Governments and public entities should create a post to oversee efforts to raise their resilience, according to Jamie Miller, managing director of
Swiss Re, speaking at the 2016 Risk Management Society (RIMS) annual meeting in San Diego.
In a video interview with ratings agency AM Best, the chief resiliency officer initiative is a partnership with cities, governments, and other public entities, as well as other groups such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Clinton Initiative to work on finding solutions to changes in urban environments. Swiss Re was one of the pioneers of the initiative, and it has begun to take root in various countries, most notably the US.
Resilience is concerned with a wide range both traditional and non-traditional issues, such as environmental catastrophes, cyber risks, pandemics, climate change, population growth, and societal changes.
With regards to insurers’ involvement in resiliency, Miller said they can contribute by applying their expertise in data and data modelling to help governments find standard and non-standard solutions to their problems. The insurance industry can also help governments in budgeting for growing emerging risk issues.
However, the problems resilience officers may face include tackling bureaucracy and red tape. Too many government bodies think independently and not in sync with each other. The challenge is to get them more aligned with a common goal, and to come up with package solutions.
To align agencies, Miller suggested having a committed government with foresight to tackle future problems. To succeed, urban planners need stability, consistency, and technical ability to project data. Insurers can greatly help in the last area.
