70 experts gather to discuss business case for disaster resiliency investment

This spring, the Infrastructure Resilience Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), along with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Engineering Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)  gathered more than 70 decision makers, community planners, policy-makers, and subject matter experts in economics, engineering, insurance, finance, and risk analysis at a workshop to discuss the economics of community disaster resilience preparedness.

The center of the discussion? The development of an economic guide to help communities build a business case for disaster resilience investment—anticipated impacts, investments in recovery phase, benefits of proper planning and decisions for proper implementation.

Participants identified knowledge gaps and research needs, and then brainstormed solutions in each discussion area. The findings will inform NIST’s economic guide, which is due to be published this summer as part of NIST’s Disaster Resilience Initiative and will inform NIST’s national research program.

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