Since its inception, the CISCAI has initiated a number of activities to jumpstart the establishment of a   robust  Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure in Hanoi, Vietnam and Vientiane in Laos PDR to support the immediate monitoring and efficient management of  Avian Influenza (AI) outbreaks in these two pilot sites. Among the IC technologies that are  currently  being  employed include a  combination of Geographical Information System (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS), Worldwide  Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) technologies and the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) data service such as Short Message Service (SMS), and Global Packet Radio  System (GPRS).  A key component of the project is the effective and immediate conveyance of AI outbreak data from the field workers, as well as the dissemination of processed information among   different stakeholders and the general public at large. 

The CISCAI-Project Coordination Unit (PCU)  recently touched base with key members  of  the ASEAN-Sub-committee  on Space Technology and Applications (ASEAN-SCOSA), during the  latter’s  20th  meeting held in  Singapore  from 1-2 November 2009.   The move by CISCAI-PCU  was in support to its  effort  of  boosting  regional cooperation and  to align  and harmonize the (CISCAI) Project’s activities with those of the  ASEAN - Committee on Science and Technology (ASEAN-COST).  The initiative was also spurred by the recently concluded ASEAN+3 Health Ministers’ Meeting in May of this year in Bangkok, which underscored the need of and urgency for the establishment at national levels of pandemic preparedness plans and for the continuous implementation of such plans, to further intensify the performance of surveillance of infections in human and animals, as well as, the establishment of effective response mechanisms.