SfP Flood Resilience Apparatii

Flooding events cost $500 billion annually and affects 147 million people. Loss of life, limb and property, is frequent in flood prone areas is made exponentially worse (i) in areas with rapid population growth or (ii) unplanned settlements.  

Our Flood Resilience Apparatii consists of an innovative, flood management system designed to reduce the impact of high precipitation/flooding. This innovation, for which there is no competing system in the world, has the ability to mitigate flooding while safeguarding structures/communities in low-lying, flood prone venues.

OUR Flood Resilience Apparatus presents numerous improvements for flood management GLOBALLY and lends itself to several benefits by

• Facilitating the Storage and redistribution of scarce water
• Repurposing specific municipal solid waste materials in the FRA Cycle

Our solution will impact on this annual floodwater expenditure to mitigate and safeguard the lives of an increasing percentage of the 147 million people adversely affected by flooding.

Worldwide, hurricanes have been increasing with many environmentalists and regulatory agencies saying that they all have “climate-related geneses”.
Climate change has a catastrophic impact on small states and decimates their economies particularly with long lasting, structural losses.

Our proposed innovation will create, and deploy, an economically feasible and environmentally conscious, flood resilience solution as a cutting edge mitigation mechanism for flooding.

It also proposes to synergistically utilize people co-opted from the very communities where FRAs are to be deployed and train them and employ them on an ongoing basis. 

Globally, 147 million people are affected by flooding every year so the general objectives of this initiative are to (1) create an effective flood resilience technology for at-risk venues (2) reduce the impact of high precipitation/flooding while (3) safeguarding structures/communities in low-lying, flood prone venues.

For the residents in our venues of focus with few, or no resources, they cannot afford commensurate flood interventions required to make the areas in which they live flood resistant. 

Our target populations remain in these flood prone areas, despite the risks to life occasioned by yearly flooding, because these venues are not viable living areas for persons with better economic resources.

Our Flood Resilience Apparatii (FRAs) are deployed in designated flood prone areas and will prevent flooding and simultaneously provide accurate intervention data that is used for further real time interventions.

The real advantage and use of our solution is found in the pre-emptive and rapid deployment of the technology.

Users and nonusers have that capacity to examine the effectiveness of our platform and use its data and compare it with non FRA interventions and thereafter expand and optimize FRA flood solution deployments or, in the case where jurisdictions don't have FRAs, acquire them so that they too can derive its benefits.

The best approach to flood risk/mitigation is NOT TO LIVE IN THESE ZONES!

But for the economically disadvantaged. this often is not an option and all the usual observances about egress points, protection from floods using  man made intervention systems etc., seem to fall on deaf ears 

Having defined the utopian setting we now set our Flood Resilience Solutions in context

Any of our FRA deployments will be a government solicited/facilitated initiative but we require that they be community implemented, flood Intervention solutions deployed in targeted communities, for the benefit of the community.

In addition to protecting vulnerable ecosystems, the FRA flooding mitigation will serve more practical beneficial purposes since, (i) in addition to countering flooding challenges, the FRAs (ii) will be manufactured by trained locals and deployment of FRAs in communities will will utilize trained community dwellers for venue-based disaster risk management.

Said training will, where the resources permit for it, provide instruction in geological and meteorological hazards, basic risk assessment and an understanding of flood water intensity, impact and dangers and the commensurate community responses to FRA early warning systems.

The FRA Implementation Team will work with government(s) and the community to deploy any proposed FRA matrix based on identifying the most vulnerable area in a given community and the most vulnerable households.

Our FRA solution provides scalable and verifiable monitoring and data collection to  track, manage and mitigate flooding.

FRAs provide benefits 1. natural hazard mitigation, 2. water reclamation, and 3. recycling of Municipal Solid Waste.

FRAs are designed to create scalable opportunities for local communities.  

FRA will (i) be manufactured in the community and employ community constituents (ii) use low technology and local materials in the production of FRA building components (iii) these employees are deployed in targeted communities and (iv) provide flood monitoring via same FRAs locally of through remote monitoring.

My small firm has already reduced our FRA concept to practice in a 1/64th“ model.

This model, the prototype of which is seen below has been rendered in a portable 42 inch long x 28 inch tall x 14 inch deep scaled model.

Said prototype permit one to simulate flooding in a “to-scale’ flood venue where we have created facsimile buildings/structures to show how the FRAs geophysics safeguards structures and, by extension, communities in low-lying, flood prone areas.

The Flood Resilient Apparatii consists of an innovative flood water management system which can be easily, efficiently and symbiotically deployed in at-risk venues for management/mitigation of flooding.

Our system also has the capacity to detect floods and spontaneous flash flooding in local and other, not so proximate, locations. 

Our innovation has the ability to improve flood management challenges both in coastal, and riverine, venues that experience annual flooding. FRAs can be integrated into any type of flood management scenarios.  

Our technology aims to address flooding caused by (i) backed-up water overflows (ii) wells that exceed their capacity (iii) compromised downstream outlets and inundated floodplains and (iv) high tides and storm surges.

Our FRAs optimal outputs are to decrease instances where structures, endangered by floodwater, can put people, and property, at high risk. 

While 100% success is the desirable output for FRA manufacture and utilization we acknowledge that such optimal outcomes will be impacted by (i) flood intensity (ii) water run-off and (iii) other environmental factors

Fully functional FRA interventions will be composed of circuitry, software hardware (recycled and repurposed materials) and communication matrices for logistics and ongoing monitoring.

CARICOM Information Communication Technologies for Development is a sub-programme in the Office of the CARICOM Secretariat. Its goal is to advance the development of people of the Caribbean Community using Information and Communication Technologies as a catalyst for Community transformation into a knowledge-based society. FRAs meet the objectives of this regional initiative while enhancing flood preparedness for its 13 member states.

Current number of people - 0

Having stated this information we will continue by saying this.

FRAs are truly revolutionary on 3 fronts because (i) not only do they represent harmonious, integrated flood resilience technologies and (ii) present a best-in-class intervention that protects people and buildings in vulnerable flood venues but (iii) the model through which FRAs are implemented focuses on employing people and "re-integrating assets" resourced.

Ensuingly the number to be served at PY1 = 50,000. In enumerating these 50K FRAs beneficiaries we need to itemize the short term economic impact which our project anticipates. That can be categorized by (a) who the FRAs employ and (b) who the FRA will be serving in the jurisdictions where we deploy our industrialization solution.

Below are our projections for employment and categorizations for this employment from PY1 to PY4

Number to be served by our FRA permaculture solution by PY5 = 47,000,000. 

These projections may be majorly impacted when consideration is given to  the human costs and reductions in population displacement, ensuing lost work (intangibles lile school days lost to children) and health risks due to floodwaters.

Our desired outcome is to create more efficient environmentally sound tools which will reduce the environmental impacts of flooding

We propose to do so while synergistically incorporating various ubiquitous recyclable resources that will

1. create more effective intervention mechanisms  to strengthen urban and rural communities and
2. shift disaster intervention (and maintenance) to community citizens who have greater vested interests in preserving their communities 
3. Create affordable and sustainable flood maintenance intervention tools which incorporate recycle elements throughout as powerful drivers for more achievable, climate change interventions

Nikita Reece is CEO & author of Systems for Peace (full time employee)

The co author Efosa Ogbe is FRAs Design Engineer (part-time).  

SfP has 1 ICT Specialist & two IoT engineers with 39 years experience between them - ALL 3 are consultants.

Nikita Reece, the author and principal of Systems for Peace has been involved in developing inclusive interventions for socially and economically disadvantaged peoples and has had several years in developmental programming  particularly for Women and minority peoples (See her personal accomplishments here www.fromthemindofnikita.com)

The FRAs have been fully endorsed by the Massachussets based WestCarb Innovations Consortium which is an ICT and Innovation firm with advanced facilities in Research & Development & Smart Asset Monitoring.

Nikita's innovation is viewed as a mini-industrialization opportunity for the consortium and has been shortlisted within their Innovations for Consideration. FRA objectives are in line with those of the consortium's Development Plans for 2022 - 2025. 

SfP is currently pursuing a teaming agreement with them and MIT's favourable consideration for this initiative can leverage SfP's position with the Westcarb Consortium.

With the latter's 9 years of experience in the IoT field and its multidisciplinary engineers, Sfp will be able to use their strong background knowledge in hardware, software, and data science to deliver this innovation.

It is evident from our Core Team (which comprises full and part time employees/consultants) that Systems for Peace is at a nascent phase of its development and has not reached that critical mass to actuate a tangible Diversity Policy and Practice.

Having said this, it is instructive that the founder of the organization is concurrently pursuing her Doctorate in International Peace, Conflict and Development at the University Juame I in Spain.

At Systems for Peace, "Peaces" (the plural is intentionally used) permeates what SfP and what its mission is. SfP is committed to Inclusion, Diversity and Equity as a matter of norm. Systems for Peace constantly seeks to actuate empowerment of all peoples  and this is why, central to the implementation of the Flood Resilient Apparatii, it effects employment and deployment of community denizens in every jurisdictions it is used in.

SfP innovates for the most noble of causes be that Wildfire Suppression, Tsunami Mitigation or Flood Resilience and we commit to applying of best minds and reaching out to the most committed partners so we can create the best-in-breed solutions to address intractable Climate Change problems 

The path to Innovation as a Caribbean citizen is fraught with economic and financial barriers. Environmental solutions are not central to the considerations of governments of the region, and understandably so.

Covid-19 has decimated the region's economies man of which are  tourism based. Even the best of times, the environment and initiatives that seek to expand the economy by treating the economy as part of the environment, would never have stood a chance to secure funding from regional entities.

Our business model will (i) provide our individual, corporate and government customers with a flood management solution which safeguards “the assets that they cannot afford to loose”(ii) facilitate a flood resilience solution through its unique affordable, permaculture-aware product that provides “real time, proventive/preventative options for Flood Management (iii) create employment opportunities for community dwellers through FRA implementations and (iv) offer variants bolt-on variants for water reclamation and reclaiming arid lands.

SfF seeks to strategically engage with facilitators like MIT Solve and members of your ecosystem that are amenable to and capable of implementing environmental initiatives like our FRA solution.

In addition to customary Human Resource needs that entrepreneurs with small budding firms will require, (and which we enumerate above) penetration of the Environmental Market we are going to be in will require a special level of HR expertise that we do not have and is NOT commonly available.

Readers will intuitively recognize that SfP is a unique and disruptive technology that the world needs but, getting our technology positioned in said its specific niche e.g. Military/Department of Defense for Defense and Logistics Infrastructure support globally, and then negotiating attendant agreements, IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT TO OTHER COMMERCIAL OUTREACHES or product/service offerings and requires SfP to acquire persons with these special skills.

The SfP Product and Service construct requires specific skillsets which we are confident the MIT Solve can pair us with.

Several problems face refugees worldwide and life assistance will include, but not be limited to shelter, food/water, things that directly and indirectly guarantee human rights.

Systems for Peace, in submitting this solution for consideration, proposes a solution with 3 major, positive outcomes

1. the first being it ensures that poor people in at-risk venues have support mechanisms insofar as FRAs deployment and monitoring creates sustainable jobs, jobs where low tech skills are needed
2. The second thing being that, in addition to serving at-risk community dwellers, FRAs can be employed to create job opportunities for displaced peoples 
3. the third thing is to stand up a specific initiative that speaks to a proactive variant of Refugee inclusion for POTENTIALLY TO BE DISPLACED PEOPLES, like persons making the dangerous trek to the United States from Mexico and Costa Rica and Central American countries in an attempt to build better futures for themselves

Ours is the submission that, if a sustainable innovative solution can be created, such can be a proactive mechanism to address the refugee issue proactively

In flood-prone areas globally, poor people at high risk of drowning. Some people  are conscribed to live in these areas which because of where they are, lack the infrastructure and/or natural of man-made structures to protect them in the event of a flood. 

SfF proposes to work with governments but more uniquely affected communities to develop and implement a Provention and Prevention Flood Intervention solution.

SfP is very proud of its systematic community centric approach where we work at community level with the objective of creating self actuating community based initiatives.

Systems for Peace is seeking a grant from GM to implement our Flood Resilience Solution with the aim of providing safe environments to community dwellers in flood prone areas. 

Our Initiative outcomes are consistent with GM’s commitment to building resilient ecosystems Based on its substantive flood management output and seeks to provide long term employment opportunities for target populations both in FRA manufacturing as well as their deployment and annual monitoring.

SfP will manufacture 100% of our FRAs.

As a direct result of this our beneficiaries will find themselves more economically secure since they benefit directly from FRA job opportunities as well as the flood protection our FRAs provide.

The Systems for Peace solution observes the United Nations SDG #6 water management regulations and legislation and will contribute to the Reduction in Water Scarcity.

To explain further why we thing we qualify here is a brief on how SfP will be employed and deployed in the future.

A flood will occurs somewhere in the world and post the venue being identified we are engaged to serve the locale's needs.

The FRA deployment is effected with commensurate training for the people who deploy the FRAs in the field.

Concomitant with these deployments our IoT enabled FRAs are responsible for monitoring the deployment – because it is through these passive technologies that we create customer support centres that mine flood management data, REAL TIME!

We see FRA’s qualifying for the AI for Humanity Prize because of what we bring to the table in the specific niche of international agencies disaster management services.

Monitoring (and Evaluation) of the platform are a critical and central part of the post implementation services of our FRAs and are required for ongoing improvements to the FRA technology.

Our Initiative outcomes are consistent with the GSR Prize to building resilient ecosystems because our flood management solution seeks to alleviate poverty, and contribute to a sustainable world, particularly with it being an innovative technology-powered solution.

SfF will work with governments but more uniquely, we will work with and in affected communities to develop and deploy our Provention and Prevention Flood Intervention solution.