The New Era of Innovation: Japanese AI technology at the core of DICT collab with JICA and Spectee for PH Disaster Resilience

The Philippines’ disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) system at both the national and local levels is set to get an upgrade, thanks to the multi-stakeholder collaboration among the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and Spectee Inc.

JICA, through its Public-Private Partnership Promotion Program, tapped the prominent technology of Spectee, a Japanese private company that developed an innovative yet affordable DRRM technology, to help government offices rapidly collect, process, and communicate pertinent information in times of disasters. This cloud-based technology, known in the market as Spectee Pro, is an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered, real-time Crisis Management Information System that uses AI image and language analysis to extract useful data points from social networking sites.

While already a proven success, having used very broadly by the government, private companies, as well as media organizations in Japan, JICA and Spectee intend to create a Spectee Pro Philippine version that is specially designed for the Philippine setting, with the assistance of the DICT.

To push this project forward, JICA Senior Representative OSHIMA Jiro and DICT Assistant Secretary for Infostructure Management Philip A. Varilla formally signed the Minutes of the Meeting as the collaboration agreement document on 24 September 2024 at the DICT office in Quezon City. On the same day, Spectee Inc. Chief Operating Officer (COO) NEGORO Satoshi joined signing virtually from Tokyo.

Spectee COO Negoro, says in his message, “We strongly believe that our AI Disaster & Crisis Management Solution ‘Spectee Pro’ can contribute to strengthening the resilience of the Philippines facing increasing natural disasters caused by climate change. We will do our bests to proceed this project successfully for the bright future of the Philippines and Japan.“

This is a welcome development as the urgent need for climate resilience was brought up once again when the Philippines was named by the 2024 World Risk Report as the country most at risk of natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, and volcanic eruptions. The country’s vulnerability requires further capacity development to be improved to properly and immediately respond to disasters.

Spectee Pro will be provided free of charge for a time to an initial list of 80 government agencies and local government units (LGUs), including Metro Manila, Legazpi City in Albay, Tagbilaran City in Bohol, Tacloban City in Leyte, Cebu City, and Davao City. Apart from trainings and simulations, there will be a constant feedback mechanism, taking into account actual conditions on the ground, to ensure that any improvements made to the system are relevant and useful to the end users.