 Our planet is regularly at the mercy of natural disasters and other catastrophes. As the world collapses around us, access to information is vital. Before disaster strikes and in the critical hours afterwards, broadcasting remains the most reliable source of information. To explain the importance of this crucial line of communication, ITU met with Christoph Dosh. We're here at ITU in Geneva and I'm very pleased to be joined by Christoph Dosh, who is Chairman of ITUR Study Group 6 and General Manager of Collaborative Research for the Institut für Rundfunktechnik, and we're going to be talking about broadcasting in emergency situations. Mr Dosh, thank you very much indeed for being with us today. My pleasure to be here. I'd like to start off by asking you, has there been a change in the number of disasters and other catastrophes? At least we have the impression that there are more natural disasters now and of a greater impact than in the past. It may have to do with the increase in temperature, with the climate change. Perhaps it is also due to the fact that we have now a communication system in the world that really informs us about every disaster very quickly. How does broadcasting assist in such situations? Broadcasting is extremely important in such a situation. It is ubiquitously available. Everybody has a broadcast receiver, be it a radio or a television receiver. And in case of breakdown of networks, the broadcast network normally survives because the cells are relatively big and the broadcast stations are equipped with emergency generators for electricity. And they also have second transmitters. So in case one transmitter fails, they can use the other one. So it's very unlikely that in such disaster events, all broadcasting stations of one region are also going down. I was going to ask you, in disasters when there's been a breakdown to the infrastructure, amongst other things, how does broadcasting come into play and how is it useful? Broadcasting comes into play because of the availability of receivers in the hand of the public. Even if the electricity network breaks down, many receivers still work with batteries. There are now millions of TV receivers in cars that can still be used in such situations. Broadcasting can really show maps and inform people of, for example, wind directions of a tornado or the direction where to take refuge, where to seek shelter. These are possibilities that we can show on a map, even in cases where an IP network, the personal communication network, has failed. TV and radio broadcasting have been around for a long time. Has the technology improved to be more responsive in times of crisis? With respect to the broadcasters themselves, I think, yes and no. Because the broadcasters have at their disposal highly qualified personnel and have always had it, that knows exactly how to inform the public, not to raise too much emotions, to be clear about instructions. So this is highly professional people. The technology helps, of course, to get more information more quickly into the broadcasting houses, but it also helps, of course, now that we do have many portable TV and radio receivers in the hand of the public. Now your Chairman of Study Group 6, I wanted to ask you, what is Study Group 6 doing to highlight the importance of emergency broadcasting? Study Group 6 is just compiling a new report that summarizes the great advantages of broadcasting in cases of a crisis. Think of the fact that in some cases of crisis, especially with the terrorist background, the communication networks often shut down in order to prevent someone of abusing these networks to fire a bomb, for example, and then broadcasting really is important for the information of the people. And so the report of ITU study group 6 is expected to be available by March, April next year, and in preparing we have organized the workshop on the 21st of November this year in the afternoon, which is to be held at the ITU, and I invite you all to participate if you watch that video prior to that workshop. Otherwise, I invite you to contribute to the work. Christoph Dorsch, thank you very much for taking with us today. Thank you for that interview.