GITEWS

The German-Indonesian Cooperation for a Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) is an initiative of the German Government to support the development of a Tsunami Early Warning System in the Indian Ocean. It is part of the German support for the reconstruction of the tsunami-affected region of the Indian Ocean. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) funds the project.

Since March 14, 2005 Indonesia and Germany have been officially working together to implement a Tsunami Early Warning System in Indonesia. By the end of 2009, implementation was largely completed. The joint optimization, operation and maintenance of the system will last until March 2011.

The technology developed by GITEWS aims at the combination of rapid and reliable warnings. It integrates terrestrial observation networks of seismology and geodesy with marine measuring and satellite observation. It has an open design, i.e. it enables an easy integration of compatible external equipment and external data. Besides the technical support for the early warning system itself, the project also provides capacity building for Indonesian institutions.

The German-Indonesian activities are fully in line with the strategy for regional and global Early Warning Systems, as coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).