The annual meeting of the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) has again demonstrated an increased need for a more integrated multi-hazard analysis approach, from natural to technological disasters, from hybrid threats to epidemics. The purpose of integrated disaster analysis is to provide timely and adequate diagnostics in support for decision-making, including the estimated impact, the anticipated need for international assistance, and potential future developments of the scenario.
GDACS is a cooperation framework between the United Nations and the European Commission. GDACS aims at providing timely disaster alerts and automatically calculated impact estimations as a basis for decision-making by the authorities of the affected country and potential international responders. GDACS has created online collaboration platforms to facilitate global information exchange in the first disaster phase, and to coordinate the production of required satellite images.
Objectives: To ensure that GDACS services remain fit for purpose, GDACS works closely with a variety of scientific agencies, humanitarian organizations and disaster managers, to better understand the needs of decision-makers and to explore new methodologies and technologies to provide adequate support. The main recurring questions are: Are all possible impacts and cascading effects considered? Is the information provided effectively and in a usable format? Is it possible to increase the “lead time”? Are the coordination tools sufficiently user-friendly and purposeful? Which areas can be improved to better meet the needs of decision-makers? The sessions will focus on “Multi-Hazard information for decision makers” and, more specifically, global initiatives dealing with multi-hazard early warning systems and their effectiveness in anticipating actions to prevent worsening the impact of disasters, from the global to the local level, as well as online collaboration platforms to exchange information and to coordinate the production of required satellite images.
At this year’s Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks (HNPW), GDACS will organize several sessions jointly with other organizations to provide updates of latest developments and to discuss areas for improvement. All sessions will be of short duration with a focus on a specific theme and target audience. The sessions are available on the interactive HNPW event program at www.hnpw.org, where participants can register directly for the sessions and gain access to connection details for the remote conference. Please note that a separate message will be sent with the connection details of all sessions prior to the conference.
