IOTWMS Workshops on Post-IOWave14 Exercise Assessment and SOPs

At the 10th Session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG) for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS) held in Muscat, Oman, 24-26 March 2015, the ICG decided to conduct a post-IOWave14 Exercise workshop and a joint training workshop on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for tsunami warning and emergency response in 2015 involving the IOTWMS Tsunami Service Providers (TSPs), National Tsunami Warning Centres (NTWCs) and Disaster Management Offices (DMOs).

The purpose of the post-IOWave14 workshop will be to review and assess the IOWave14 Exercise from a country perspective and to recommend improvements for future exercises.

The primary goals of the SOP workshop will be:

• To assist the ICG/IOTWMS Member States to develop integrated end-to-end SOPs for tsunami warning and emergency response
• To assist National/Local DMOs to develop SOPs for implementing national and local responses to tsunami warnings issued by the NTWCs
• To prepare more Member States to conduct the IOWave16 Exercise scheduled for September 2016 to community level.

The workshop objectives will be:

• To understand how TSP products are used by NTWCs and National/Local DMOs in their SOPs;
• To identify potential gaps and possible challenges for warning chain SOPs at the national and local levels;
• To develop and integrate SOPs between NTWCs, National DMOs and Local DMOs.