Modeling the values of private sector agents in multi-echelon humanitarian supply chains

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Humanitarian organizations (HOs) increasingly look to engage private sector supply chains in achieving outcomes. The right engagement approach may require knowledge of agents' preferences across multi-echelon supply chains to align private sector value creation with humanitarian outcomes. We propose a multi-attribute value analysis (MAVA) framework to elucidate such preferences. We formalize this approach and apply it in collaboration with a HO pilot aiming to facilitate better private sector availability of malaria rapid diagnostic tests in Uganda. We demonstrate how HOs could use criteria weights and value functions from MAVA for project evaluation; in the process, we reveal business model insights for importers, distributors, and retailers in the pilot. We also show how MAVA facilitates the impact assessment of hypothetical options (i.e., combinations of products, services, and subsidies) to guide HO resource deployment. This paper offers the first attempt, to our knowledge, to develop quantitative measures for economic and non-economic objectives involving all agents in a multi-echelon supply chain, either humanitarian or commercial. We hope that this initial step stimulates further research to validate results and develop the framework proposed

Games for a new climate: experiencing the complexity of future risks

This repository item contains a single issue of the Pardee Center Task Force Reports, a publication series that began publishing in 2009 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future.This report is a product of the Pardee Center Task Force on Games for a New Climate, which met at Pardee House at Boston University in March 2012. The 12-member Task Force was convened on behalf of the Pardee Center by Visiting Research Fellow Pablo Suarez in collaboration with the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre to “explore the potential of participatory, game-based processes for accelerating learning, fostering dialogue, and promoting action through real-world decisions affecting the longer-range future, with an emphasis on humanitarian and development work, particularly involving climate risk management.” Compiled and edited by Janot Mendler de Suarez, Pablo Suarez and Carina Bachofen, the report includes contributions from all of the Task Force members and provides a detailed exploration of the current and potential ways in which games can be used to help a variety of stakeholders – including subsistence farmers, humanitarian workers, scientists, policymakers, and donors – to both understand and experience the difficulty and risks involved related to decision-making in a complex and uncertain future. The dozen Task Force experts who contributed to the report represent academic institutions, humanitarian organization, other non-governmental organizations, and game design firms with backgrounds ranging from climate modeling and anthropology to community-level disaster management and national and global policymaking as well as game design.Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centr

Integrated supply chain design

Ph.D.H. Donald Ratlif

Supply Chain Resilience: Restoring Business Operations After a Hurricane

MIT’s Humanitarian Response Lab at the Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL) held a roundtable on supply chain resilience in the face of large-scale disasters. To gather a cross-sectional understanding of the issue, the event convened participants from academia, public sector, and private sector – who brought their respective perspectives to illuminate this crucial intersection of management science, government policy, and business strategy. To ensure candor, this report was prepared under the Chatham House Rule of not identifying the specific speakers or affiliations of the anecdotes, insights, or recommendations. The roundtable used three major hurricanes (Harvey, Irma, and Maria) during 2017 as a focal point for gathering multiple points of view from the public and private sector and spanning supply chains from manufacturer to retailer. The roundtable and this report are aimed to catalyze more systematic research of the issues and opportunities revealed by shared discussion of how business and government support survivors and restore a disaster-impacted economy

Data-driven optimization of OFDA's disaster response capacity: Python Source Code

USAI

Data-driven optimization of OFDA's disaster response capacity: Phase I Report

Data-driven optimization of OFDA’s disaster response capacity: Phase I ReportThe United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Office of Foreign Disasters Assistance (OFDA) collaborates with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab (HUSCL) at the Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL) in the project “Optimization-based Evaluation of USAID/OFDA’s Global Logistics Capacity”. This collaboration intends to provide data-driven, model-based recommendations to optimize OFDA’s global response capabilities. The project runs from May 2019 until September 2020 and comprises two phases. In Phase I the project team conducted preliminary analyses to develop a deeper understanding of OFDA’s operations and collected the necessary information to conduct the modeling. Also, they used a preliminary model to showcase outputs and recommendations of a more tailored-modeling approach, which is the main focus of Phase II. This summary report highlights important findings and outlines a path forward for Phase II.USAI

Data-drivien optimization of OFDA's disaster response capacity: Phase I Report Analyses

Presentation for Phase I ReportUSAI

Karamoja Resilience Map: The Basic Elements

This guide is for interpreting the Karamoja Resilience System Maps, and provides descriptions of the different element types and connections on the system mapsUSAI

Disaster Housing Construction Challenges in America

This electronic version was submitted by the authors as part of their research in MIT’s Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab within MIT’s Center for Transportation & Logistics. This research was in support of FEMA’s Housing Assistance Initiative and the multi-lab MIT research project titled “Alternatives for FEMA Disaster-Related Housing Assistance.” Document includes references.Disaster housing is frequently identified as a major challenge for emergency managers in the United States. This report looks at disaster housing within the broader context of America’s non-disaster construction market, with an emphasis on housing technology options as well as disaster policy dynamics across federal, state, and local governments. Analysis is grouped around three pillars: current situation, possible future, and obstacles. The report includes a comprehensive look at past disaster housing policies, a descriptive analysis of housing market trends and disaster reconstruction funding, and state and local perspectives on past challenges and future directions. With an intended audience of emergency managers, housing agencies, policymakers, building code experts, and the construction industry, the report identifies 11 recommendations grouped into the areas of Process Improvement, Decision Support, and Direction Setting.Federal Emergency Management Agenc