On Wednesday, December 14, delegates from the World Bank Group visited IU Indianapolis as guests of The Polis Center and the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Research (OVCR). The group included officers and specialists from the South Asia Disaster Risk Management team and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).
The World Bank team came to IU Indianapolis specifically to learn more about The Polis Center’s risk analysis and disaster mitigation planning. It was especially interested in how Polis engages communities in mitigation planning, as well as in the center’s experience with innovative technology approaches and the federally sponsored Hazus-MH modeling software for natural disasters. The agenda featured various experts with the State of Indiana, Purdue University, and Indiana University discussing mitigation successes in Indiana, data resources, global food security projects, flood risk modeling, and complex data visualization.
“We are pleased to welcome this World Bank team to IU Indianapolis,” said Dr. David Bodenhamer, Polis Center executive director. “The World Bank goals to help reduce poverty and support development with financial aid, policy advice, and analytical and technical expertise are important ones. The Polis Center is deeply committed to the development of partnerships and the practical use of advanced technologies to strengthen communities, so sharing our know-how and that of our colleagues with the World Bank is a natural extension of this effort. We would like nothing more than for our capabilities to contribute to a meaningful improvement in the quality of life for populations in developing countries.”
“We are delighted to learn about The Polis Center’s wide-ranging activities on disaster risk management and mitigation planning and for the insightful discussions we had with a range of domain experts during our visit,” said Deepak Singh, who led the visiting World Bank delegation. “I thank the center for making this visit possible and for the warm hospitality. We look forward to staying in touch and exploring ideas on how the latest research on risk management can be applied to developing country contexts.”
IU Indianapolis’ Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) provides services to and works directly with faculty, research staff, and students, in an effort to foster excellence in research and creative activities. OVCR provides consultation, proposal development services, internal seed funding programs, and establishes strategic research initiatives that address emerging local, national and global challenges and opportunities.
For more information on the World Bank, visit: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/disasterriskmanagement, https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/disasterriskmanagement/x/sar, and https://www.gfdrr.org.