Issue #69
Last Update October 31, 2010
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Business and Finance World Conference on Disaster Management by David Katz August 1, 2007 The 17th World Conference on Disaster Management, held last month in Toronto, brought together experts in emergency management, business continuity planning and disaster recovery from around the globe. Most participants came from the English speaking world, especially Canada, the US, the UK and Australia, but there were a sprinkling of Asian and European attendees. Quite a number of conference sessions focused on planning for pandemics, a major concern when global travel can spread an illness across continental boundaries in days. Infrastructure resiliency, especially for communications and energy, was another major topic. Some of the most interesting sessions, however, dealt with the disciplines of planning for emergencies and for disaster recovery.
Business continuity planning is a process that identifies organizational vulnerabilities, quantifies the risk of these vulnerabilities occurring, assesses the impact of interruption of each organizational function on the organization as a whole, plans for mitigation of that impact, and also plans for recovery of physical facilities, data and other organizational assets and functions in a timely and efficient manner. The goals are to minimize the impact of an adverse event on the organization, maximize recovery, and ensure the survival of the organization and its personnel. Particularly for a large, diverse company or a governmental body, this planning process is time consuming and expensive. One of the most interesting Conference sessions was titled “Insurance and Continuity: 'We don't need business continuity – we're insured, aren't we?'” The speaker, David Kaye, reviewed the things that insurance can cover, and the many more things important to the survival of an organization that it doesn't and can't. For example, the failure of a sole source supplier to deliver, an eventuality generally not insurable, can not only lead to lost sales, but can allow competitors to make inroads into market share, threatening corporate survival. Proper planning can avert or minimize. the damage from such an event.
Several sessions were devoted to the impact of pandemics and disasters on power distribution and communications, and outlined the steps being taken to ensure telephone and internet access and electrical power.
Exhibitors showcased a selection of goods and services, ranging from giant mobile telecommunications trucks with satellite connectivity to decontamination tents with showers and controlled air pressure for use during chemical and biological emergencies, to portable toilets and bags for human waste disposal, to sealed, self-heating meals that provide nutrition without requiring a source of clean water for preparation. A number of academic institutions had booths describing their emergency management degree and certificate programs.
A number of sessions focused on inadequacies in the planning process itself, exploring common Business Continuity myths that can lead to impractical, incomplete or inadequate results in crisis management and disaster recovery.
Clearly this field has attracted serious, determined people who are trying to create a professional discipline to deal with natural and man-made crises of all types. It is encouraging that those in the field are bringing to bear a healthy combination of practical and academic knowledge, and are not afraid to cross disciplines in pursuit of their goals.
New York Stringer is published by NYStringer.com. For all communications, contact David Katz, Editor and Publisher, at david@nystringer.com