Webinar: SMART Resilient Communities

3 April 2024

How can emerging technologies help build community resilience?

Technology is increasingly transforming the cities and communities that we live in, and the way we live in them. How can we harness technology to help build our resilience to natural hazards and disasters?

Join us as we hear from members of our SMART Resilient Communities project team to explore how technology is contributing to disaster preparedness, response and recovery, how people think and feel about technology in disasters, and how disruptive technology can provide solutions for disaster risk management. Find out how schools in Te Tairāwhiti and Bay of Plenty regions are using technology to improve their communities’ resilience to earthquakes and tsunamis.

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Webinar Speakers

David Johnston

Professor of Disaster Managment & Director of the Joint Centre for Disaster Research, Massey University

David is Professor of Disaster Management and Director of the Joint Centre for Disaster Research, in the School of Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand. His research has developed as part of a multi-disciplinary theoretical and applied research programme, involving the collaboration of physical and social scientists from several organisations and countries. His research focuses on human responses to earthquake, tsunami, and weather warnings, crisis decision-making and the role of public education and participation in building community resilience and recovery.

Marion Tan

Lecturer in Disaster Management, Massey University

Marion is a lecturer for the Joint Centre for Disaster Research (JCDR) at Massey University, Wellington. She completed her PhD in Emergency Management, where she investigated the usability of disaster apps. Her research contributes to enhancing resilience by understanding the intersection between human behaviour and technology during disasters. Her interests in emergency management cover various topics, including warnings, usability, perceptions, community engagement and public education, and innovative research methods for disaster research.

Raj Prasanna

Associate Professor of Disaster Management, Massey University

Raj is an expert in Technology and Systems for supporting Disaster Management who leads CRISiSLab - a technology lab within the Joint Centre for Disaster Research. He also serves as a board member of the Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM) global research network and has been actively engaged in conducting research on the topic of design and development of technologies supporting disaster management for more than two decades. Currently, Raj is focused on researching the use of low-cost sensors, uninterrupted data communication, decentralised edge-based data processing, and mesh networking for hazard detection and warning generation.

Lucy Kaiser

Māori Social Scientist, GNS Science

Lucy Kaiser (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha) is a Māori researcher at GNS Science and Massey University. Her work focuses on indigenous disaster risk reduction, community preparedness, disaster communication and school safety.