OREANDA-NEWS. Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide (AIR) today announced that it has formed a global resilience practice, a new function to support risk reduction and resilience initiatives across the globe. These initiatives are aimed at developing solutions that aid society's efforts to better prepare for and recover from catastrophes. Joining AIR to lead this new practice is Dr. Daniel Kaniewski, who will serve as vice president, global resilience. AIR Worldwide is a Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) business.

"I'm extremely excited to join an innovative company like AIR and take on the challenge of developing the company's public risk strategy," said Dr. Daniel Kaniewski. "I look forward to assisting organizations in applying catastrophe modeling to financing disaster risk and to expanding AIR's already strong collaborations with the United Nations, the World Bank, the U.S. National Flood Insurance Program, insurance regulatory bodies across the globe, and distinguished research groups."

AIR is establishing its global resilience practice to serve these distinct roles:

  • Develop solutions that aid society's efforts to better prepare for catastrophes
  • Assist organizations in applying catastrophe modeling to disaster risk financing
  • Establish alliances with organizations that can provide data for AIR model development to advance the science of modeling and help society better manage the risks from natural hazards
  • Strengthen relationships with regulatory bodies and rating agencies globally

Dr. Kaniewski is a crisis, risk, and resilience leader with 20 years of experience as a management consulting executive, Presidential advisor, thought leader, educator, and first responder. Having served as a senior advisor at the White House during major crises and as a trusted security expert to numerous governmental and nongovernmental organizations, Dr. Kaniewski has a unique blend of policy and operational experience.

"As the leader in providing risk modeling services and software, AIR's capabilities can be harnessed to inform public disaster financing, risk pooling and other risk mitigation activities," said Rob Newbold, executive vice president, AIR Worldwide. "We're pleased to have Dr. Kaniewski lead our global resilience practice, which will be critical in advancing AIR's position as a foremost authority in developing solutions that aid society's efforts to better understand and prepare for catastrophes."