#Japan #Tokyo #disaster response #Digi-PoC TOYAMA #Geo-Mark

Geo-Mark and the Digi-PoC TOYAMA Project

Geo-Mark Inc., headquartered in Bunkyo, Tokyo, has recently been selected as one of the four projects for the Digi-PoC TOYAMA initiative initiated by Toyama Prefecture. This initiative is designed to leverage digital technology to address local challenges, particularly focusing on the theme of information sharing, updating, and utilization, connecting everyday monitoring to disaster evacuation support.

The primary goal for Geo-Mark through this demonstration project is to build a digital infrastructure that allows support personnel—such as municipal staff, community welfare officials, and child welfare officers—to securely share and update individual evacuation plans for those needing assistance during crises. The intention is not just to create these plans, but to ensure that these plans are consistently utilized and updated, thus ensuring effective support before, during, and after emergencies.

Addressing the Challenge of Creating Evacuation Plans

Despite a considerable number of municipalities (about 97%) having initiated the process to create individual evacuation plans due to revisions in the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Law in 2021, many municipalities (over half, 52.8%) still report that their completion rate remains below 20% for those in need. One of the primary challenges identified affecting the creation of these plans is the reliance on paper, which introduces a significant administrative burden on support personnel. Frequent creation and revision processes lead to inefficient practical usage because once created, the plans may not be adequately updated or accessible during an actual evacuation scenario.

Increasing and maintaining creation rates requires a systemic approach—going beyond merely focusing on the improvement of plan creation rates. It’s essential to continue updating the created plans, share them securely among multiple stakeholders, and make them operationally viable in both normal and disaster situations.

Overview of the Demonstration Experiment

The experiment is titled "Creating a System for Information Sharing, Updating, and Utilizing Evacuation Plans from Daily Monitoring to Disaster Support". The implementation is spearheaded by Geo-Mark within the established contexts of the Digi-PoC TOYAMA project, directly collaborating with related institutions within Toyama Prefecture.

Key Aspects:

• - Digital Management of Evacuation Plans: Establishing a system where stakeholders can securely share and update evacuation plans based on their access rights. This includes visualizing information on a digital map, thus ensuring that the intelligence gathered during routine monitoring is practically utilized for disaster support.
• - Prevention of Stagnant Planning: By adopting frequent updates and leveraging digital resources, the aim is to prevent plans from becoming obsolete as mere “one-off” documents.

Shaping the Future with Comprehensive Solutions

Beyond this demonstration, Geo-Mark has ambitions to contribute to standardized solutions across municipalities nationwide. This includes the provision of a bundled, one-package solution integrating:

• - Kintone: A no-code platform facilitating the workflows for creation, updates, and approvals of individual evacuation plans tailored to each municipality.
• - Digital Map UI/UX: Offering intuitive interfaces that clearly display the locations of individuals needing assistance, routes for evacuations, and positioning of supporters on digital maps.

By transitioning from cumbersome paper management to practical digital implementations, municipalities can better maintain high rates of individual evacuation plan creation without overwhelming their administrative capacity. Moreover, this initiative promises to facilitate improved evacuation support for a wider range of residents during emergencies while significantly reducing the workloads of support personnel.

Geo-Mark aims to implement its solutions in approximately 50 municipalities across Japan by 2029, targeting an annual revenue of about 50 million yen. This project is poised to position the company's offerings as the national standard for disaster preparedness through digital transformation.

Company Overview

• - Company Name: Geo-Mark Inc.
• - Headquarters: 1-26-13-301 Otowa, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 112-0013
• - Established: February 2019
• - Capital: 236 million yen
• - Business Focus: Development and provision of the "GEOMARK SERVICE PLATFORM", a tool merging illustrated and digital mapping for regional solutions, promotional planning, and more.
• - Website: Geo-Mark Official Site

*Note: Kintone is a registered trademark of Cybozu, Inc. All company names and products mentioned are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.