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ARC - Alert Retrieval Cahce

What is ARC?
Alert Retrieval Cache. It's a system of collecting, sorting and routing SMS messages for the puposes of alerts and relay communication.

How can a single SMS can save people's lives?
If all the people relevant to that message can receive it, instantaneously. In the following system, the SMS message also contains a way of deciding which recipients are relevant to the message.

Why do we need ARC?
The failure of state-owned and hierarchical warning systems to alert us about the South Asia earthquake & tsunami, despite prior information has put into focus issues of forums for information exchange. What we need is to get credible, real time information from the grassroots to save lives.

How does this ARC work?
Here's a scenario -

Morquendi is a relief worker in Middle Earth, and he runs short of medical supplies, specifically antibiotics. The supplies are needed immediately. He needs to inform someone from his location. He sends out an SMS to ARC, which goes in a format, like this:

Date Time Number Who Where Related to Major issue Specific need Suggested action
Jan03 06:53:26 919819107418 Morquendi Middle Earth Supplies Medical Antibiotics Despatch

The Sorter program looks for similar keywords in the cache, as in Morquendi's message. After the program is done sorting, it links this message to all those numbers that are attached to similar attributes as in Morquendi's original message. Then it flashes this message to all these numbers.

Real-time, instantaneous. People in the vicinity, and anyone across the world who is awake, or knows Morquendi, receives this message.

More Info @ Tsunami Help - ARC