Partnering for resilience

Following an unprecedented number of catastrophes over the past two to three years, the fields of emergency and crisis management have been thrust into the spotlight. From the continuing global COVID-19 pandemic to destructive natural disasters to cyberattacks and more, these events have stressed governments, businesses, communities, and individuals. They also raise fundamental questions about what is needed to prepare for and respond to future crisis situations.

Strengthening readiness with collaboration

Disasters are complex and cross-cutting by nature. They have no respect for geographic, jurisdictional, political, or organizational boundaries. Emergency preparedness, crisis management, and government response should follow suit.

Readiness and response cannot be the sole responsibility of one sector, one program, one agency, or one level of government. Rather, the key to success is the strength of the network before, during, and after a disaster. This requires establishing partnerships between public and private sectors, levels of government, and agencies, including nonprofits and international organizations, before disaster strikes.

Simply put, radical horizontal and vertical problems cannot be solved in silos. Disaster recovery and disaster response must be a team effort.

The middle of a crisis is not the time to be exchanging business cards.

What specific and practical steps can governments take in the near term to better prepare and respond? And who are the critical partners?

In search of concrete answers, the IBM Center for The Business of Government and IBM Institute for Business Value teamed with the National Academy of Public Administration to convene a roundtable of government leaders and emergency management experts and stakeholders.

Six pragmatic and actionable steps emerged from the discussion. They cover building an emergency response and preparedness network, expanding local capacity, considerations for crisis communications plans, budgeting tools, data strategies, and human resource management to meet current, surge, and future needs.

“If you think responding to a disaster is costly, try doing that without up-front preparation."

-Roundtable participant

Download the full report for six practical steps government organizations can take in the short term to build greater resilience at both the national and local levels and prepare to meet the needs of citizens and employees during the next crisis.