Telecommunications: a life saver
In a disaster, access to Information Communication Technology (ICT) such as Emergency Radio Networks (ERN) remains one of the first critical priorities to re-establish in humanitarian response. This is because ERN is invaluable to planning, responding, coordinating and information sharing which can help save lives.
Originally from Fiji, Patrick’s interest sparked in ICT when he followed his curiosity to New Zealand to study software programming. He eventually joined the United Nations, where he developed a passion for hardware, networking and the role ICT plays in emergency response, where he carved out a career in emergency response communications for 15 years.
‘Even though I loved the software programming side, the networking side of things made me realise my focus was there: I could see the tangible results from what I was doing and the effect it has on people… That is something I’m always passion about – getting your hands dirty, getting stuck into it, doing the hard yards – I enjoy that. And seeing the fruits of my labour, to see if everything is working. As we say in the tech field: “once you see the green light, you’re happy!”’.
When Patrick originally deployed to Samoa in 2023 as the Emergency Radio Network (ERN) Specialist, it was clear that Samoa’s ERN needed a major overhaul. This severely impacted emergency service operators to communicate and coordinate in times of disaster.
‘It was in a really bad state of disrepair, mainly due to lack of funding for maintenance, spare parts and a lack of qualified technical people on the ground to do the work. Most of the telecommunications sites were either falling apart or due to fall apart with failing hardware. Add to that, the hardware was no longer supported by the vendor… A few years had gone by and there were no manufacturing spare parts for those radios. It’s very technical, so if you can’t get any spare parts – you definitely can’t fix anything, if it goes wrong. That’s where we started off,’ recalled Patrick.
With Samoa securing funding with the assistance of the Australian Government shortly after, Patrick has since led and managed the teams responsible for delivering the new Samoan ERN.
Working in the Pacific
The project management of Samoa’s ERN was complex, requiring a significant amount of time to plan and mitigate risk. Being situated in the Pacific region, this also adds challenges – like logistics.
‘Planning is very important. It takes up about 80% of your work, and 20% is the implementation… The key challenges were mainly logistics – of getting equipment to Samoa. Shipping in Samoa can take 4-6 weeks and that’s a best-case scenario. If you’re project planning, you should allow for delays. Logistics takes a lot of your time… We had a lot of setbacks, but we had planned for these setbacks,’ said Patrick.
‘The other challenge was the lack of qualified technical personnel within Samoa to come in and do the work. But with a lot of on-the-job training and mentoring, we were able to build up the capacity of the technical staff. So much so, that I’m confident that they’re able to do the work, maintenance, and take care of the network here in Samoa.’
Patrick also believed his long-term experience of working in the Pacific context and his shared Pacific heritage also enabled him to build rapport and trust and overcome challenges.
‘Being a Pacific Islander myself, being from Fiji – the cultures across the Pacific, you can find similarities, especially Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands. There are similarities in the language, culture, food, traditional practices, and structures of villages. You can fit into this society and culture quite easily… It was a good thing to know and feel when you come into a new place, that you are welcomed as someone they’re familiar with. You can kind of blend in easily,’ recalled Patrick.
Responding and Coordinating
In October 2024, the ERN was rolled out and activated, as part of the Commonwealth Heads of Governments meeting (CHOGM) hosted in Samoa. Since then, Patrick and the team have been troubleshooting and fine-tuning it; while a few opportunities have emerged to enable them to pressure test it in real disaster scenarios.
‘Recently, Samoa had very strong winds and rain throughout one of the weekends, it was a low pressure passing through – but there was a lot of flooding and landslides. The response from the emergency services was really good, mainly due to the ability to coordinate with each other and have assessment teams giving feedback on what the situation was like on the ground at different areas, whether it was flooded or a landslide. They were able to allocate resources accordingly, which is also good. To be able to communicate with each other and organise a response can be a lifesaver and saves a lot of time and resources for the agencies here. That is one of the ways I can see the ERN benefitting the people of Samoa,’ recalled Patrick.
‘To be able to communicate with each other and organise a response can be a lifesaver and saves a lot of time and resources for the agencies here. That is one of the ways I can see the ERN [Emergency Radio Network] benefitting the people of Samoa.’
Optimism for the Future
Patrick has also ensured that relevant agencies in Samoa are working together, as it relates to the ERN. Broadly speaking, Patrick remains optimistic about the future of the ERN which will be taken care of by Samoa’s next generation of ERN Specialists.
‘We have a small team here in Samoa that is the technical team for the ERN. I’ve introduced collaboration with other agencies, like the Fire Emergency Services Authority (FESA). We have regular meetings with them… We keep everybody in the loop, it’s sort of like a working group. It’s one of the things I’ve introduced here; they didn’t do that before. We also have support from the Australian Federal Police, providing technical assistance, which is directed to our technical teams, which is good,’ said Patrick.
‘Once we have a new process in place or new equipment on the ground, we do a familiarisation exercise with everybody. Once we start the maintenance or using of this technology, I take a step back and let them do it on their own… They are willing to learn, and they grab it and take the opportunity and run with it. I’d say from a year ago to now, there’s been a definite change in their capacity and skill level – it’s improved so much, to the stage where I’m confident that when I leave this deployment, I’m sure that the ERN is in good hands with this team.’
Disclaimer: The information and views published here are the individual’s own and do not necessarily represent the partner organisation, Australia Assists or the Australian Government’s views, positions or opinions.