International Conference on Disaster Management:
Facilitation of Supply Chain for disasters. 19th March, 2007, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

The International Disaster Management Conference inaugurated by Mr.Vinod Chandra Menon of National Disaster Management Authority, Government of India saw the engagement of disaster professionals from industry, civil society, the government and the International agencies at Pragati Maidan on Monday.

Three day exhibition on Disaster Management welcomed the delegates at the inaugural and Rahul Mittra, CEO Brandsmith, highlighted the professional approach that is required towards supply chains for disaster management with the integration of all stakeholders collectively and saw this conference as a convergence of positive and progressive learning's.

This conference saw the convergence of speakers across the supply chain for disaster management covering critical subject areas of food chains which was covered by Mr. GianPietro Bordignon Representative of United Nations World Food Programme. Emergency medicines supply management which was presented by Mr.Bipin Verma of WHO SEARO. Other topics like warehousing, transportation, telecommunication which was covered by Tata Teleservices and Mr.Saxena of BSNL were discussed. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies pointed out their preparedness and vendor management strategies which were presented by Mr.M.Babiker.

There is A high probability of a low probability disaster is how Mr.Menon described the urgency to have preparedness as a focal point and gave insights into various resources and organisations like the Fritz Institute who are focused on working towards the supply chain for disaster management.

Nina Minka of USAID highlighted how the United Sates and India share a commonality of being prone countries. The Indian Incident Command System that is being established in India has been started with a pilot program in Gujarat with collaborations between U.S and Indian entities which will help to improve on site disaster response.

The organisors Responsenet, Brandsmith, Services International and Omaxe Foundation brought together a host of stakeholders and disaster professionals, with the support of NDMA and IRG USAID. These delegates who will continue to interact on an online Alert Wire system of Responsenet which will integrate telecommunications as a critical player,and will help to have historical and updated information for speedy relief at times of Disasters. "The conference was truly a meaningful experience and will help towards a coordinated response mechanism to be set up" was how Angela Nar of Responsenet summed up the day long conference which was organised alongwith the Three day exhibition on Disaster Management.

AMS Acoustics a company involved in Voice Alarm system designs highlighted the criticality of onsite effective and reliable communications and introduced the need for voice alarms in public buildings like airports, stadiums and malls. Companies like DHL Express and RMSL pointed out the innovative solutions that they are involved in for disaster response and management across the world and introducing these innovations to India.