Two SFI Drivers with Significant Impact on the Cost of Managing Disasters

Two SFI Drivers with Significant Impact on the Cost of Managing Disasters
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Two SFI Drivers with Significant Impact on the Cost of Managing Disasters
The world has been rapidly changing in different ways. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), through the Strategic Foresight Initiative (SFI), aims to determine how these changes can significantly alter how the emergency management community responds to challenges. The SFI wants to ensure that the emergency management team is well-prepared to respond to future uncertainties with a shared sense of urgency and direction. The nine primary SFI drivers are individuals’ changing roles, critical infrastructure, climate change, government budget, evolving terrorist threat, globalization, universal access to relevant information, demographic shifts, and technological innovation and dependency (Strategic Foresight Initiative, 2011). The paper focuses on two SFI drivers, namely the critical infrastructure and the evolving terrorist threat.
Critical infrastructure has a significant impact on the costs of managing disasters and the economy. Specifically, multiple infrastructures are nearing the end of their structural life cycle. When it comes to dams and bridges, they need to be monitored regularly. When these structures get old, they pose a significant threat to people, particularly when disasters occur. In addition, energy, communication, and transportation infrastructures are getting older, and there is an increased danger of their failure. When disasters occur, aged infrastructures collapse and hinder disaster recovery and response (Homeland Security, 2010). For example, first responders cannot reach the affected areas or supply necessary materials when there is no means of transport. Suppose that an old bridge connecting an area that has been affected by flood collapses. In that light, it becomes challenging for emergency responders to access the region to save people and properties. Before getting the path to this area, many individuals would have died and property damaged. The cost of managing the disaster might double or triple, which would have been avoided if the bridge did not collapse. The volunteers, individuals, non-profit organizations, federal, local, and state governments ought to dig deeper in their pockets to help the affected communities return to normalcy. Consequently, critical infrastructures should be well-maintained to ensure that they are not entirely damaged during disasters.
The other critical factor that might lead to an increased cost of managing disasters is the evolving terrorist threat. The dispersion of scientific knowledge and technological advancement has increased terrorists’ access to weapons, such as nuclear, nanotechnology, and biotechnology. Extremists communicate on the Internet, and they can exchange information on how to access these dangerous weapons and use them to achieve their selfish agendas. In particular, terrorist organizations are constantly learning, adapting, and improving their techniques. For instance, they have seen how a viral disease, such as COVID-19, can bring the world to its knees. Self-radicalizati...