THE WORLD AFTER COVID-19: How to improve resilience during the crisis?

The Coronavirus crisis revealed how important resilience is for countries and global systems. In this document we outline concrete means for building resilience against multifaceted uncertainties that the pandemic has triggered in the global system. The approach is based on the analysis of low probability and high impact shocks using a method developed by the Global X-Network, a multi-disciplinary network of international researchers.

The members the Global X-Network use foresight tools, like extreme scenario planning, to help governments and companies identify practical strategies and tactics to build resiliency. Being resilient means not only absorbing future shocks and X-Events but being able to adapt and grow stronger. The attached Resilience Assessment is a high-level overview of the Global X-Network process for building resilience in a post-coronavirus world. If you would like to learn how we can help your organization, please contact us.

The method we have used is designed for long-term planning in environments dominated by uncertainty. The ultimate goal of this foresight exercise is to support governments and organizations in their decision making right now, in the middle of the crisis. The optimization challenge we address is to find the best solution to both meet the requirements of the current crisis and to prepare decision-makers for surprises and extreme events in such a way that they not only survive but benefit from uncertainty.