A team from Loughborough University is to lead a research project on how the ResilienceDirect network has been used in the response to Covid-19.
It has been awarded £108,000 by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to examine how the network has been used by local resilience forums (LRFs) and the lessons for supporting responses to any future pandemic.
ResilienceDirect is an online private network with around 80,000 registered users, created as a result of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and under the Civil Contingencies Secretariat in the Cabinet Office – which supports civil protection practitioners in working together across geographical and organisational boundaries.
The project, scheduled to run for 12 months, will focus on five LRFs and the findings circulated as best practice documents.
Insights
Dr Chris Zebrowski of Loughborough University’s School of Social Sciences and Humanities said: “This project will provide valuable insights into how technology is being used at the local level to address coordination problems within emergency responses.
“We are delighted to be conducting research that will help our emergency services to perform their invaluable work in responding to Covid-19.”
Luana Avagliano, dead of ResilienceDirect, added: “Anything that we can learn and implement about the impact of future pandemics is crucial in supporting the safety of UK communities whilst trying to minimise the loss of life.”
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