Your Facebook post might just boost PH’s disaster response

Trojan Rey Genotiva

Just as Facebook becomes a breeding ground for misinformation, the Philippines launched a collaboration on a Japanese artificial intelligence (AI) software that leveraged Facebook data to speed up disaster management—where an online post might just alert someone to a potential crisis.

Spectee Pro, an innovation of Japanese technology firm Spectee Inc. in partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), uses artificial intelligence to collect, analyze, and visualize real-time data on incidents such as earthquakes, fires, floods, and storms from open sources such as social media.

While the data comes from online posts and status updates from users, Spectee’s 24/7 human team assesses the credibility of the information before it is delivered to customers through dashboard, notification, or e-mail alerts.

“Whereas Spectee Pro in Japan primarily uses X (formerly Twitter), the system has been customized for the Philippines… With the Philippines having one of the largest Facebook [user bases] in the world, this localization effort positions Spectee Pro as a scalable model for other countries across Southeast Asia,” said Baba Takashi, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Philippines Office chief representative.

With its successful AI model retrofitting, weaving its function on private companies and media organizations in Japan, JICA assured the collaboration would strengthen the resilience of the Philippines against disasters—natural or man-made.

Spectee Pro will work through primarily analyzing Facebook posts to detect mentions of disasters, accidents, or other incidents, where it can identify the location and severity of the incident based on the content of the post.

AI algorithms will then sift through these posts, cross-checking with reliable sources such as weather stations, traffic sensors, road and river cameras, and official advisories, to deliver alerts through audio cue, e-mail, and mobile notifications on the platform to pre-registered locations.

The platform also boasts its real-time mapping system for situational awareness, where users can check traffic congestions, weather radar, flagged disasters and incidents, flood prediction zones, and alert mapping from verified online posts.

“Since then, the platform has undergone localization, user testing, and initial rollout to select national agencies and local government units (LGUs), with training and feedback cycles conducted to fine-tune its usability in local disaster scenarios,” the JICA Philippines said.

In line with its recent launch in the country, the platform will provide free of charge service 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.

“With tools like Spectee AI Pro, every mobile phone becomes a potential first responder, and every online post [becomes] a valuable piece of information that can guide timely action,” DICT assistant secretary Luis Miguel Planas said.

In times when technology aids the biggest problems of the country, who would have thought that a single Facebook post a user shares can become a nation-scale advisory for critical information on risk and disasters.