Archive: Industry Working Group: The roles and needs of Industry and the Insurance Sector

 

For more information on this archive page, contact secretariat@gdin.org

Purpose

The purpose of the industry working group was to demonstrate why industry needs to join GDIN and why GDIN could be of benefit to industry. This process will entail developing a plan of action.

Summary

The Industry Panel heard a wide-range of industry viewpoints regarding GDIN from representatives of the insurance/risk management, GIS, telecommunications, and specialized aircraft industries. The consensus of the group was that industry has a lot to offer GDIN, but the value proposition for industry participation is not always evident. One of the more interesting presentations concerned the potential for the insurance industry to become more active in the developing world, thereby bringing a potentially significant economic interest in risk assessment and associated loss prevention. While the effect of such a turn of events would not be immediate, over a period of time this could potentially make a drastic difference in the impact of natural disasters around the world. The call was made to form and industry working group from among the participants, among whose first objectives would be to develop a concise case for industry participation in GDIN and market this case within relevant industry groups.

Theodore (Ted) Glickman Industry Panel Coordinator

Presentations

GDIN and the GIS Industry -- Carmelle J. Côté, Ph.D.ESRI - Washington, DC

Remotely Operated Aircraft Systems and Global Disaster Information Management --Dale Endresen, General Atomics Corporation

Due to the size of the presentation files, the pages have been broken into parts for ease of downloading. The link above will download a 15 MB file.

Speech

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10

Additional Information

Statements of Support:

"...GDIN represents an opportunity for industry to help itself in doing business related to disasters in the future. The GDIN initiative is real, it is receiving widespread support, and participation is truely international. The value proposition is such that a small investment in time and energy now in helping to get GDIN in place can pay off big dividends in the future.

Further, industry has a chance to "get in on the ground floor" and greatly influence the character and content of GDIN as it evolves (and evolve, it will!). The benefits include better information on disasters and priorities for recovery, perhaps some early warning on disasters in the making so that industry can better protect property and reduce the risk of loss, and educating the world community on measures that can employed to help mitigate losses in future disaster scenarios. In each case, industry has a role to play and their bottom line can directly benefit from implementation of GDIN--the business climate around the world will be improved over what exists today.

Beyond this, the information sharing associated with GDIN may also provide additional conduits for getting the buyers of a whole host of goods and services together with those who sell those goods and services. I think this business case needs to be repeatedly articulated to those in industry with whom you have contact. "
--David Baxa, Vice President VISTA, Chairman of Industry Working Group

 

"-- Industry in the US and around the world has assets in disaster prone countries. to the extent that GDIN can provide them early warning, we provide an added value potential industry partners should invest in.

-- products developed for Turkey in the aftermath of their first earthquake are not only valuable to a government's response and future mitigation, they are also valuable for industry. People on the ground can use them to plan their immediate activities, restructuring etc. In addition, the products provide a blueprint to industry to understand if they have products that would be useful in the reconstruction phase.

-- many firms have telecommunications capabiltiies that outstrip that of local authorities. It would be useful if we could bring those capabilities into play, especially as we enhance the capacity of a nation to share disaster information in all phases. Shell has satellites. Coke has distribution centers. So does ARAMCO.

-- information standards are key to success in disaster management. It makes sense then industry help us develop standards that meet their needs."
--Larry Roeder, U.S. Department of State