How can we sum up the significance of BuildERS and the value it brought?
For three years, we have dedicated our efforts to identifying ways to improve disaster management across Europe and empower its people to be more resilient and more prepared to deal with crises. But we've never limited ourselves to the three years of the project. We've always had one eye on the future and aimed for the results we'd obtained throughout the duration of the project to be further used after its completion, either to advance current research in the field or to guide policy-makers in shaping their plans. Which is why we are extremely proud and joyful to announce a new publication, in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, that makes use of the results of our project.
The new article is called "Evaluation of emerging technological opportunities for improving risk awareness and resilience of vulnerable people in disasters" and its aim was to estimate the innovation potential, utility, importance, applicability, risks for vulnerable people, and ethical acceptability of novel technologies. The evaluation was based on a survey, end-user evaluation, and co-creative workshops on technologies.
The article refers to the Mobile Positioning Data tool which was developed within BuildERS and it analyses its potential for improving rescue planning and emergency management in cyber-hazard situations, as well as its role in locating and evacuating tourists and other vulnerable groups in disaster situations. Another focus of the article is the use of the Trasim tool in crisis communication training and its potential to improve disaster preparedness and help tackle mis/disinformation.
No surprise there, but the evaluation revealed that there is, indeed, a tremendous amount of innovation potential and great technical enables that can play an active role in boosting resilience. However, the ethical considerations must be taken into account as well.
You can go through the article here - or you can find the link in our Deliverables > Publications section here.