Dave Cortese, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, held a news conference to launch the county’s emergency alert system (AlertSCC) on March 14. Since the county has a large population of Taiwanese expatriates, Jack K. C. Chiang, director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in San Francisco, was invited to signed a cooperation memorandum between the county and Taiwan.
The event began with a moment of silence out of respect for the victims of Japan’s recent earthquake and tsunami. The crisis in Japan has further highlighted the importance of having an emergency alert system. Cortese said it was essential to set up a real-time reporting and disaster emergency rescue system, given the frequency of major disasters around the world. The purpose of launching AlertSCC is to urge local residents to sign up to a regional “mass notification” system by using the Internet via their cell phones, computers, and other digital communications equipment to get disaster information, relief resources, intelligence and early warnings.
Director-General Chiang expressed his appreciation to the county for being a partner in the plan to promote the AlertSCC and spoke of the far-reaching benefits in doing so. Since Taiwan’s Hsinchu and Santa Clara are sister counties, and there are tens of thousands of overseas Taiwanese people living in Santa Clara County, TECO can play a part in urging overseas Taiwanese residents to sign up for the disaster communications reporting system, he said. In recent years, the Taiwan government has been adopting measures to mitigate the effect of disasters, strengthen early warning mechanisms, and actively participate in international relief operations in order to promote the island’s commitment to international humanitarian aid.
Along with Taiwan, Santa Clara County also has a large number of expatriates from Latin American countries. The Mexican Consul General David Figueroa Ortega was also invited to participate in the press conference and to sign a cooperative memorandum.