The Development Impact of Open Risk Analytics

5 December 2020

For a recording of the webinar please visit UR2020:

ur2020.org

There are many human factors in risk decision-making, but we know that to manage and finance risk it helps to quantify it. However countries and cities interested in building their risk understanding do not always have access to the models and data needed to inform risk strategy or execute transactions. So much of the world’s modelling capability and resource is locked up in the global north and there is a strong case for improving access and usability.

This workshop will explore a range of open risk modelling initiatives in development and humanitarian contexts, including open platforms, open data standards and cross-sector collaborations. It will discuss what resources and knowledge can be gained by combining private sector, public sector and civil society strengths, and how together we can:

Lower the barriers to understanding risk, sharing capabilities that were once inaccessible.
Build national and community capacity at a fraction of previous costs.
Harness private sector risk experience and methodologies.
Improve strategic risk thinking by integrating local and global research.
Open up access to finance for risk prevention, residual risk transfer and anticipatory action.

Building on country stories, a cross-sector group will offer a menu of ideas for discussion, suggesting that the best way to accelerate the availability of risk understanding (and the empowerment it brings) is through public-private collaboration and the principles of genuinely open risk modelling.

The session will be based on ideas shown in the IDF Development Impact of Risk Analytics paper, which will be released to attendees beforehand. The paper’s contributing authors include UNDP, UN DRR, IDF, InsuResilience, IFRC, GEM, Start Network, Red Cross Red Crescent, Oasis LMF, finance sector companies, science institutions and academics.

The session will be designed to be entertaining, informative, and most of all interactive. An initial presentation, rich with current country-level examples, will lay out the logic. The session will end with learning points, offering connections across sectors and a look to next steps.