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Oasis Insight Conference 2023

GEM's Secretary General, Helen Crowley, and Andres Abarca, GEM Product Manager attended the Oasis Insight Conference 2023, in partnership with the Swiss Re Institute, which took place in Zurich, Switzerland, on September 6, 2023. A significant highlight of the event was Helen's participation in a panel discussion centred on the pivotal role of Open data and Science in advancing earthquake risk assessment, particularly within the European context. Drawing from her extensive leadership experience with the European Facilities for Earthquake Hazard and Risk (EFEHR) and her current role as Secretary General of the GEM Foundation, Helen shared the critical contributions of these initiatives in curating and upholding essential data and resources for comprehensive risk assessment.

OpenQuake Engine Documentation Survey results

OpenQuake team is currently working to improve the existing documentation, aiming at consolidating information previously spread across separate locations. The goal is to have an effective manual that will serve as the definitive, centralised source guiding users in the use of OpenQuake. To this end we did a survey in July 2023 with funding from Google Season of Docs initiative, aimed to support the efforts to enhance GEM's OpenQuake Engine Documentation. A total of 45 respondents participated in this survey. They primarily use the OpenQuake engine for research, with self-learning being the common method of acquisition. Users access information from sources including the user manual, GitHub Repository, and OpenQuake Forum. Documentation is rated as fair to good in user-friendliness, organisation, and sufficiency/completeness. Overall, respondents are willing to participate in future surveys after the ongoing documentation improvements, which are expected to be completed by December. Looking ahead, we plan to conduct a follow-up survey to gauge the effectiveness of these enhancements and gather feedback on user satisfaction.

Enhanced User Experience: GEM Website Updates

GEM's website is getting an exciting makeover! Our enhanced product page is set to launch on October 13, 2023, showcasing global products including hazard, risk, exposure, country seismic risk profiles, and vulnerability models. For now, stay tuned for further updates, including details about past and upcoming events, like the Global Products release event, the previous GEM Conference: Are we making a difference, and an upcoming METIS project seminar-workshop. Explore our revamped Homepage with interactive maps and global products, along with an improved Latest Updates section and a convenient Downloadable Resources area. Don't miss out - more updates coming soon!