Systemic risk management in India: An analytics perspective

The rapid changes in socio-economic and environmental factors worldwide have resulted in natural and man-made disasters becoming increasingly difficult to manage. The emergence of systemic threats that are cross-border, complex, ambiguous, and uncertain in nature, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, has made traditional risk management methods inadequate. Many countries, including India, are struggling to address the challenges posed by these systemic vulnerabilities, leading to unresolved policy and governance problems. This research emphasises the need for comprehensive and proactive risk management methods that can address the challenges posed by systemic vulnerabilities, rather than reactive and fragmented approaches. The research identifies crucial turning points in India's disaster management history and explores the prospects for improved disaster risk governance in the country. The report underlines good advances in disaster administration in India, but it also emphasises the need for more systemic development in overall disaster risk management. The research identifies key design principles for India's systemic risk management that can help improve disaster risk management. This understanding can aid in developing effective frameworks, policies, and strategies to control systemic disaster risks and align with major international objectives such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. © 2023

Reflections From Implementing a Virtual Social Innovation Lab

Qualitative research methods had to quickly adapt to using online platforms due to the COVID-19 pandemic to limit in-person interactions. Online platforms have been used extensively for interviews and focus groups, but workshops with larger groups requiring more complex interactions have not been widely implemented. This paper presents a case study of a fully virtual social innovation lab on bioplastics packaging, which was adapted from a series of in-person workshops. A positive outcome of the online setting was diversifying the types of participants who could participate. Highly interactive activities such as icebreakers, networking, bricolage, and prototyping were particularly challenging to shift from in-person to online using traditional web conferencing platforms like Zoom. Creative use of online tools, such as Gather.Town and Kahoot!, helped unlock more innovative thinking by employing novel techniques such as gamification. However, challenges such as adapting facilitation for an online environment and exclusion of groups that do not have consistent access to internet and/or computers still need to be addressed. The reflections and lessons learned from this paper can help researchers adapt qualitative methods to virtual environments. © The Author(s) 2023.

Reflections From Implementing a Virtual Social Innovation Lab

Qualitative research methods had to quickly adapt to using online platforms due to the COVID-19 pandemic to limit in-person interactions. Online platforms have been used extensively for interviews and focus groups, but workshops with larger groups requiring more complex interactions have not been widely implemented. This paper presents a case study of a fully virtual social innovation lab on bioplastics packaging, which was adapted from a series of in-person workshops. A positive outcome of the online setting was diversifying the types of participants who could participate. Highly interactive activities such as icebreakers, networking, bricolage, and prototyping were particularly challenging to shift from in-person to online using traditional web conferencing platforms like Zoom. Creative use of online tools, such as Gather.Town and Kahoot!, helped unlock more innovative thinking by employing novel techniques such as gamification. However, challenges such as adapting facilitation for an online environment and exclusion of groups that do not have consistent access to internet and/or computers still need to be addressed. The reflections and lessons learned from this paper can help researchers adapt qualitative methods to virtual environments. [ FROM AUTHOR]

Systemic risk from a disaster management perspective: A review of current research

Disasters are becoming increasingly common, unexpected, and difficult as a result of the rapid environmental and socioeconomic changes occurring at several levels. They are often the result of systemic risks marked by complexity, uncertainty, ambiguity, and cross-border consequences, very much like the continuing worldwide Covid 19 epidemic. These systemic risks outperform traditional risk management practices, posing new, unsolved policy and governance issues. This study aims to assess the origins of systemic risk thinking - particularly in relation to disaster risks, identify key inflection points in its evolution, and identify areas of opportunity in the governance of such risks by building on existing research and conducting a qualitative review of state-of-the-art literature published by academia, industry, and government. The study's findings indicate a positive shift in the recognition of systemic disaster risks, but they also underscore the need for further maturity in its management and governance. To increase holistic management of disaster-related systemic risks and coordinate an effective policy response, this research proposes the essential design principles and conceptual framework for Integrated disaster resilience (IDR) based on a ‘Whole Systems Approach'.

Integrated care with digital health innovation: pressing challenges: Managing Community Care

Purpose>Digital health care has emerged as one of the most important means to deliver integrated care by care providers in recent years. As the use of digital health increases, there are some pressing issues such as interoperability of data across different healthcare information systems, regulatory environment and security and privacy of patient’s information which need to be discussed and addressed in order to reduce information silos and to ensure efficient and seamless use of digital health technologies. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.Design/methodology/approach>In this paper the authors outline the key concepts of interoperability, key challenges pertaining in achieving interoperability and concepts of security and privacy in context of digital health models of integrated care.Findings>The study suggests that standardization of digital health information systems and connecting existing systems to health network, addressing privacy and security related issues through a comprehensive but supportive regulatory environment and educating citizens and healthcare providers are some of the ways to achieve effective use of digital health in models of integrated care.Originality/value>Although the concepts of privacy and interoperability are not new, however, as per best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to discuss the challenges and possible actions to meet the objective of achieving integrated care through digital innovation.

Just Transition: A whole-systems approach to decarbonisation

Transition to a post-carbon economy implies changes that are both far-reaching and unprecedented. The notion that a decarbonization transition must encompass multiple forms of justice is gaining ground. In response, the concept of Just Transition has become ever more popular–and confusion about its meaning ever greater. We argue in this paper that the term Just Transition needs a rigorous updating to develop its full conceptual power for the analysis and evaluation of the rapid and extensive energy transitions already underway. After reviewing the different uses of Just Transition in practice and scholarship, we propose that the term be used as an analytical concept for an ongoing process of transition. The Just Transition concept can provide an integrated, whole-system perspective on justice (procedural, distributive, recognition, and restorative) that can help in identifying systemic solutions to address environmental and socio-economic concerns. This would differ from reductionist approaches that derive from legacy silo-sectoral or technologically driven approaches;these too often overlook negative side-effects and wider justice implications of reorganizing economic practice. An examination of COVID-19 pandemic responses illustrates our operationalization of the Just Transition concept, highlighting the importance of designing whole-system policies that are equitable, as well as the pitfalls of pursuing a narrow sectoral approach. Taking seriously the implications of complex systems with hard-to-predict effects also has concrete implications for policy interventions at all levels of governance. In particular, we highlight the importance of attending to multiple social inequalities for ensuring the resilience of whole-system decarbonization in the face of instability, unpredictability, and unprecedented change. Key policy insights The transition to net-zero will be neither sustainable nor credible if it creates or worsens social inequalities;a backlash is likely if the transition is not perceived to be just. Pathways forward may only emerge through observation, experimentation, and experience. A range of policy tools exist to address Just Transition concerns. These include addressing social and environmental aspects of economic policy;making sure that interventions are adapted to local contexts;building democratic engagement platforms;and open and transparent communication. Job creation does not guarantee just outcomes, as justice goes beyond employment conditions. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.