Analysis and design of systems utilizing blockchain technology to accelerate the humanitarian actions in the event of natural disasters

Abstract

This paper focuses on designing novel ways to alleviate human and economic impacts caused by weather and climate disasters such as droughts and cyclones. Natural disasters are becoming apparent and continue to grow in number, intensity, and impact. Authorities, organizations and community groups who focus on rebuilding and relief efforts are constantly facing challenges in redevelopment effort, environmental hazards, health care and funding support to help communities become recover and be more resilient. When dealing with aftermath due to natural disaster the communities do have heightened sense awareness and come together to provide the necessities of rebuilding infrastructure. There are short-term actions, such as an evacuation based on the weather forecasting. Can a system that properly communicates with all affected stakeholders to be prepared for the natural disaster. The implemented system takes the appropriate actions thereby by reducing the human and economic impacts. This precious window of opportunity time between the forecast and actual natural disasters is regularly overlooked which affects the recovery and resilience process. This thesis explains how to design a holistic system that can lessen the risk of natural disaster with a system for forecasting, automatic trigger responses and disburse required funding when certain threshold conditions are met prior to natural disasters. The proposed framework takes into consideration of blockchain technologies that are at the relatively early stage of development. The objectives are to develop novel early funding mechanism and explained using conceptual architecture with private blockchain and smart contracts that can be designed to automatically execute early funding mechanism when the natural hazard thresholds are reached.