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Disaster Preparedness

Waiting for disaster to happen?

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:34

Insuring against loss is often the only strategy organisations embark upon to prepare for a disaster.

While your insurance company may insure against an “act of God”, the cost of information and knowledge supersedes financial resources.

Original documentation often carries archival value that cannot be measured financially. Disaster preparedness is not limited to evacuation of human resources in case of fire. It must extend to all organisational resources, which in our information age includes information and knowledge.

One of three training workshops on the schedule of the Third Annual Knowledge, Archives and Records Management Conference (KARM 2009) will address Disaster Preparedness and the Strategic Management of Information and Knowledge.

The conference takes place from 26 to 28 May 2009, at the Birchwood Hotel in Johannesburg. The workshop will be presented during the last two days, i.e. 27 to 28 May 2009. A maximum of 30 participants can be accommodated.

The aim of the workshop is to develop managers’ skills and knowledge in disaster mitigation and recovery.

Disaster preparedness includes all of the activities that are carried out prior to the advance notice of a catastrophe, in order to facilitate the use of available resources, relief and rehabilitation in the best possible fashion.

Disaster mitigation is the ongoing effort to lessen the impact disasters have on people and property. Property includes intellectual property like knowledge and information. Because of the varying degree of each natural disaster, there are different mitigation strategies for each.

The workshop will cover the following topics:
• Impact of major disasters across the globe
• Need for workplace disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness plans

• Elements of disaster planning
• Conducting a business impact analysis
• Writing disaster plans
• Ethical issues and standards in disaster management

Presenter: Prof Patrick Ngulube - UNISA
Prof Ngulube is Professor of Information Science at UNISA. He has extensive experience in records, archives and disaster management. He consulted with Mr B Abbot from the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda regarding information and knowledge management.

Prof Ngulube is a rated NRF researcher and has done extensive editorial work for various journals of information science. He has published numerous articles in scientific journals. Prof Ngulube worked for seventeen years as a records manager at the National Archives of Zimbabwe.

He lectured archives and records management at the Harare Polytechnic College from 1995-2000 and at the University of KwaZulu Natal from 2000-2007.