Welcome to WCGW
What could go wrong and what can we do about it?
“What Could Go Wrong?” represents the ubiquitous question for the emergency and disaster management field.
It’s the question that disaster experts start with and often return to. The conditions that contribute to emergencies and disasters are the source of some most interesting and important problems in the world. As broad as the overall problem-set may be, solutions fundamentally start by trying to figure out what could go wrong, who might be impacted, and what should be done.
As a collection of professional emergency and disaster managers hailing from various academic and operational communities, we represent the diversity of the field’s perspectives and experiences. We intend to use this space to share our stories, ideas, and opinions with you.
The world has become increasingly interconnected. The networks and systems that our societies rely on are complex, multi-dimensional, and innovative beyond what previous generations could have imagined. Unprecedented access to information, global communications capabilities, and the integration of novel technologies in virtually every aspect of society have incrementally changed how people interact with each other and the world around them over the past several decades.
As dependency on physical and social networks develops and changes, so changes risk. Disruption to the systems and networks that a society depends on can have catastrophic consequences when the society is ill-prepared to withstand and bounce back from the disruption. The cadre of professionals dedicated to understanding the conditions that contribute to disruption are also responsible for developing the strategies to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disruptions where and when they occur.
“What Could Go Wrong?” is about getting into the headspace of those emergency and disaster managers. What better way to understand that headspace than to start with the question emergency and disaster managers ask themselves?
Thank you for reading and for joining us on this journey.
Cheers,
Brad, Irene, Harry, & Co.
