Kokusai Kogyo Co., Ltd.