Studies from University of Edinburgh Describe New Findings in Operations Science (Building Disaster Preparedness and Response Capacity In Humanitarian Supply Chains Using the Social Vulnerability Index)

2021 JUL 06 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at NewsRx Science Daily -- Investigators publish new report on Science - Operations Science. According to news reporting out of Midlothian, United Kingdom, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “We present a novel humanitarian supply chain approach to address disaster preparedness and build response capacity in humanitarian supply chains when people’s vulnerability matters. Our primary motivation comes from the fact that disasters in Brazil are often associated with unequal distribution of opportunities and social inequalities that end up pushing more vulnerable people to risky areas or informal settlements.”

Funders for this research include Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPQ), Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP), Royal Academy of Engineering, London, University of Edinburgh Business School.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Edinburgh, “Moreover, investment in disaster management has dropped over the past few years in Brazil. In this way, we wonder: how to use the somewhat limited financial budget as effectively as possible towards meeting those that need the most while addressing disaster preparedness activities? To answer this question, we develop an optimization model to address location, capacity planning, prepositioning, local procurement, and relief aid flows’ decisions. Differently from most existing research, we adopt the so-called Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) in the objective function to build enhanced response capacity in more vulnerable areas when the lack of resources makes impassable to fulfil all victims’ needs at once. Through a rich and real case-study based on the Brazilian Humanitarian Supply Chain, we come up with critical insights that can help to improve the humanitarian supply chain practices in the country.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “In particular, we show that the social benefit of using SoVI is as more significant as the vulnerability increases, which reveals the importance of considering this index to design more social-effective humanitarian supply chains.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Building Disaster Preparedness and Response Capacity In Humanitarian Supply Chains Using the Social Vulnerability Index. European Journal of Operational Research, 2021;292(1):250-275. European Journal of Operational Research can be contacted at: Elsevier, Radarweg 29, 1043 Nx Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; European Journal of Operational Research - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/european-journal-of-operational-research/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Douglas Alem, University of Edinburgh, Business School, 29 Buccleuch Pl, Edinburgh EH8 9JS, Midlothian, United Kingdom. Additional authors for this research include Hector F. Bonilla-Londono, Ana Paula Barbosa-Povoa, Susana Relvas, Deisemara Ferreira and Alfredo Moreno.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2020.10.016. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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