HEC Director Participates in International Conference on Policy and Research for Global Disaster Management

DAVIS, CA – December 16, 2009. Chris Dunn, Director of IWR’s Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC), presented the keynote address on Thursday, November 12 at the 1st International Conference on Policy and Research for Global Disaster Management (PR4GDM) in Seoul, South Korea. The conference, which took place November 11-13, 2009, was hosted by the Korean National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

Mr. Dunn’s keynote address discussed the “Corps Water Management System (CWMS); Real Time Decision Support Modeling and Integration.” HEC has been developing and deploying this software for over a decade and is now releasing version 2.0 to the Corps field offices. The presentation highlighted how the Corps is proactively reducing threats to our nation’s population and property by forecasting floods and reservoir operations, and in turn alerting emergency operations managers so that they can take the appropriate steps to reduce damage and loss-of-life. Mr. Phil Waters, Director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate also attended and was a keynote speaker on November 11.

While in Korea, Mr. Dunn met with representatives of NEMA’s National Institute for Disaster Prevention to explore areas of common interest. HEC has been invited and agreed to participate in the 8th International Conference on EcoHydraulics in September 2010 in Seoul. HEC will present a one-day workshop addressing ecosystem planning and the hydraulic analysis to support ecosystem planning.

More about the Conference

The 1st International Conference on Policy and Research for Global Disaster Management (PR4GDM) took place November 11-13, 2009, in Seoul, South Korea. The conference was hosted by the Korean National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Its objectives were to strengthen disaster response through disaster management technology and international research and development (R&D) sharing and to discuss the feasibility of a collaborative international R&D program for global disaster management. Belarus, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Mongolia, Norway, Thailand, United States, Korea and a representative from the United Nations were represented. Topics included Green Growth and Climate Change Adaptation, Typhoons, Fire Protection and Rescue/First Aid, Education and Training, Natural Disaster Management, Water Resources, IT and Spatial Information, and Institutional Approaches to Emergency Management. Over 400 people attended.

Learn more:

• Hydrologic Engineer Center