International Online Conference to Address Water-related Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) under the COVID-19 Pandemic

As the world experiences the COVID-19 crisis, water-related disasters remain as imminent now as before COVID-19. People worldwide have been affected, and thousands of people have lost their lives due to water-related disasters, which are increasingly frequent. In light of the current pandemic situation, and complications among disaster risk reduction (DRR) emergency responses and the COVID-19 health care responses exacerbate the challenges. They could magnify negative impacts in certain countries and cities.

Airborne Transmission of COVID-19 and Beyond this Pandemic

This presentation discussed mitigation measures against indoor airborne transmission of COVID-19, such as appropriate building engineering controls, such as sufficient and effective ventilation, air disinfection, avoiding air recirculation, and overcrowding. It also emphasized the need for new guidelines for measures on airborne infection transmission for building design, engineering controls, and operations, citing examples of these measures.

Amazon Web Services COVID-19 Data Lake

This presentation discussed how public data lakes, such as AWS's COVID-19 Data Lake can be an essential source of knowledge to get insights from local communities and cities and to build situational awareness rapidly. It also pointed out how cloud platforms can support customers to speed up the path to modernization without the need for having to build technologies themselves and harness data-at-scale and partner ecosystems.

Spatial Data Analysis of COVID-19 in Makassar

This presentation discussed how Ur-scape, a GIS-based visualization and data tool developed by the Future Cities Laboratory, was used to perform a cross-sectoral analysis in the Indonesian city of Makassar to identify positive correlations between COVID-19 transmission patterns and population density, land use, main transport hubs, access to water and income level. It also emphasized the need for multisectoral planning, specifically in the integration and combining of data for better urban planning to achieve truly resilient cities.

ASEAN Australia Smart Cities Webinar Series Part 1: Tracking the Spread of COVID-19 through Digital Solutions

The COVID-19 crisis presents a pressing opportunity to rethink public health, infrastructure provision, and social protection systems. With an eye toward the future, we must find ways to make our cities more resilient without compromising the interdependence that holds our society — including the urban poor — together.