New Risk Information Exchange already reaching 52 countries

UNDRR’s newly launched data aggregator, the Risk Information Exchange (RiX), is on its way to becoming the Google of the world of disaster risk data.

A few short months into its launch, it is already aggregating relevant data to support disaster risk management in 52 countries and the goal is to double this number by the end of next year.

Technical experts from some 40 countries and international organizations were given a demonstration of its functionality today at a Technical Forum on ‘Tracking of hazardous events and disaster losses and damage’ hosted by UNDRR in Bonn.

Ms. Jenty Kirsch-Wood, head of UNDRR’s Global Risk Analysis and Reporting Section, said: ‘One of the things we have been trying to do at UNDRR is to improve understanding across the humanitarian, development and climate change communities to make risk more accessible and curated to make sure of its quality.’

Ms. Kirsch-Wood emphasized that the ongoing development of RiX was a work of co-creation and collaboration with those using the platform at country level and international partners including UNDP and WMO.

She made a call for feedback and suggestions to improve its usefulness to an audience which included representatives from national disaster management agencies, meteorological services and statistics offices.

RiX data is open source, geo-referenced and draws heavily on the data available from sources such as national disaster loss bases created using Desenventar and data reported by UN Member States implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

‘We have been pulling together data around the hazards organized according to the technical hazard definitions but also around impacts and losses, exposure and assets, vulnerability, and climate change,’ Ms. Kirsch-Wood said.

She explained that open data and risk information is viewed by UNDRR as an essential part of supporting countries to meet a key target of the Sendai Framework on public access to early warnings and risk information.

The RiX does not duplicate existing risk and climate data but seeks to break down silos and aggregate risk information and synthesise data sources into a common platform accessible to all development and humanitarian actors.