Harmonizing risk and quantifying preparedness

As our nation aims at strengthening the security and resilience of our communities, decision makers must compare and prioritize risks across natural hazards and man-made threats, then evaluate and coordinate preparedness activities to ensure they are managing their highest risks with their limited funding. In this paper, we describe how our Adaptive Risk Readiness Model is used by a region to harmonize risks and quantify preparedness so that decision makers can identify and communicate gaps and investment tradeoffs in their preparedness activities. Our approach focuses on three interconnected domains: risk assessment, preparedness assessment and information visualization. Relationships between existing risk and preparedness assessments are created in the context of critical infrastructure capacities and impact on populations across the region. By establishing and visualizing these interrelationships, decision makers can share a common understanding and act collaboratively to improve preparedness across the region.