Request for Quotation: Japan’s Early Warning System

GSMA overview

The GSMA Mobile for Development Foundation, Inc. ("GSMA M4D") is a U.S. 501(c)(3) charitable organisation that seeks to relieve poverty and improve living conditions throughout the world through identifying opportunities for social, economic and environmental impact and to stimulate the development of scalable, life-enhancing mobile services. GSMA M4D is a wholly owned subsidiary of the GSM Association ("GSMA").

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with more than 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai and the Mobile 360 Series conferences. For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com.

For this project, the successful Respondent will contract with The GSMA Mobile for Development Foundation.

Project overview

Background

The GSMA Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation (M4H) programme envisions an inclusive digital humanitarian future, where mobile and digital solutions can offer affected populations improved access to and use of life-enhancing mobile-enabled services for preparedness, response and recovery. To build an inclusive and sustainable digital humanitarian future, the M4H programme acts as the convenor between mobile network operator members and humanitarian partners.

Climate change has dramatically increased the frequency and intensity of natural hazards. Over the last 50 years, the number of disasters has increased by a factor of 5.1 Early warning systems (EWS) save lives by helping people to take appropriate action or evacuate ahead of a crisis. However, they take investment of capacity and resource alongside complex multi-sectoral collaboration to be effective - not everyone is covered by an EWS. To address this, In March 2022 the UN Secretary General announced the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative with the goal of ensuring everyone on earth is covered by an EWS by 2027. The GSMA Mobile for Humanitarian programme is involved in both the strategic and operational aspects of the initiative, in particular Pillar 3 (warning dissemination and communication), ensuring the power of mobile is full harnessed to develop and implement lifesaving EWS. However, MNOs can and have played a role across all 4 pillars of the initiative,2 leveraging their capacities to map risks, monitor and forecast hazards, and respond to crises as well. At the country level, the GSMA seeks to ensure the local mobile network operators (MNOs) are actively involved in EW4All design and implementation.

So far, the EW4All Initiative has focused on the development of EWS in over 30 countries. As many countries consider how to create and implement their own systems, suited to local hazards and population needs, it's important to understand best practices and learn from countries that have demonstrated leadership in the implementation of effective EWS.

Given that 96% of the world is now covered by mobile networks, mobile technology provides a critical channel to disseminate lifesaving warnings quickly and at scale.3 Mobile Network Operators, therefore, play a critical role in supporting EWS, and have long worked with Disaster Management Agencies and humanitarian organisations to effectively leveraging their capacities and networks for EWS. MNOs have been actively supporting and enabling EWS for decades. However, in some markets, MNOs have yet to engage, despite being crucial stakeholders.

The question of how best to engage MNOs in EWS has been raised by stakeholders on multiple occasions. This case study will examine Japan's EWS, highlighting the role of MNOs and showcasing their leadership in their system. It aims to surface lessons and best practices that can be replicated or adapted in other contexts.

Project objectives

1. Understand ways in which MNOs have supported or engaged with EWS, and what makes for an enabling environment for MNO engagement in Japan.
2. Identify and analyse the challenges and successes faced by MNOs in engaging with Japan's EWS.
3. Provide case studies of models of engagement in Japan, highlighting examples where MNOs have successfully supported EWS and where they have faced difficulties.
4. Offer strategic insights and lessons learned for MNOs and other EWS stakeholders to enhance their participation in EWS.

Research questions

Key research questions largely fall into 5 categories:

1. Coordination mechanisms (operational model)
2. Policy and regulatory frameworks
3. Technological and infrastructure requirements
4. Financial models
5. Other MNO engagement