A Hydrologist Talks About Working Together to Curb Crises 

March 10, 2025
by ISR Staff
Blog

Dr. Kaushlendra Verma, a hydrologist from India and ISR community member, currently serves as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Météo-France, in Toulouse. His research endeavors contribute significantly to our understanding of global hydrological systems and their dynamics, particularly in the context of climate change.  

Driven by a profound interest in monitoring and effectively managing freshwater resources, Dr. Verma employs innovative techniques such as remote sensing and satellite altimetry to collect crucial data on the topography of surface water and water level changes. His efforts aim to deepen our understanding of Earth’s intricate water dynamics and chart a course towards sustainable management of our planet’s most vital resource. 

Dr. Verma recently spoke to the International Science Reserve about his research and how the ISR can be useful for cross-border collaboration on crisis. 

Can you tell us a little bit more about your research?  

At Météo-France, my research focuses on understanding how climate change impacts Earth’s water dynamics, particularly regarding freshwater resources. Using advanced techniques like remote sensing, we’re uncovering new insights into the behavior of water-bodies, including rivers and lakes, under changing climatic conditions.  

One fascinating aspect we are discovering is the intricate relationship between precipitation patterns and hydrological processes, shedding light on how climate variability affects the availability and distribution of freshwater resources impacting ecosystems and human livelihoods at the global scale. 

Population growth, industrialization, and climate change are all pushing the boundaries of the global freshwater supply. What role do hydrologists play in helping decision-makers understand these risks?

Hydrologists play a crucial role in providing valuable insights to decision-makers regarding freshwater management and sustainability. Through meticulous analysis of vast datasets and sophisticated modeling techniques, we assess the risks associated with freshwater scarcity and help devise effective mitigation strategies.  

Whether it’s optimizing water allocation, developing resilient infrastructure, or guiding international agreements on trans-boundary water resources, hydrologists provide the scientific foundation for informed decision-making at both local and global levels, ensuring the long-term viability of freshwater resources for future generations. 

Recent events underscore the urgency of scientific insights in water management. In Sudan’s Arbaat Dam collapse (August 2024), extreme rainfall led to catastrophic failure, displacing communities and highlighting vulnerabilities in water infrastructure. Similarly, the 2024–2025 floods across Southeast and South Asia have affected millions, emphasizing the need for accurate hydrological forecasts and adaptive management strategies. 

Beyond disasters, hydrologists also support proactive crisis prevention. In case of Cape Town, South Africa, which faced a severe water crisis in 2018 due to a combination of drought, population growth, and inadequate water infrastructure. Hydrologists were instrumental in analyzing rainfall patterns, groundwater levels, and reservoir capacities to forecast water availability accurately. Their research enabled policymakers to implement water-saving measures, such as rationing and infrastructure upgrades, to avert a catastrophic water shortage. 

Furthermore, in response to the ongoing drought crisis in the Western United States, hydrologists have been actively involved in water resource management efforts. With shrinking snow-pack, dwindling reservoir levels, and increasing competition for water among various stakeholders, hydrologists employ advanced modeling techniques to forecast water availability, assess drought impacts, and develop adaptive strategies. By collaborating with policymakers, hydrologists help inform decisions on water allocation, conservation measures, and long-term planning to mitigate the effects of drought on ecosystems and communities. 

The UN recently stated that we are “careering towards a global water crisis,” with a 40% shortfall in freshwater resources predicted by 2030 and called for increased global cooperation. What are the benefits to collaborating more across borders, and across disciplines to better manage freshwater systems? 

Collaboration across borders and disciplines holds immense promise in addressing the complex challenges of freshwater management on a global scale. For example, the flow of water in some rivers may be governed by agreements between countries. However, monitoring this flow can be problematic for both technical and economic reasons. By fostering international cooperation, hydrologists can share expertise, data, and best practices, facilitating more holistic and effective approaches to freshwater conservation and management. 

Moreover, interdisciplinary collaboration amplifies the impact of hydrology research by integrating insights from diverse fields such as ecology, economics, and governance. For instance, the Nile Basin Initiative brings together hydrologists, economists, and policymakers from riparian countries to address shared challenges in water management. By combining hydrological modeling with socioeconomic analysis and stakeholder engagement, interdisciplinary teams develop inclusive water governance frameworks and equitable allocation mechanisms that promote cooperation and mitigate conflicts. 

In another example, the Mekong River Basin in Southeast Asia spans multiple countries and supports millions of livelihoods. Hydrologists from countries like China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam collaborate to monitor water flow, sediment transport, and ecosystem health in the basin. By sharing hydrological data and conducting joint research, these scientists facilitate informed decision-making on dam operations, flood management, and sustainable water use, fostering cooperation and reducing the risk of conflicts over water resources. 

Why did you join the International Science Reserve, and why would you encourage others to join? 

My decision to join the International Science Reserve (ISR) stems from its invaluable role as a platform for fostering global scientific collaboration and knowledge exchange. ISR provides a unique opportunity for researchers from diverse backgrounds to come together, share insights, and collaborate on addressing pressing global challenges.  

By joining the ISR, researchers gain access to a vast network of experts, resources, and opportunities for collaboration, enabling them to amplify the impact of their research and contribute meaningfully to advancing scientific knowledge and addressing global challenges. 

Using Genomic Sequencing to Treat Disease in the Horn of Africa 

March 10, 2025
by ISR Staff
Blog

Souad Elmi is an ISR community member and public health microbiologist who works in the National Reference Laboratory at Peltier General Hospital in Djibouti. She has experience in medical laboratory and public health initiatives, including infection control, epidemiology, antimicrobial stewardship, malaria, and tuberculosis (TB).  

She is passionate about using genomic sequencing to identify and treat the complicated diseases that plague her region in the Horn of Africa.

The International Science Reserve spoke to Souad about her goals to achieve health, sustainability, and well-being for all people. 

How did you get started in public health?  

My journey into public health and infection control began with my work as a medical laboratory scientist, where I witnessed the devastating impact of infectious diseases, particularly TB, HIV, which are complicated by antimicrobial resistance. Seeing patients suffer from preventable and treatable illnesses due to gaps in diagnostics and public health interventions motivated me to specialize in public health microbiology. My passion for health equity and disease prevention grew as I realized the urgent need for improved surveillance, diagnostics, and sustainable solutions to control infectious diseases in vulnerable populations, especially in the Horn of Africa. 

What projects are you currently working on?

Currently, I am working on molecular diagnostics related to TB in the National Reference Laboratory at Peltier General Hospital in Djibouti. My research focuses on drug resistance patterns and genomic sequencing to track TB strains and improve treatment strategies. Additionally, I am involved in antimicrobial stewardship initiatives, aiming to combat antibiotic resistance through laboratory-based surveillance and policy recommendations. These projects are crucial in strengthening disease control efforts and informing public health interventions in the region. 

Djibouti has one of the higher rates of tuberculosis in the world, but in recent years, the country has made efforts to reduce that number and close the gap. What have you seen as successful practices on this public health issue?  

Djibouti has made significant progress in TB control through enhanced case detection, rapid molecular diagnostics, and patient-centered treatment approaches. The introduction of GeneXpert technology, which allows for the detection of specific genetic material in a biological sample using a technique called nucleic acid amplification, has improved early detection of drug-resistant TB by reducing the time to acquiring diagnostic results from weeks to hours. Community-based interventions have increased treatment adherence by patients. Strengthening laboratory capacity and integrating TB care with HIV services have also played a vital role in reducing TB incidence. However, investment in genomic surveillance, social support programs, and health system strengthening is essential to further close the gap. 

What more could scientists be doing to work together on persistent public health issues that you study, like malaria and tuberculosis?  

Scientists need to foster greater collaboration in genomic research, data sharing, and interdisciplinary approaches to tackling infectious diseases. Strengthening regional laboratory networks, expanding access to sequencing technologies, and integrating artificial intelligence for disease surveillance can significantly enhance early detection and response efforts. Additionally, partnerships between researchers, policymakers, and local communities are crucial to developing sustainable solutions that address both biomedical and social determinants of health. Investing in capacity-building and mentorship programs will also empower young scientists in resource-limited settings to contribute meaningfully to public health advancements. 

Why did you join the ISR, and why would you encourage others to join too? 

I joined the ISR because I believe in the power of scientific collaboration to address global health crises, particularly in regions facing resource constraints. Being part of an international network allows me to engage with experts from diverse fields, access cutting-edge research, and contribute to global preparedness efforts for emerging diseases. I encourage others to join ISR to collaborate on innovative solutions, share expertise, and strengthen scientific resilience in the face of complex public health challenges. Together, we can drive impactful change and improve health outcomes worldwide. 

Isolationism will make science less effective

December 23, 2024
by Mila Rosenthal
Blog

Increasing global scientific cooperation is fundamental to the mission of the International Science Reserve. Effective collaboration will positively impact how we solve global challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a global human disaster. But the damage done could have been even worse had the spread of the virus not been countered by vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics, all developed by the medical and bioscience community at breakneck speed. In that success story, the people involved in the response tend to highlight one vital but often publicly overlooked ingredient: global scientific cooperation.

Could we achieve that level of international collaboration again? There are plenty of reasons to worry that we couldn’t.  

First, over the past few years, we have witnessed intensifying economic and political competition between the United States and an increasingly assertive China. This rivalry is being played not just in tariffs, but in increased security restrictions on commercial technology exchanges and scientific collaboration.  

An article by Keisuke Okamura last year in Quantitative Science Studies, the official journal of the international association of researchers who study the metrics of science, analyzed the impact of these tensions on scientific collaboration. Using data from published papers, Okamura found that the United States and China, after rapidly moving closer together for decades, had been moving apart since 2019.

Adding to this seismic shift in global relationships will be the potential impact of the new administration and its “America First” protectionist approach to supply chains, international climate standards, and public health cooperation. This potentially threatens our collective ability to respond to new and unexpected crises, as well as those we know too well. A recent Rand Corporation assessment of Global Catastrophic Risk found higher risk levels for hazards from sudden and severe changes to Earth’s climate, nuclear war, artificial intelligence, and pandemics from natural occurrence or synthetic biology.

Whether it is climate change, the need to build ethical standards for AI, geoengineering, or gene editing— all are science-based challenges that can only be addressed by global level collaboration. Encouragingly, the Okamura paper shows that the overwhelming trend towards international scientific cooperation over the past 50 years has been positive, with scientists from many institutions and countries in multiple scientific disciplines routinely working together.

It is crucial to the future of science that we develop new ways of being proactive, operating cohesively to promote solutions, safety, and stability across borders even as official relationships between states become more difficult. At the International Science Reserve (ISR) at The New York Academy of Sciences (the Academy), we have been promoting pathways for scientific cooperation, building a community that I believe can help function as a communal safeguard in the face of the threat posed by the scientific isolationist model.

Tens of thousands of scientists from more than 100 countries have signed up to the ISR network to be ready to work together in response to future cross-border crises. We help train and prepare scientists and experts on how to handle disasters, crises, and instability—and how to identify and get access to additional resources when needed.

Doomsday Scenarios

Since it is our job to think about doomsday scenarios, let’s talk through one.

Another pandemic hits. Politics— whether institutional or governmental have blocked researchers and medical professionals from different countries from talking, collaborating, and sharing data. Such lack of collaboration results in it becoming harder for us to understand why some regions of the world are being hit harder than others, because we lack the data to understand why. Meanwhile, scientists in other regions have the answer, but they are not sharing it. Lives are lost, economies wrecked, and we are all less safe. This is obviously a scary scenario.

The ISR was developed with the express goal of circumventing the barriers to collaboration. We help researchers talk to each other to build trust and share ideas through our digital hub. We develop games and scenarios to help them better prepare for decision-making in their own contexts when crises hit.

Customized Digital Games

This year, for example, we partnered with the Center for Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation (CAPTRS) to build customized digital games to test how policymakers make decisions based on evolving scientific information during a crisis. We run scenarios on different kinds of crises—from extreme heat, mega wildfires, and floods to crop failures and new pathogen outbreaks—and we have explored and increased access to the data modelling and analysis tools that researchers need to respond to those. We also celebrate the work of ISR network members and uplift the stories of those who understand firsthand science’s role in global crisis response and help the public to better understand why this matters.

In our hypothetical scenario, the ISR is one of the spaces where scientists are communicating, generating support for each other, and sharing insights. They then can take that research and information back to their local contexts to strengthen their response. Of course, this scenario is hypothetical and high-level and perhaps idealistic. But at this moment, we need a clear vision to work together across borders to reduce harm and save lives.

We can’t predict what will happen next. Science can’t tell us what the day-to-day decisions of world leaders will be. But what we do know is global problems can only be effectively solved through sustained scientific collaboration. To achieve that we need to turn outward, not just inward.

Mila Rosenthal, PhD is the Executive Director of the International Science Reserve

Ready, set, respond: How playing an outbreak simulation game helps scientists prepare for the next pandemic

October 3, 2024
by Mila Rosenthal
Blog

The International Science Reserve’s new “serious game” puts players in the hot seat to test their decision-making skills.

Since COVID-19 hit in 2020, there have been hundreds of articles in journals and mainstream news outlets analyzing the shortcomings in the global response to the pandemic, and how we can learn from our collective mistakes. One of those articles last year, an op-Ed by Bill Gates for The New York Times, called on the world to think about what we can do now to better prepare the world for future outbreaks.  

His advice? Prepare for outbreaks like firefighters tackle blazes: run drills, have dedicated teams of volunteers on standby, and build on existing expertise across institutions and specialties. The International Science Reserve (ISR), an initiative of The New York Academy of Sciences, has been working to build this exact model.

We have spent the last few years cultivating a reserve of over 11,000 scientists across 100 countries in nearly three dozen specialties who want to prepare and act when the next big crisis hits. We support them for future crises by building tools that break down borders and help them collaborate before the fire starts.

Gaming for Good

This August, we proudly launched a new digital game that simulates a pathogen outbreak, just like a fire drill. The Pathogen Outbreak Game, available with free membership to the ISR, puts our network in the hot seat. In the game scenario, players act as a public health director as an unknown pathogen emerges. The game asks you to consider: What would you do differently if we experienced a crisis of the same scale and scope? What decisions would you make if you could call the shots during the next pandemic?

Developed in partnership with the Center for Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation (CAPTRS), the game challenges players to navigate an evolving, hypothetical public health crisis, evaluating new information that is shared as the game progresses. When a crisis hits, there are complex decisions that leaders must make to protect people and reduce the impact on society and the environment. To simulate real-world situations, players are presented with dynamic information and surveillance data about an unknown pathogen outbreak.

In a series of game rounds, players are asked to practice their decision-making skills using data to identify outbreak trends and better prepare for and reduce the public health threat. This trailer demonstrates the basics of the Pathogen Outbreak Game:

The Next Pandemic and Building a “Culture of Readiness”

So, why games? Our research found that simulating real-life scenarios or drills can improve the capacity to collaborate, communicate, and make informed decisions in high-pressure crisis situations. Gamification also makes the experience of learning crisis preparedness skills more engaging for participants, encouraging wider participation and contributing towards a culture of readiness.

Our gamification-related literature review found that points, badges, and leadership boards are the best way to turn these drills into games. After they complete the game exercise, players are then encouraged to discuss their experiences with fellow scientists and experts in the ISR’s network and promote their achievements through digital badging on social media.

We do not know when another outbreak will happen, so in the meantime we need to quickly learn and grow from our mistakes, and better collaborate across disciplines and borders to save lives and reduce harm. The digital pathogen game can help build a “culture of readiness” and accustom policymakers to assessing different sources of scientific information to make decisions. It can also help scientists explore how their research could be prioritized and adapted when most needed. Together, we could build a more resilient future, one game at a time.

Are You Ready for the Challenge?

Ready to jump in? Then join us and play the ISR’s new Pathogen Outbreak Game! Earn badges, climb the leaderboard, and be recognized as a top player and top contributor in a global scientific community.  

Not a member of this inclusive and impactful community? Join the ISR today.

Crisis Response Journal

September 16, 2024
by ISR Staff
Article

Play pretend: Crisis response meets gamification

The International Science Reserve and CAPTRS

August 12, 2024
by ISR Staff
Press Release

Serious Game Launches to Advance Emergency Responses to Public Health Threats

Scientists and experts can help prepare for record shattering heatwaves

August 5, 2024
by ISR Staff
Blog

Last year, the world shattered a record we never should have hit: our warmest year ever.  In response, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres remarked that we are in an “era of global boiling,” as he called for swift action on human-induced climate change.  So far in 2024, global temperatures have continued to break monthly records as prolonged heatwaves are impacting millions of people worldwide, from India to Mexico. 

Researchers from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) also found that for the average person on Earth, there would be 26 additional days of extreme heat this year, compared to if climate change was not happening. In certain regions of the world, that number reaches as high as an extra 120 days.  

Urban residents, who represent more than 55% of the world’s population, are particularly at risk from these warmer temperatures due to urban heat islands (UHIs), which occur when a city’s infrastructure, like roads, parking lots, and rooftops, absorb and remit heat more than natural landscapes like forests. In effect, UHI makes urban environments hotter than rural locations. 

The greenhouse gas emissions that humans have already emitted into the atmosphere means that extreme heat is not going away anytime soon, even if we rapidly reach climate targets and zero emissions. That’s why, as a network of scientists and experts concerned about crisis, we can be thinking of new ways to collaborate to inform, prepare, and reduce harm to humans and ecological systems during extreme heat waves.  

The Limits of Heat on the Human Body 

Climate change is already affecting human health. There are risks to human bodies from extreme heat, particularly for residents in cities, and within communities that are more vulnerable to its adverse impacts.  Extreme heat is more dangerous for children, older adults, and outdoor workers – particularly those who do not have labor protections to keep them safe. 

Of particular concern to human health is when heat and humidity remain high in combination, especially at night. It becomes difficult for the body to rest, relax, and stabilize – and that can put the body under significant stress.  

More and more experts are calling for decisionmakers to gauge upcoming risks to the public by using a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) reading versus temperature alone. WBGT is measured through temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle, and cloud cover. Tropical and coastline cities, for example, are already reaching critical “wet bulb” temperatures, where the human body cannot cool down through its normal sweating process because sweat is not able to evaporate in high humidity. Dry heat is cooler for the body, for this reason. 

Experts define 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) as the upper limit of WGBT for young and healthy people. During India’s recent heatwave, the WGBT reached at least 100 degrees (37.8 degrees Celsius), making the chances of heat exhaustion, stroke, and even death much higher for vulnerable populations. 

Cities in China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, the Arabian Peninsula, and the African Sahel are among the highest risk zones for dangerous levels of WGBT.  Jacobabad, Pakistan is often called one of the hottest cities on earth and has experienced at least four extreme wet bulb events in recent years. Many cities lack the infrastructure or resources to deal with extreme heat, in some cases because in the past they did not need it. 

Understanding the Toll of Extreme Heat 

Unlike hurricanes, earthquakes, or tornadoes, heat disasters often go unseen by decisionmakers because the public health impacts often happen inside homes or go undiagnosed by health professionals as heat related.  

In the US, the National Weather Service (NWS) cites that heat has been the deadliest form of extreme weather over the last decade. But many researchers believe current counts of heat illnesses death are vastly underestimated. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, there is little to no accurate tracking of heat deaths.  In 2022, a groundbreaking study found that approximately 70,000 people died in Europe due to the summer’s extreme heat. Europe is considered the fastest warming inhabited continent, and many countries lack common cooling mechanisms, such as air conditioning, in older buildings.   

Additionally, the burden of heat is not often shared equally. In India after recent heatwaves, schools closed, agricultural supply chains were disrupted, and workers lost significant income. According to a recent report by the UN, the rising temperatures in India will reduce daily working hours by at least 5.8 percent by 2030. Loss of economic opportunity also acutely impacts women and girls

 
What Experts Can Do to Respond and Save Lives 

Just like with a hurricane or earthquake, the world’s most vulnerable cities need stronger preparation and mitigation measures to prevent and reduce severe health impacts. First and foremost, the rapid phaseout of fossil fuels is the most critical step to take to reduce harm.  

Second, if scientists and health experts begin to treat extreme heat like other disasters, the public will be equipped with more tools to take the proper steps to help prepare for it. Early warning systems remain as one of the most effective ways to keep people safe, and countries with “limited early warning systems” are experiencing heat-related deaths at a rate eight times higher than countries that have comprehensive warning services. 

In the US, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and NWS recently created a new scale that helps the public gauge health risks associated with extreme heat. HeatRisk considers several factors, such as time of year and length of heatwave, and models where elevated risks exist to help leaders better communicate on a clear scale of 1-4.  

Scientists and health experts can also help the public better understand what to do once a warning about elevated risk occurs, including educating them on action steps like:  

  • Having a plan to acclimatize your body safely over time by gradually increasing activity outdoors,  
  • Staying in cool environments, 
  • Hydrating quickly and drinking electrolytes, when possible, 
  • Removing restrictive layers and wearing light layers, 
  • Taking a cold shower or bath when overheated, 
  • Avoiding alcohol and caffeine, and 
  • Reducing work in the sun. 

Several major cities have also taken to hiring Chief Heat Officers who create Heat Action Plans, or roadmaps to help urban dwellers deal with heat. The World Economic Forum and Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center (Arsht-Rock) also created the Heat Action Platform, a free online resource that provides cities with tools to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate their heat plans.  

Energy supply is also critical to preparations. Given the pressure on the energy grid in many countries, there has been an increase in rolling or prolonged blackouts due to high demand during heatwaves. Air conditioning therefore cannot be seen as the only stable solution to cool down. In just one month in Mexico, for example, over 32 states including Mexico City experienced blackouts. The loss of power can lead to life-threatening situations for people with disabilities, health conditions, and older adults. In the mid- to long-term, in order to reduce harm in many countries, there needs to be major updates to the power grid that are powered by renewable energy and stabilized through weatherizing of buildings for energy efficiency and planting more trees for shade and cool roofs. 

If you want to learn more about how to collaborate with other researchers on scientific issues related to heatwaves, please join the International Science Reserve and RSVP for our upcoming heat webinar at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)’s Science Summit this September. 

Bloomberg Green Festival 2024

July 11, 2024
by ISR Staff
Partner Event

Scenario Planning: Collaborating in Crisis

Q&A with Chike Aguh: ISR’s newest Advisory Council Member  

November 2, 2023
by ISR Staff
Blog

The International Science Reserve is pleased to announce that Chike Aguh, former Chief Innovation Officer at the U.S. Department of Labor, has joined ISR’s Advisory Council. 

Under the Biden administration, he led efforts to use data, emerging technologies such as AI and quantum computing, and innovative practice to advance and protect American workers. We sat down with him to talk about what he learned from previous crisis response experiences and why it’s not a time for business as usual.   

As an advisor to the ISR, you are applying your expertise in data innovation to ensure that scientists worldwide have the resources to prepare for and respond to the next crisis, such as climate-related disasters or the next pandemic. What role do you believe data and innovation can play in crisis response? 

Data and innovative technology or practice are critical to crisis responses, respectively. During the fast-moving times of a crisis, data that can tell us what is happening and what has happened previously can be scarce. Who has access to data can be a life-or-death situation: people or governments who have it will weather the storm and those who don’t will be swept away by it. Whether it is mapping what symptoms people are searching on Google to determine what type and where pandemics may spring up, to analysis of large research data sets to mitigate these crises, data helps increase the confidence interval of the interventions that leaders must take to keep us all safe.  

Whether practice or technology, innovations are also indispensable during a crisis because the general operating procedures generally do not have the scale or speed required to stay ahead of the crisis. Innovations allow us to operate at “the speed of the fight” as my old boss, US Army General Stan McChrystal used to say.   

At ISR, we help researchers connect to emerging technologies and resources for collaboration across borders to address the worst impacts of crises. What are some lessons from your time in the Biden administration that could apply to researchers in ISR’s network?  

The lessons I learned were elegant and devastating in their simplicity. One, even the most cutting-edge technologies are not a replacement for strategy. Leaders must do the hard intellectual work of identifying the key problems and questions to be solved in a crisis. Only then can these technologies be applied intelligently and effectively.  

Two, sociology will overwhelm technology every time.  In the space of collaborative research, we can only achieve the collective brilliance of all involved if we have the goodwill and effective means of working together.   

And three, the most important power of these technologies is to help us think outside the parameters of normal practice and try things we would never attempt in normal times.  We should not simply use these technologies to do the same old things with incrementally better speed or effectiveness, but rather use them to take quantum leaps in impact. 

You once said that for any problem we are solving, “Those problems cannot be solved by any one person, one organization, or one sector alone.” Do you believe that more people are thinking and operating through a lens of collaboration in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis? What more could we do to implement this new way of working within crisis response?  

I do. Some of the greatest successes of the COVID-19 response, from vaccine development, testing innovation, treatment deployment, to the High-Performance Computing Consortium (HPCC) show what is possible when traditional siloes are sublimated for the sake of helping everyone.   

The key question is: how do we make this new collaborative lens not simply a feature of crisis response, but a key part of operating procedure for all of us?  My biggest recommendation is to keep the institutions that we have created like the HPCC running.  Then, they can be applied not simply when responding to crises but can help prevent crises before they ever start.   

ISR pre-positions resources, like high-performance computing, remote sensing, and geospatial models, so that scientists can connect to them quickly across borders to address the worst impacts of a crisis, without a long wait or extensive application.  Why should businesses make data innovations more available to researchers worldwide during crisis? 

When crisis events like COVID-19 occur, we have seen the impact on the economy and how it hits the bottom line of businesses. It is in a company’s best interest to do anything it can to fight and end these crises as quickly as possible, and that means making data and cutting-edge technology available to the scientists who are working on just that.   

Secondly, I also believe that business and business leaders feel a sense of duty to their communities and their countries.  This is a tradition that we have forgotten but one can go back to businesses like Bell Labs, who helped develop critical technologies like radars that helped during WWII.  We need to remember and keep this tradition alive now.  Business and the world will benefit as a result. 

We Don’t Have Time

September 21, 2023
by
Partner Event

Climate Week NYC 2023: “The Road to COP28”

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