Download the slides presented by panelists here The 2021 fire season in California is already being viewed by many with alarm. Widespread drought across the region has produced an exceptionally large amount of dry fuel, particularly in mountainous areas of Northern California, increasing risks for multiple large-scale fires.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic digital data on human mobility has played crucial roles in response efforts ranging from monitoring non-pharmaceutical interventions like physical distancing, evaluating different types of testing and seroprevalence strategies, and assisting with targeted re-opening efforts to maximize health and reduce economic harm.

This Panel examined the practices of recent mobility data collaboratives in order to engage a conversation about the future of global capacity building for translational readiness and crisis response.

The La Soufriere volcano on the island of St Vincent began erupting on the 27th of December at the end of 2020. On April 13th, 2021 an enormous plume of ash and smoke spewed from the crater.

As California prepares for another wildfire season, safety net health facilities are preparing to meet the needs of populations that will be affected in coming months. Given the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing resource limitations, those efforts need to be focused where impacts are likely to be greatest.

The environments in which disasters occur are changing. Populations are denser. Climates are more extreme. And technology is burgeoning into new realms. These changes have ushered in a new era of disaster response.

Last week, President Joe Biden announced his goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in his first 100 days in office. Equitably distributing a vaccine to that many Americans now stands as the country’s final and most daunting task to defeat the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of developing analytical pipelines that leverage data streams generated by individuals and communities to drive data-driven responses to crises. As these data increasingly exchange hands within agencies and are shared publicly for broader research, Salil Vadhan from Harvard SEAS and Navin Vembar from Camber Systems discuss the inadequacy of traditional methods for the protection of sensitive personal data.