FAIR Data for Disaster Risk Research

Task Group mission and objectives

To create a harmonized and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data ecosystem that enables streamlined discovery, access, and utilization of disaster and climate risk data from diverse sources globally. This will accelerate data-driven risk research for societal benefit.

Objectives:

• Unite data contributors across governments, research institutions, communities, and volunteers worldwide for real-time disaster monitoring and mapping.
• Ensure disaster data follows FAIR principles for enhanced discovery, access, integration, and application.
• Demonstrate the value of open, interdisciplinary data integration for comprehensive hazard analysis, standardized metrics, and robust risk assessments.
• Engage end-users and stakeholders across sectors to align hazard definitions and data practices for improved coherence and usability.
• Stimulate transdisciplinary collaboration across climate science, engineering, and other domains to address cascading, compounding, and complex challenges.
• Build capacity of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers on data skills for disaster risk analysis and decision-making.
• Empower a diverse team of experts to coordinate activities and provide strategic guidance to unlock the potential of data for building resilience.

Significance

Disaster risk is escalating globally, yet the data needed to understand threats, enable early action, and build resilience remains siloed and inaccessible. The FAIR-DRR Task Group brings together an unprecedented coalition to transform this landscape through a user-driven, FAIR data ecosystem. By breaking down barriers and catalysing standards, transparency, and capacity building, we will empower practitioners with the interoperable data essential for evidence-based policy, innovation, and saving lives in the era of compounding climate risks.

Impact

FAIR-DRR will pioneer a transformation worldwide to align and open disaster risk data, catalyzing breakthrough resilience outcomes. Our policy briefs, papers, and demonstration of data integration value will empower practitioners and policymakers with the interoperable inputs essential for evidence-based action. This will support governments in climate-vulnerable contexts through more targeted, innovative, and rapid preparations, response, and recovery when disasters strike. FAIR-DRR will build the foundations to save lives and livelihoods in an era of compounding climate threats.

Planned activities and outputs for 2025-2027

• Workshops, Side-Events, and Meetings: Organize sessions at major conferences (e.g., UN Water, Understanding Risk, One Water Summit, Global Disaster Platform, G20) to foster dialogue on standards for hazard data, cross-domain interoperability, and risk models.
• Policy Briefs and Papers: Develop policy briefs and papers outlining best practices for FAIR principles in disaster archives, data infrastructure, loss and damage assessment, and risk assessment.
• Training and Capacity Building: Deliver virtual and in-person workshops for researchers and students on open data discovery, integration, and visualization.
• Partnership Development: Engage with G20 working groups, Santiago Network, Sendai Monitor groups, and insurance industry networks to standardize terminology and taxonomy for disaster data collection and loss quantification.
• Monthly Newsletter: Continue publishing a monthly newsletter to build data literacy and share updates with a growing global audience.
• Demonstration Projects: Prototype AI-assisted pipelines for volunteer mapping and real-time risk forecasting from multi-source data

Past Achievements

During the 2021–2024 term, the FAIR-DRR Task Group significantly advanced the global disaster risk reduction (DRR) data ecosystem by operationalizing FAIR principles across multiple domains. The group led rapid damage mapping for over 230 disaster events in 70+ countries through the Volunteered Rapid Disaster Monitoring and Mapping (VoRDM) portal, enabling timely response and data-driven decision-making. FAIR-DRR contributed to global policy through influential briefs on climate finance, loss and damage, and IPCC scenario terminology. It played a pivotal role in shaping hazard definitions, supported the development of the Open Disaster Data Chain (ODDC), and provided strategic input to the G20 and UN processes. The Task Group also delivered capacity-building programs, including lectures at Griffith University and UNESCO, and maintained a widely read monthly DRR and Data Newsletter with global reach. These efforts have strengthened cross-domain interoperability, enhanced data literacy, and fostered partnerships across sectors and regions.

Key Outputs and Links

• VoRDM Portal (233 disaster events in 70+ countries): https://codata.org/initiatives/task-groups/fair-data-for-disaster-risk-research/
• Policy Brief: “A New Paradigm in Climate Financing: Operational Insights for the Loss and Damage Fund”
  https://www.irdrinternational.org/knowledge_pool/publications/117
• Policy Brief: “The Costs of Shifting Scenarios: Why the IPCC Should Maintain Consistent Vocabulary”
  https://council.science/current/blog/the-costs-of-shifting-scenarios-ipcc/
• Contributions to G20 Brazil: Policy brief on scaling climate finance for locally-led adaptation (to be published Dec 2024)
• WorldFAIR Final Report – WP12 on Disaster Risk Reduction: Recommendations for improving FAIRness of disaster data
• UNESCO Disaster Training Course Lecture (Nov 2023): “Activities to Apply Chinese Space-borne Capacity for Disaster Reduction Around Developing Countries”
• AI for Good Conference (May 2024): Presentation on AI and FAIR data for climate resilience
• CDRI Masterclass (April 2024): Lecture on hazard classification and risk assessment
• Monthly DRR and Data Newsletter (15,000+ subscribers):
  https://codata.org/blog/category/drr-and-open-data-newsletter/
• Open Disaster Data Chain (ODDC): Used in Kenya floods, Morocco earthquake, and Indonesia landslides
• Participation in hazard definition working groups and Sendai Framework monitoring
• Publications:
  • Song et al. (2023). “Cyberinfrastructure for Sustainability Sciences.” Environmental Research Letters.
    https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acd9dd
  • Fakhruddin Bapon et al. (2026). “Commentary: Joint effect of sleep duration and sleep quality on self-rated health among Canadian adults: estimating relative excess risk due to interaction from a nationwide survey.” Frontiers in Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1725525

Contacts

Co-chairs:

• Dr Bapon Fakhruddin, Green Climate Fund (GCF), New Zealand
• Prof Guoqing Li, Aerospace Information Research Institute, CAS, China

 

Page last updated: 2026-01-19