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The Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) is adopting the disaster mitigating technology called InaSAFE from Indonesia.InaSAFE is an acronym for Indonesia Scenario Assessment for Emergency. It is an open source technology, which means it is free, readily accessed from the internet and may be modified by users. With this technology, data coming from weather scientists, local government units and the communities are gathered and consolidated to provide accurate information on future disaster events.

 

NOAH adopted Indonesis’s InaSAFE as it has a lot in common with the Philippines, especially in topography and natural hazards.

 

This was disclosed during the multi-stakeholder assembly titled “Enhancing Community Resilience Through the Use of New Technology” conducted by Project NOAH recently held at the Oracle Hotel in Quezon City.

 

Abigail Baca, disaster and risk management officer of the World Bank East Asia and Pacific Region said that InaSAFE proved effective during the recent floods in Jakarta, Indonesia and it can be applied in the Philippines.

 

Dr. Alfredo Francisco Mahar Lagmay of Project NOAH disclosed that InaSAFE will be integrated into Project NOAH to supplement existing technologies used to mitigate, if not totally prevent, massive destruction caused by strong typhoons similar to Sendong in 2011 and Pablo in December 2012.

 

During his presentation, Dr. Lagmay said, “It is important to develop information tools that will help centralize risk information at the NOAH website and make them available to a wider community.”

 

Since its launch in July 2012 in Marikina City, Project NOAH has continuously upgraded and strengthened its capability through installation of various weather forecasting equipment in various disaster-prone areas in the country. Among these are the Hydromet water level sensors and Doppler radars used to measure amount of rainfall in a specific area.

 

To date, there are 525 Hydromet sensors installed in different river systems including those in Tullahan River, Marikina River and San Juan River in Metro Manila. Likewise, the Project NOAH team has put up billboards in Pampanga showing flood maps to inform residents of the high-risk areas in their communities.

 

Further, Dr. Enrico C. Paringit, project leader of NOAH’s DREAM LiDAR (Disaster Risk and Exposure Assessment for Mitigation-Light Detection and Ranging) said, “ Since November 2012, we were able to do three-dimensional or 3D mapping of the Pampanga river basin, Agno River, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. By the end of May this year, 3D mapping for Iloilo will be complete and next in line is the Panay river basin.”

 

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The Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) recently came up with natural fresh fruit drinks perfect for summer and beyond. Next to ice water, there is no better way to beat the tropical heat but drink fresh and nutritious fruit juices, au naturel!


The new concoctions come in two types: one as ready-to-drink fruit juices and another in concentrated form.


The ready-to-drink juice products are available in three flavors: guyabano-nata, ripe mango-nata, and green mango-nata.


The Guyabano-Nata Fruit drink is a mixture of sweetened nata de coco, natural guyabano juice, and sugar. Every 100 ml contains fruit fiber (2.1 g), vitamin C (134.6mg) and energy (139 Kcal).


Meanwhile, the Ripe Mango-Nata Fruit drink is a blend of ripe mango fruit juice, sweetened nata de coco, and sugar. One serving of 200 ml juice is equal to 55 percent Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for vitamin C and 7 percent RDA for energy for an adult male. Because of its nutritional content, the juice is ideal for the prevention and management of constipation, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.


On the other hand, the Green Mango-Nata Fruit drink is an alternate variant of the Ripe Mango-Nata drink. It contains the same nutritional benefits as the ripe mango flavor. Every 100 ml has 130.22 mg vitamin C, 140 Kcal energy and 2 g fiber.


The juice type is available in 500 ml and one-liter bottles and has a shelf life of up to six months.


Meanwhile, the concentrated form has two variants, the Carrot-Pineapple and the Carrot-Mango, that come in 375 ml glass bottles. The juices can be stored up to a year at room temperatures between 28 to 32 degrees Celsius.


Both variants contain natural carrot juice and sugar as sweetener. These drinks are rich in B-carotene and vitamin A, thus increasing body resistance against infections and help facilitate fast recovery from illnesses. To prepare a 250 ml drink, one has to mix one part concentrate and one part water.

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In the Philippines, hot, lazy afternoons are not complete without ice cream. But, sad to say, there is a portion of the population that shies away from this “sinful” dessert simply because they have hypertension or diabetes. So will these people have to suffer in silence and miss out the fun out of this tropical weather? Maybe not, with the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) incredible guilt-free ice cream.

Low in fat and sugar, but equally loaded with ice cream goodness, this healthy frozen delight is a developed by food experts at the DOST- Food and Nutrition Research Institute.

Based on the September 2008 data, a cup of this FNRI-developed ice cream at 100 grams contains only 0.46 grams of fat compared with other commercial brands with about 10.9 grams. Likewise, the FNRI formulation makes use of both ordinary and substitute sugar as sweetener at less than 0.1 gram per serving.

Further, the low-fat, low-sugar ice cream is priced much lower than the competition as it requires only P 1 million in capital investment, including the use of blast freezers used for quick freezing of food items.
Dairyman Ice Cream, a local food manufacturer based in Plaridel, Bulacan, has adopted this DOST-developed technology and innovative manufacturing process. Now, the company sells these products in selected outlets in the provinces and Metro Manila in four flavors: vanilla, ube, chocolate and buko pandan.

FNRI researchers Ma. Elena G. Fernandez, Wenefrida N. Lainez and Dahlia A. Diaz developed the formula, process and manufacturing technology.

So, when the heat is on, lick it up via a scoop or two of that delicious, creamy, low-fat, low-sugar ice cream.

For more information, please contact FNRI Director Mario V. Capanzana at telephone numbers 837-2934, 827-3164, 837-2071 local 2296 or send queries through email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can also log on to the FNRI website at www.fnri.dost.gov.ph.

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Mandaluyong City, Philippines - 16 May 2013: The Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the University of the Philippines (UP) and IBM announced today, that the world-renowned IBM Blue Gene supercomputer has been chosen to support the Philippine government’s priority R&D projects focused on reducing poverty, improving government processes and tools and enabling smarter weather management, as based on the National Economic Development Authority’s Medium Term Development Plan. A priority initiative around weather prediction will be the pilot project to use the IBM Blue Gene supercomputer as its platform.


A milestone among government-private-academe endeavors, the supercomputer soon to arrive in the country will provide high performance computing capabilities to help develop practical solutions to address the country’s basic problems. The IBM Blue Gene supercomputer is set to be the platform for select R&D projects that are aligned with the country’s strategic growth initiative to advance poverty alleviation; transparency in the government; rapid, inclusive and sustained economic growth; peace and order and environment and climate change mitigation.


“This is a direct result from the agreement between the DOST and IBM in May 2012, to jointly build a Philippine Systems and Technology R&D Lab to help accelerate national economic growth,” said Mariels Almeda Winhoffer, President and Country General Manager, IBM Philippines. “It is IBM’s response to President Aquino’s call for help to support research and development projects to enable transformation and progress in the country. The IBM Blue Gene supercomputer is our concrete contribution to advance R&D initiatives in the country.”


A priority R&D project, the DOST and IBM will collaborate on how the supercomputer can complement DOST’s Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards or Project NOAH, the government’s flagship program and integrated information system for disaster mitigation and climate change. The IBM supercomputer will enable local scientists to process and gain insights from the massive data collected, to produce faster, more accurate forecasts and improve localized weather prediction for the country. Prone to natural disasters, the country will benefit greatly once this projected is completed, as citizens and various government agencies can better prepare and plan what to do and what emergency response programs to activate, if and when a weather-related disaster occurs.

“The IBM Blue Gene supercomputer will be most applicable to DOST’s major programs such as NOAH and Smart Agriculture, “said DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo. “First we will work toward Blue Gene’s integration to Project NOAH to provide more advanced seven-day local weather forecasts. We can also use it to run various weather models and validate the accuracy of results almost real-time.”

“Smart Agriculture, the newest flagship program of the DOST, will also gain from our newest supercomputing capability in modeling climate change scenarios, building database for agricultural land use, and computing for monthly irrigation requirements per province,” Sec. Montejo added.

Other possible projects to be aided by the IBM Blue Gene supercomputer include flood management and genomics.

The announcement was one of the many highlights of the 2013 IBM Technology Conference and Expo, wherein IBM showcased new Smarter Computing solutions which forms the foundation of a smarter IT infrastructure that powers a Smarter Planet. Smarter Computing is an approach that leverages cloud technology to speed time to market and improve efficiency; that unlocks the power of data to deliver more actionable insight; and that secures critical information to reduce risk and enhance compliance to enable organizations to transform, innovate and grow their businesses.


About IBM
Since establishing its presence in the Philippines in 1937, IBM has evolved to become the leading information technology partner in the country, providing hardware, software, and IT-enabled business services to domestic and global markets. IBM in the Philippines has grown exponentially in terms of business portfolio, talent growth and geographic reach.


For more information about IBM in the Philippines, please visit http://www.ibm.com/ph


About DOST
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is the premiere science and technology body in the country charged with the twin mandate of providing central direction, leadership and coordination of all scientific and technological activities, and of formulating policies, programs and projects to support national development.


For more information about the DOST, please visit http://www.dost.gov.ph


About Project NOAH
Project NOAH is the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) response to the call of President Benigno S. Aquino III for a more accurate, integrated, and responsive disaster prevention and mitigation system throughout the Philippines. The program harnesses technologies and disaster management services offered by DOST agencies Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, and the Advanced Science and Technology Institute. The program runs in partnership with the UP National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS) and the UP College of Engineering.

NOAH’s interactive website can be accessed at http://noah.dost.gov.ph