Sustaining life during the early stages of disaster relief with a frugal information system: Learning from the great east Japan earthquake

Important lessons for responding to a large-scale disaster can be gleaned from the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami. The failure of the electrical power system and the resultant loss of information communication and processing capability severely constrained the recovery work of many municipalities. It was difficult for supporting organizations to collect and share information. A frugal Information System (IS) designed around the four U-constructs is suggested as a solution to handle the early stages of disaster relief. This paper focuses on the most frequently available device, the cellular phone, as the foundation for a frugal IS for disaster relief. Familiar and available tools place minimal stress on an already stressed system.