World Bank’s Technical Assistance Mission team represented by Ms. Priyanka Dissanayake, Disaster Management Specialist from the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Climate Change unit, held discussion with the newly appointed Minister of State for Homeland Security and Technology, Dr. Mohamed Kinaanath.

Ms. Priyanka Dissanayake, serving as the climate change focal point for both the Maldives and Sri Lanka, highlighted the Unit does not have an active project for disaster and flood management in the Maldives, thus being the reason for collaboration with the DMADD team on implementing the early flood warning system pilot in Fuvahmulah City, funded under the DMADD project.

She explained similar work done with universities, to leverage on digital technology to predicting different hazards in various locations, in countries such as United Kingdom, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. She shared her experience in diverse disaster management initiatives, leveraging digital technologies to predict and anticipate events based on comprehensive data analysis.

As Dr. Kinaanath's main role as a state minister involves the supervision of the digital governance and development of the ICT sector of the Maldivian Government, he also emphasises the need for a mechanism to have a decision support system based on actual data. Dr. Kinaanath, inquired about the success of the system highlighted by the World Bank team.

The team further elaborated on the ongoing collaboration with the UN initiative on Early Warning for All and plans for a joint study tour between Maldives and Sri Lanka after the successful implementation of the pilot.

Dr. Kinaanath seeks more details about the system, and Priyanka explains its focus on processes, assisting local administration decisions. She suggests collaboration with NCIT and invites a separate discussion.

Ms. Priyanka proposed an online meeting to discuss collaboration with the UN initiative on Early Warning for All, highlighting the potential for knowledge exchange and scalability. Dr. Kinaanath, discusses the Ministry of Homeland Security's involvement with technology, mentioning its recent association in similar projects.

The meeting concludes with expressions of gratitude, and Ms. Priyanka expressed interest in future collaboration.