Publication: Digital Public Goods for Disaster Risk Reduction in a Changing Climate
Date
2023-03-16
ISSN
Published
2023-03-16
Author(s)
Global Facility for Disaster Reduction
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
Abstract
The growth of the disaster and
climate risk analysis has largely taken place through the
development of proprietary models and data only accessible
to a restricted group of users. However, core digital assets
have received a push early this century to open access so
that larger populations can benefit from their use as public
goods. This includes: (i) data used to produce evidence on
past disasters or climatic conditions; (ii) models used by
scientists to run future climate risk scenarios; (iii)
technology and standards for disaster risk modeling; and
(iv) crowdsourced maps created by volunteers and used by
governments to prepare for and respond to crises. This
briefing note aims to promote and explore ways that digital
public goods can support disaster risk reduction. It starts
by providing a series of definitions and historical context,
before delving into the prevailing trends and opportunities
that promote the use of open resources to support disaster
risk reduction. The target audience for this note includes
governments, international organizations, and other
institutions that might want to play a role in advancing
digital public goods. While the note focuses on disaster
risk reduction, preventing new and reducing existing
disaster risk, it also addresses the broader aspects of
resilience and climate change adaption and might be of
interest to practitioners or decision makers in those
fields. Finally, this briefing note is a result of a
collaboration between the United Nations Office for Disaster
Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the Global Facility for Disaster
Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) with inputs from 40 people
gathered through a virtual workshop in November 2021. While
short and concise, this paper aims to inspire more
discussions and actions at the nexus of digital
technologies, disaster risk management, and international development.
Citation
“Global Facility for Disaster Reduction; United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. 2023. Digital Public Goods for Disaster Risk Reduction in a Changing Climate. © Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/a5534ede-04d2-4b1f-a317-1c5886e631ee License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”