In the remote village of Kampong Thom, Cambodia, the rainy season used to bring more than just water: it brought fear. For years, families lived with the uncertainty of flash floods, often with little warning and no time to prepare. But one evening, everything changed. 

Sokha, a mother of three, was cooking dinner when her phone rang. It wasn’t a friend or a relative - it was a voice alert from EWS1294, Cambodia’s early warning system. The message was simple but urgent: a flood was expected within hours. Without losing any time, she gathered her children, alerted her neighbours, and everybody moved to higher ground. 

By morning, the village was flooded, but no lives were lost. 

This event highlights a powerful shift in disaster preparedness. Strategic investment in technology is transforming how communities anticipate and respond to crises.

Frontier technologies for early warning and preparedness 

Existing and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, earth observations, and mobile-based communication systems are redefining how we detect, monitor, forecast and respond to hazards. 

In the Netherlands, the government’s Dutch Disaster Risk Reduction & Surge Support Programme deploys specialists who work with several digital tools and platforms, such as Floodtags to scan the internet in real time – sifting through social media, news reports, and websites to detect early signs of flooding. This digital stream of information feeds into predictive models like Tygron and FastFlood, which was recently used in Kazakhstan to generate near-instant flood forecasts enabling efficient early warning. 

“Flood modelling tools using Artificial Intelligence are rapidly advancing, allowing fast simulations and combining real-time information that can help to better anticipate flood events and their impacts. This means communities and responders can act earlier, potentially saving lives and reducing damage before disaster strikes.” 
 — Ms Esmee van de Ridder, Programme Advisor at Dutch Disaster Risk Reduction and Surge Support (DRRS), Netherlands Enterprise and Development Agency, Government of The Netherlands 

In Mozambique, the government has partnered with UR Tanzania through the Africa Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Early Action System (AMHEWAS) to modernize its national situation room. This initiative combines forecasts, risk data and decision support across multiple sectors and sends out rapid alerts. 

After observing UR Tanzania’s operational model, experts from Mozambique joined hands with their Tanzanian counterparts to co-design open-source platforms and forecast tools to issue joint advisories. This South–South technology transfer is giving Mozambique the skills and systems to run and upgrade its own real-time early warning services, strengthening national as well as regional capacities.

In Uganda, the GEO’s Global Agricultural Monitoring Initiative (GEOGLAM) worked with the Office of Prime Minister to apply AI and Earth observations that gave three months’ advance warning of crop failure, enabling disaster risk financing and social protection measures that protected 150,000 people and saved up to USD 11 million between 2017 and 2022. In Malawi, during Cyclone Freddy in 2023, GEOGLAM partnered with the Ministry of Agriculture to map flooded croplands, guiding rapid damage assessments and recovery efforts. 

Combining high- and low-tech solutions to adapt to local realities 

In Colombia, the Community Early Warning System, a partnership between Medellín’s city government and the EAFIT University, pairs drones, hydro-meteorological sensors and radars with an on-ground network of community leaders who live along the city’s watershed. When alerts are triggered, a chain of calls moves through these leaders, ensuring rapid dissemination of warnings. By combining cutting-edge monitoring with peer-to-peer networks, the system strengthens early action.  

In the Maldives, the national roadmap for early warnings coverage integrates advanced real-time monitoring and forecasting systems using ocean sensors and satellite data along with multi-channel alerts, including mobile-based platforms. To overcome logistical challenges across its many inhabited islands, the country is considering Cell Broadcast and location-based technologies, while investing in satellite connectivity to ensure that even remote communities receive timely and actionable alerts. 

Similarly, Mauritius is advancing the implementation of Cell Broadcast for rapid-onset disasters, strengthening its capacity to deliver life-saving information swiftly and effectively. With 97.9% global coverage and 4 in 5 people owning a mobile phone, cell broadcast is revolutionizing early warning systems. 

In Madagascar, the Early Warning Connectivity Map shows where people are covered by mobile networks, and where connectivity ''cold spots” may leave populations unreachable. The tool has identified that 2.3 million people live in areas without any digital network coverage and are 100% exposed to high cyclone risk, allowing government agencies to devise alternative plans. 

In the Kingdom of Bahrain, the National Civil Protection Platform is transforming how communities engage with disaster preparedness. By integrating digital tools like the Hayat Plus mobile application, the platform enables citizens to access safety information, participate in volunteer services, and contribute to a culture of prevention. 

 “Preparedness begins with people. When communities are informed, engaged, and empowered, they become the first line of defence in any crisis.” 
 — Major Hamad Sabah Al Swar, Director, Crisis and Disaster Management Center, Ministry of Interior, Kingdom of Bahrain

Youth-led innovations in early warning systems 

Young people are a key force driving inclusive innovation. In Nepal, students have built a community flood alert system using recycled materials and open-source software. In Libya, young innovators are operating the country’s first real-time early warning system with 45 weather stations and a mobile app, turning alerts into community action.

To build inclusive and effective early warning and preparedness where it matters the most, youth must be engaged not just as contributors, but as decision-makers, ensuring investments are channelled into lasting resilience at the local level. 

Inclusive by design: Leaving no one behind

Inclusivity is critical for effective implementation of technological and innovative solutions for early warning and preparedness. This means ensuring that solutions are accessible to persons with disabilities, available in local languages, and adaptable to diverse socio-economic contexts. When technologies are co-created with communities and reflect their lived realities, they become more effective, trusted and empowering. 

“We need to ensure that digital technologies for early warning and preparedness are inclusive by design. This means they must work for everyone, by offering accessible formats and alternative communication channels. Only then can we truly say that no one is left behind in times of disasters.” 
 — Alradi Abdalla, Inclusive Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction Advisor, International Disability Alliance (IDA) 

Persons with disabilities, who make up about 15% of the world’s population, often face systemic barriers in accessing early warning systems, despite being disproportionately impacted by disasters. Globally, an estimated 2.5 billion people require assistive technology, yet access remains unequal. The Global Partnership for Assistive Technology (ATscale) is working to close this gap by advocating for inclusive innovation, strengthening market systems, and ensuring that preparedness strategies integrate accessibility from the outset.

Building Resilience Together 

This is the essence of the technology dividend: when we invest in technology for early warning and preparedness, the returns are multiplied over time — not only in lives saved and livelihoods protected, but also in the avoided costs of emergency relief and reconstruction which drive countries further into debt. 

The strongest investments pair cutting-edge tools with strong community ownership. They are people-centred, designed and run with the communities they serve, and. They provide end-to-end capability, connecting risk knowledge to effective on-ground response. They offer multi-hazard coverage, and they build local ownership and sustainability, so systems endure long after outside support ends. 

These case studies from around the world show that when innovation is guided by empathy and equity, technology strengthens community resilience and empowers those most at risk, cutting disaster losses before they have a chance to start.