Report Suggests Technology Could Have Prevented Loss in Tsunami

According to a USA Today report, many lives could have been saved in the disastrous Southeast Asia tsunami if better technology had been in place. The report suggests that tens of thousands of lives were lost due to an information breakdown, not an act of nature. The report questions why messages were not posted on the Internet, sent across news sources or sent to wireless phones. Many believe that an electronic warning of some kind could have saved countless lives. Government and technology companies are examining ways to spread information quickly in the event of future disasters. (Source: USA Today)

Just several days after the disaster I read a statement by the Indian government in an Austrian newspaper. The statement was about the lack of detection and warning system that could have saved so many lives. Their response: yes the system was offered, but was refused because the infrastructure required to actually carry out the warning to people was lacking and the price of the system was, then, not justified. Maybe the heavy duty infrastructure is indeed lacking. People in India, Sri Lanka or Thailand weren't exactly watching their TV's all the time. Yet there IS a light weight communication system that is certainly available. Mobile phones. Mobile phones are extraordinarily popular in these countries because they are cheap, available, and a communication modality like no other ever available in these regions. A simple text message broadcast by the government or by the provider networks could have saved so many lives... Yet again, technology is there, just not quite there...

Note: Recent CTIA numbers show that cell phone penetration in Malaisia is in low double digits (low teens that is) and single digits in India. These countries really are too poor to have a notification infrastructure even as light-weight as a cell phone. Besides, what would anyone do if they suddenly read an SMS saying - message from the government - tsunami is coming, move away from the beach! Most people would probably think it a bad joke. Along with a notification system there must be education as to how a notification system is used! Yes technology could help, but it can only help if there is a population that has the ability & understanding to use it.

European wireless carriers support relief efforts

"Wireless service providers around the world are helping raise money for people affected by the tsunami in Southeast Asia. Four wireless carriers in Italy began sending subscribers text messages inviting them to donate to charities supporting rescue efforts. Subscribers can send a text message to a designated number, the cost of the text message is then donated to the fund. By December 30, 2004 the effort had raised 15 million Euro. Wireless carriers around the world have mimicked this initiative and continue to support recovery efforts. (Source: Wall Street Journal, AFP)"

This is an incredibly good example of application of behavioral economics. Charitable giving has always been a puzzle for neo-classical economists. Charity and altruisitic behavior clearly go against the concept of the rational asset-maximizing being that economic theories take as a good approximation of human behavior. Many papers have been written on charitable giving and analysits have pointed to other types of utility derived from giving (tax breaks being one of the major ones). In the example above, nobody is getting tax breaks or recognition. However, there is something about mental accounting (see Richard Thaler's paper entitled "Mental Accounting Matters") or even discounting combined with peer pressure that really worked. Of course, it would have been impossible without the extreme level of convenience of simply sending a text message. The price is very low, potential for peer pressure is very high (imagine doing this with a group of friends and everyone sending a text message donation rather than texting each other for a day), satisfaction ... well satisfaction is guaranteed. So maybe, maybe American's are not a selfish nation, but rather our charitable giving mechanisms are so outdated, they create too many opportunity costs for the actual act of giving. People would be willing to give if they were reminded about it and given an easy opportunity to do so. Go Europe.