AIR Worldwide announces new global resilience practice

Catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide announced on Monday that it has formed a “global resilience practice,” a new function to support risk reduction and resilience initiatives across the globe.

“These initiatives are aimed at developing solutions that aid society’s efforts to better prepare for and recover from catastrophes,” said a press release from Boston-headquartered AIR Worldwide, a Verisk Analytics business. Joining AIR to lead the new practice is Dr. Daniel Kaniewski, who will serve as vice president of global resilience.

Besides developing solutions to help society better prepare for catastrophes, AIR is establishing its global resilience practice to serve these distinct roles:

• Assist organizations in applying catastrophe modelling to disaster risk financing:
• Establish alliances with organizations that can provide data for AIR model development to advance the science of modelling and help society better manage the risks from natural hazards; and
• Strengthen relationships with regulatory bodies and rating agencies globally.

Dr. Kaniewski is a crisis, risk, and resilience leader with 20 years of experience as a management consulting executive, presidential advisor, thought leader, educator and first responder. “Having served as a senior advisor at the White House during major crises and as a trusted security expert to numerous governmental and nongovernmental organizations, Dr. Kaniewski has a unique blend of policy and operational experience,” AIR reported.

Rob Newbold, executive vice president of AIR Worldwide, said in the release that the organization is pleased to have Dr. Kaniewski lead the global resilience practice, “which will be critical in advancing AIR’s position as a foremost authority in developing solutions that aid society’s efforts to better understand and prepare for catastrophes. AIR’s capabilities can be harnessed to inform public disaster financing, risk pooling and other risk mitigation activities,” he added.

Dr. Kaniewski holds a B.S. magna cum laude in emergency medical services from George Washington University, an M.A. in national security studies from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and a Ph.D. in public policy and administration from George Washington University.

“I’m extremely excited to join an innovative company like AIR and take on the challenge of developing the company’s public risk strategy,” he said in the release. “I look forward to assisting organizations in applying catastrophe modelling to financing disaster risk and to expanding AIR’s already strong collaborations with the United Nations, the World Bank, the U.S. National Flood Insurance Program, insurance regulatory bodies across the globe and distinguished research groups.”