About the Event:     Our 11^th OneSouthAsia Conversation will focus on ways South Asian countries can leverage innovation and technologies to build climate resilience and collaborative cross-border solutions. It  will bring together leading voices on climate resilience and innovators from the region, who are delivering emerging solutions to deal with climate change challenges, and environmetal threats. 

The event is a part of a bi-monthly series organized by the World Bank's South Asia Regional Integration and Engagement Program (SARRE). The series explores ideas for regional cooperation in economic connectivity, climate resilience, and human development.

Background on climate and disaster resilience: South Asia is among the most vulnerable regions to climate risks.  More than half of all South Asians, or 750 million people, were affected by one or more climate-related disasters in the last two decades.  The primary climate-related risks in the region are flood damages, food and water insecurity, and rising temperatures. The changing climate could sharply diminish living conditions for up to 800 million people in a region that already has some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations. Given the vulnerabilities, South Asian countries need to leverage collaborations, partnerships, and immense potential of innovation and technologies for tackle climate change challenges and build resilience. 

The SARRE Program and the Climate Adaptation and Resilience for South Asia Project are supporting innovative and disruptive technology solutions through the TechEmerge Resilience India Program, and the Climate Innovation Challenge- both initiatives are funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).  A few examples of these solutions include a wifi-connected community radio that provides information and early warnings on disasters in rural areas of India; a mobile-based application that crowd-sources data on coastal erosion and flooding in the Maldives; and drones for surveillance and mapping for disaster preparedness. 

TechEmerge India Resilience Program

The TechEmerge Resilience Program in India is a partnership of the World Bank, IFC, the Consumer Technology Association, and the Government of India’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).  Seven pilots are underway to strengthen disaster resilience in the time of COVID-19, leveraging AI, drones, Internet of Things (IoT), as well as wifi-connected radios to ensure information access to remote communities. The innovators—competitively selected from a field of more than 300 applicants worldwide—are conducting field tests in partnership with National and State Disaster Management Authorities. The innovators have access to a total pool of $1 million in grant funding for pilot implementation, cloud credits, and technical assistance from IBM, and technical and advisory support from the World Bank. 

Climate Innovation Challenge

The World Bank's Climate Innovation Challenge is being implemented in partnership with Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) where 16 innovations from around the world have been selected for their disruptive and cutting-edge technologies to build communities’ resilience against the threat of climate change in South Asia. From the IoT and deep-learning model to automatized land-use, smart farming, and digital systems for decision support in climate information and analytics, the winning solutions are all aimed at meeting the needs of the target countries’ most vulnerable sectors including agriculture, water and transportation.