1

Pioneered by Mastercard

Inclusive Disaster Management: Four insights to ensure your city’s crisis response helps everyoneMaking Tech Work for PeopleA series of insights gleaned from global cities

2

Inclusive Disaster Management: Four insights to ensure your city’s crisis response helps everyoneBY SA PA N S H A H , V I CE PR ES I D E NT, E NTE R PR IS E PA R TN E RS H I PS ,

A N D S TE V E TA E , V I CE PR ES I D E NT, M A S TE RCA R D CIT Y K E Y

The Making Tech Work for People series shares insights on a variety of topics gleaned from our work with hundreds of cities around the world, including the members of the City Possible Global Network.

Extreme storms. Out-of-control fires. Record-setting heat waves and droughts. Natural disasters are on the rise, and their destructive impact is particularly challenging for cities to manage.

Dense urban areas have more people in harm’s way, and that number is skyrocketing: 70% of the global population will be city dwellers by 2050.1 As more people flock to cities and major climate events increase in frequency and severity, the number of residents requiring post-disaster relief will continue to rise.

Also, urban populations are highly diverse, with a wide range of disaster-related needs. Certain segments are particularly vulnerable, such as the elderly, people with disabilities, and low-income residents,2 many of whom are unbanked and lack access to financial instruments in times of crisis. Insurance coverage varies, which can hinder the recovery of families and local businesses.

Ensuring that all residents are taken care of in an emergency is fundamental to urban inclusion. Here are four insights that can help leaders develop robust emergency preparedness chains that, when triggered by a disaster, ensure timely dispersal of appropriate aid to every resident in need.

70%

70% of the global population will be city dwellers by 2050.1

Inclusive Disaster Management

3

1. Examine your current emergency readiness— before disaster hits

Hurricane Katrina was a wake-up call for many cities in terms of emergency preparedness. From the Gulf Coast to Chicago, municipalities re-examined their capabilities to prepare, respond to, and recover from a natural disaster.3,4 More recently, wildfires are sparking improvements to disaster management programs in communities up and down the West coast.5

While no city plans to be unprepared, it shouldn’t take the shock of a Category 4 storm to mobilize change. Among the issues driving city disaster management agendas: • Readiness – When were procedures, protocols and guidelines last evaluated? Are they still relevant? Do we have up-to-date programs to address different types of events?• Supporting technology – Are we leveraging new technologies that can help us improve the speed and accuracy of planning and response efforts?• Communications – How quickly can we engage with residents to provide warnings, instructions, guidance, and updates?

Some cities are even appointing Chief Resilience Officers to spearhead and provide a visible point of accountability for their emergency planning efforts to ensure that all residents are supported and critical systems keep functioning in a natural disaster.6

When was the last time your city evaluated its emergency procedures, protocols, and guidelines?

Inclusive Disaster Management

4

2. Leverage data to understand and anticipate resident needs It’s said that all disasters are local, and municipal governments feel the burden of responsibility as the first and final lines of relief. Building a high-functioning disaster management program requires data to determine exactly what services are needed, where and by whom, to prevent gaps in emergency relief efforts. To aid in this effort, many cities are turning to data analytics to assess residents’ emergency-related needs at a hyper-local level and using these insights to inform policy decisions so no one is left unaided.

Data analytics are also useful in monitoring and improving disaster relief programs, such as tracking the effectiveness of resource deployment in response and recovery efforts and determining the level of resident engagement. Subject to applicable laws, local governments should also consider building a robust database of their residents, especially the most vulnerable, for emergency management-related communications.

3. A universal city resident account can provide multi-purpose disaster relief

To enhance the speed and impact of disaster relief, many cities see value in implementing a universal municipal identification that enables residents to engage city services digitally. Such a program would have multiple functions in terms of disaster management.

From an administrative standpoint, an ID functionality would enable disaster managers to quickly authenticate a resident’s social identification and verify their residence and eligibility for emergency funds. It would also allow efficient, accurate distribution of emergency funds coming from multiple sources, such as charities, non-profits, and FEMA. And the digital payment flows could be tightly controlled and monitored to prevent waste and fraud.

Residents affected by a disaster could be identified based on geography. They would receive their emergency disbursements digitally, immediately before, during, or after a disaster. No waiting for a check to arrive by mail or dealing with the risks of a cash payment. A prepaid card functionality would enable recipients to purchase essential items like shelter, gas, water, and food at designated merchants. The card would also serve as an access tool, entitling residents to receive immediate goods and services from designated emergency venues.

Inclusive Disaster Management

5

4. Smart cities are safer cities

Forward-thinking cities around the globe are harnessing technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), sensing devices, and other digital tools to become smarter about how they do lots of things, including prepare for and manage disasters. For example, the UrbanFlood project in the European Union (EU) uses sensors, cloud technology, and data analytics to create a real-time online early warning system that is helping cities predict and manage the risk of flooding.7 Other cities are adding AI-based tools to gain near-real-time situational awareness, block by block, on the likely impact of a disaster so they can prioritize and provide the right emergency response to affected residents.

Final thoughts …

Leaving no one behind is the very definition of disaster preparedness and of inclusive urbanization. Cities that work for everyone do so in times of opportunity and growth, and in times of destruction and loss. The key to building a more robust and inclusive disaster management program is to begin now by examining the wealth of available solutions, from new technologies to data analytics and best practices that have been put to the test in cities worldwide.

City Possible, a new model for urban collaboration pioneered by Mastercard, can help. Through City Possible, you can tap into insights and resources from other cities to help inform your own strategies around disaster management.

1. The United Nations, “68% of the World Population Projected to Live in Urban Areas by 2050,” 2018.2. The United Nations, “Impact of Natural Disasters Increasingly Affecting Those Most Vulnerable, Speakers Say as Commission for Social Development Continues Session,” 2019. 3. GW Today, “Hurricane Katrina 10 Years Later: Are We More Prepared for Disaster?,” 2015.4. EHS Today, “Chicago: Preparing for Disaster,” 2006.

5. The Press Democrat, “Painful lessons from 2017 wildfires shape preparations for next disaster,” 2019.6. USA Today, “Cities step up disaster-response planning,” 2013.7. European Commission, “UrbanFlood | Managing climate change in urban contexts,” 2012.

Pioneered by Mastercard

Inclusive Disaster Management

The superpower of collaborationWe encourage you to inquire about joining City Possible to bring the collaboration superpower to your city. City Possible enables a global network of cities, companies and communities working together to promote inclusive and sustainable urban co-development focused on addressing pressing urban challenges.

Likewise, if you would like to learn more about how a platform like Mastercard City Key could help your city engage with its residents with a universal ID, please contact us.