Service Oriented Architectural Framework for Pakistan´s Disaster Emergency Response (in relation to floods)

Pakistan is vulnerable to disaster risks from a range of hazards. Over the years floods have proven to be the most damaging to life, property and overall economy. The National Disaster Risk Management Framework has been formulated by the National Disaster Management Authority. Nine priority areas have been identified within this framework to establish and strengthen policies, institutions and capacities. Emergency Response is one of the priority areas. The use of IT for disaster management is yet to be explored in Pakistan. No such software framework exists. Service oriented Architecture (SOA) is a solution based architecture which utilizes functions as loosely coupled services thus promoting flexibility and reusability. It can be very helpful in providing a framework for disaster management in Pakistan. This paper proposes a software framework for Emergency Response for Disasters through the use of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) in Pakistan. The primary focus is flood disasters but the framework could be replicated to other disasters with little modifications.