3 information. 196 By supporting international technical standards (such as Unicode), health care providers and partner organisations can accelerate technical development and content creation. Disaster risk reduction In 2008 – when less than 1% of Myanmar had access to a mobile phone – Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar, claiming nearly 140,000 lives and displacing 2.4 million people. There was no early warning system in place in 2008 and the Government of Myanmar was harshly criticised for its response to the disaster. The 2011-2015 ICT Masterplan called for the use of ICTs for pre-emptive disaster response, including the establishment of a national disaster prevention network. 197 It is unclear what progress has been made against the recommendations called for in the 2011-2015 Master Plan. As Myanmar’s telecommunications infrastructure continues to improve, more people will have reliable mobile phone service, presenting a major opportunity to leverage ICTs for disaster reduction and relief, seen most recently in the July 2015 floods 198. National early warning systems can be designed to function over SMS messaging, voice calls, and mass messaging of weather alerts or evacuation notices through cellular broadcasting. Cellular broadcasting is used for mass-messaging alerts to users in a network area. Technology companies are also offering services to assist in disaster relief. Both Facebook and Google offer services that can be used to locate people impacted by a natural disaster. Facebook’s tool, ‘Safety Check’, uses location data to identify a user in a natural disaster area. Users can then verify they are safe through the Facebook app, or identify others in the impact area they have verified are safe. Google’s tool, ‘People Finder’ focuses on crowdsourcing information on missing people, which is then shared with responders in the area. While not having developed a specific tool, Viber recently offered free Viber Out (calling from Viber to any phone number in the world) calling in and out of Nepal following the devastating earthquake in Kathmandu. However, any such services need to work with emergency specialists to ensure that privacy protections are built into systems – for example there can be unintended consequences for child safety if information about unaccompanied children is posted online and accessible to all, including traffickers. Environmental Impacts Disposal of electronic waste/recycling Throughout Myanmar, it is common practice to burn trash. The incidence of public or private sector rubbish collection and recycling varies across Myanmar, with some 196 Asia Pacifc Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, “The Republic of the Union of Myanmar : Health Systems Review”, pg 59. 197 See, MCIT, KOICA, ETRI, “The Followup Project of the Myanmar ICT Master Plan” (2011), pg 122. 198 ‘Officials use social media to fight flood rumours’, Myanmar Times, 31 July 2015 and ‘Social media drives flood donations, Myanmar Times, 7 August 2015 112 PAGE CHAPTER 3: SECTOR-LEVEL IMPACTS