Emergency Management: Perspectives During a Pandemic Crisis

While there are plenty of emergency preparedness plans for pandemic scenarios, none took into account how COVID-19 would make every single person part of the emergency management framework. The coronavirus crisis differs from so many other emergencies because of the underlying combination of circumstances. Many of us took unprecedented measures to adapt or expand our ability to care for our environment and ourselves. What this translates into is that, in some way, shape or form, the coronavirus pandemic put all of us in an active state of “micro-emergency management.”

Joana Gaia earned her doctorate from the UB School of Management, and her research interests include decision support systems, health information systems, emergency management and design science.

As clinical assistant professor of management science and systems in the UB School of Management, Gaia has investigated the psychology of hackers, as well as how privacy concerns can impact an individual's smartphone use or willingness to share personal health information. In addition, she can comment on multi agency collaboration in emergency management situations.

Gaia also worked for several years in the private sector in IT migration in financial services projects. Co-founder of Girl Tech Day, Gaia can also discuss the importance of introducing kids to coding and other STEM concepts at a young age.