Utilizing big data modeling and analytics to improve urbanresiliency

It is not a myth that there has been a significant increase in natural disaster incidents around theworld in recent years. Flooding, heat waves, blizzards, sea level rise, storms, tsunami, and otherclimate challenges tend to occur around coast lines, where urban developments are mainly centered.How can cities become more resilient in the face of extreme weather events?

The CaFFEET conference last week focused on advancing social resiliency through the use of bigdata modeling and analytics to improve situational awareness and assistance in urban settings.CaFFEET - The California France Forum on Energy Efficiency Technologies - is an annual event thatpromotes https://thecharlesgarth.wordpress.com technical and scientific collaborations on energyefficiency between France and California.

Today we have the scientific knowledge and the tools to improve communication and responseduring and after a natural disaster. We also have the technologies to collect and analyze data to helpus assess infrastructure, business systems and people-systems' damages, and help in the recoveryafterward. Crowd-source can help manage climate related risks, the discovery process and thedamage through the use of analysis tools. Further, findings can be 'recycled' to apply learnings inthe next natural tragedy. For example, we can use the models to manage more effectively and timelythe recovery of urban infrastructures (buildings, utilities, sewer, etc.), to restart health and socialservices, restart business life, etc.

How would we define social resiliency when facing a natural disaster?

Professor Anne Kiremidjian, a faculty in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering atStanford University, discussed the components of resiliency assessment. Professor Kiremidjian hasresearched stochastic modeling of earthquake events, site hazard characterization, ground motionmodeling, earthquake damage and loss estimation, structural damage modeling, risk assessment,risk analysis of transportation systems, reliability analysis of industrial systems, damage detectionalgorithms, wireless sensor development and structural sensing system design. These projectsresulted in the development of earthquake hazard maps for California and several Central Americancountries.

There are four main elements in resiliency assessment:

Hazard- what is the exposure of the community to the hazardVulnerability -What is the communitysresponse or reaction to the disaster? What is the status of the societal life lines, such as water,sewer, communication, transportation, food lines, healthcare, electricity and gas, etc.Risk - calculatethe risk to the infrastructure and communities, business and financial mechanisms.Build - Developresiliency in advance by preparation, which includes comprehensive data collection (before thedisaster), simulation of potential incidents, and development of pre-assessment.

Preparation involves data gathering of the buildings infrastructure, transportation, water and sewerlines, communication lines, healthcare facilities, city service lines, as well as economic data,business conditions, structures of buildings and bridges, population and demography, and more.Collecting the information ahead of time is crucial in assessing the hazard when a natural disasteroccurs.

While information and communication technologies are key, regardless of the system tools we use indata collection and analytics modeling - it is important to identify which data variables to track, howoften, and focus on quality versus quantity. This challenge is magnified by the sheer process of citiesbeing a live ecosystem that evolves and changes all the time, presenting the need to continuouslycollect the data.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

CaFFEET (California France Forum on Energy Efficiency Technologies) is an annual event organizedby EDF, the Consulate General of France in San Francisco and PRIME. Its aim is to promotetechnical and scientific collaborations on energy efficiency betweenhttp://josephwheaton.tumblr.com France and California, two leaders in achieving low-CO2economies.

2013 CaFFEET - Big Data and resilience:

According to CaFFEETs event synopsis, resilience is a necessary step towards sustainability. Inrecent years, climate related disasters have had negative social, economic, and environmentalimpact in and around the communities they hit. In addition to recovery efforts, damages canannihilate years of work towards sustainability. Resilience can be defined as the capability to copewith such events. Data and analysis are an essential component in preparing for resiliency and inmoving toward sustainability. Big Data is already used with success in several sectors, such asfinance, health, climatology, etc. It represents a tremendous potential of business opportunities, inparticular in sectors like energy, cities, transportation, etc. Using this data can be a cost-effectiveway to improve societies resilience.

Website: http://caffeet.org

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