News GEM Outstanding Contributor award: Peter Pazak - Aon Impact Forecasting By: Sep 15, 2022 Share Facebook LinkedIn Peter Pazak is this year’s recipient of the GEM Outstanding Contributor award. The award is given to individuals who have demonstrated exemplary contributions to GEM’s work. Peter is given this award for his dedicated participation in the OpenQuake user forum and contributions to significant improvements of the OpenQuake software. Peter is one of the most active members of the OpenQuake user forum with over 100 posts providing assistance and offering friendly advice with clarity and professionalism. As one of the early adopters of the universal installer for the OpenQuake engine, his feedback contributed to significant improvements to the installer, particularly on the Windows platform. Peter has contributed to making the OpenEngine a better tool and has helped make the OpenQuake user forum a more collaborative support tool. He has worked with GEM and other stakeholders, demonstrating GEM’s core values. For this reason, the GEM Foundation recognised Peter Pažák with the 2022 Outstanding Contribution award. Congratulations Peter! Read Peter’s story and learn how he began his passion for catastrophe modelling. No images found. GALLERY 1/0 VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS FACT BOX

News GEM Governing Board Meeting December 2022 By: Dec 6, 2022 Share Facebook LinkedIn This year, GEM held its second hybrid-format Governing Board meeting, with 17 partners and 18 staff attending in person, and 30 partners and 9 staff attending remotely. More than 50 guests remotely attended an open session featuring presentations of GEM’s progress report on its technical work program in the second semester. The Governing Board approved several new and renewed memberships. CelsiusPro is a new Advisory Sponsor and Aon is a new Private Governors, represented by Alireza Khodaverdian and Adam Podlaha, respectively. Also approved was a change in sponsorship type for MarshMcLennan/Guy Carpenter and Willis Towers Watson from Advisors to Private Governors, with Stuart Callum and Matthew Eagle as the new voting representatives, respectively. The meeting also highlighted the participation of Rui Pinho, who presented the program for the upcoming World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, which will be held in Milan in 2024. Rui is leading the WCEE Organising Committee. He also served as GEM Secretary General from 2009-2013 setting the foundation for the achievements of GEM today. Here’s an excerpt from his speech at the GEM dinner. “GEM is going very strong,” said Rui. “Well done to the people who make up GEM today. Keep the GEM mission going forward. Thank you.” GEM would like to extend its gratitude to all the participants and guests who actively participated in the open sessions. GEM will hold its next Governing Board meeting on June 15-16, 2023, also in hybrid format. No images found. GALLERY 1/87 Gallery VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS FACT BOX

News Fault2SHA 3rd Workshop: Role of scaling laws & fault interaction By: Jul 2, 2018 Share Facebook LinkedIn The event gathered scientists working on earthquake hazards from a variety of perspectives: fault mappers, seismologists, hazard modelers, theoretical geophysicists, and engineers.The presentations by keynote speakers illustrated many challenges in understanding the distribution of earthquakes in time and space. However they also noted that through careful data collection and analysis, progress is being made on important topics such as fault segmentation and earthquake clustering. In addition, the work by the hazard modelers shows that the constantly improving hazard engines such as OpenQuake and skills of the modelers are capable of dealing with the complexities of earthquake occurrence. The group believes that the main challenges in estimating earthquake hazards lie in the scientific rather than technical aspects. Underscoring the value of openness and transparency, Richard Styron, GEM Active Fault Specialist says, “The level of communication and mutual interest was high among participants throughout the workshop, and there is widespread support for the creation of natural laboratories where observational scientists and modelers can share data and ideas, and test hypotheses, in an open and mutually supportive environment.” The FAULT2SHA is a Working Group formally approved by the European Seismological Commission during its 35th General Assembly in September 2016. It is open to all researchers interested in contributing to discussions on topics that could improve the assessment of seismic hazard. For more information, please visit https://fault2shablog.wordpress.com/ . No images found. GALLERY 1/0 VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS FACT BOX

News Albania’s Institute of Geosciences (IGEO) and GEM collaborate to update the national seismic hazard model By: Apr 11, 2023 Share Facebook LinkedIn GEM and IGEO-Albania are currently implementing a 1-year project funded by the Central European Initiative (CEI - https://www.cei.int/ ) and the Albanian Electricity Corporation (KESH - https://www.kesh.al/en/ ) to update Albania’s probabilistic seismic hazard model through a series of technical workshops. The first and second workshops, which took place in Pavia, Italy from January 23-27 and March 21-24, focused on analyzing and converting earthquake catalogs and databases into GEM’s OpenQuake database format - NRML (Natural Hazard Risk Markup Language); and the selection of Ground Motion Prediction Equations (GMPEs) respectively. The third and fourth workshops will focus on running and calibrating the model in the OpenQuake engine based on the results of the previous workshops. The expert supervisor from the Albanian Team was Prof. Dr. Neki Kuka who brings extensive knowledge in this area. The IGEO contingent was composed of Anila Xhahysa, Edmond Dushi, Damiano Koxhaj, Klajdi Qoshi, Besian Rama, Migena Ceyhan and Kristina Matraku. In the first workshop held in January, GEM had the opportunity to chat with Edmond Dushi, Seismologist and Vice Director of the Institute of Geosciences, (IGEO); and Anila Xhahysa, Structural Engineer and Head of the Seismology Department (IGEO). Below are some of the excerpts from the interview. On the motivation of IGEO-Albania to partner with GEM “Our building code is quite old and outdated, dating back to 1989 and it’s based on a macroseismic intensity map, hence with the adoption of the Eurocode normative, we are hoping that this partnership would help us update the probabilistic seismic hazard model for Albania, in order to support the national annex of this new Design Code”, Anila said. Anila further added, “We already have a seismic hazard model which is substantially good. However, there are features that we would like to improve like the ground motion prediction equations and adaptive smoothing, being dynamically updated with recent research”. Edmond said, “The partnership is also an opportunity to share the institute’s experience with earthquake cataloging and what we’ve learned about earthquake faults based on our studies in the past. Our institute is the main institution on geosciences and we are working mainly on recording earthquake events and building the database. We also need to have more detailed models of faults and the ability to link together these two classes of information”. Interview with IGEO's Edmond Dushi (R), Seismologist and Vice Director, and Anila Xhahysa, Structural Engineer and Head of the Seismology Department. OpenQuake – Bridging IGEO and GEM Anila joined an online OpenQuake training in 2022. It was the first time that she used the software and found it a great platform for building PSHA as well as stochastic models. This led her to request in-person training, which started the discussion about IGEO’s hazard modelling needs. The project was developed with Marco Pagani, GEM Hazard Team Coordinator, which was eventually funded by the European Investment Fund. From the institutional side, Edmond added that IGEO has been working to connect with groups or organizations that use the latest or most advanced methods working in the field of seismic hazard modelling. As a small institution with limited resources to develop its own advanced tools, Edmond added that IGEO saw an opportunity to partner with GEM to address the current gaps. On the importance of the GEM partnership Edmond and Anila expect that the partnership will significantly improve the quality of future seismic hazard model development. Both also expected that the partnership would extend from the current focus on hazard to the development of seismic risk models. They summarized the importance of the partnership into three key areas: -Improvement of public and private seismic risk reduction strategy- By dynamically updating Albania’s seismic hazard model using GEM tools and methodologies, national risk reduction strategies will improve and move toward modernization. On the private sector side, both foresee that insurance companies will be able to develop tailor-fit products for their clients. -Better emergency response planning- Since Albania’s civil protection uses IGEO’S data and tools for emergency response planning, an improved seismic hazard model based on the latest science would lead to a better warning system and emergency response in the country. -Modernization of seismic hazard modelling- Both agreed that the partnership would help in IGEO’s journey towards modernization and could even influence the current institute’s philosophy and practices in developing future seismic hazard maps in favor of an open and more robust hazard modelling framework. On their impression of the workshop “The presentation of the modeling workflow was good and I believe it can be adopted by many organizations as a framework for improving the processing of future hazard models. Within this context, I see that there are some parameters within this framework that can lead us to improve our data and actual model for future needs,” said Edmond. Anila found the workshop “great, substantive and concise. The workshop had sound theoretical information and I think that made it beneficial for us”. Parting words “We hope that this local project will serve as an example for other government agencies in other fields of studies in Albania to open up their codes and their products, to start sharing to improve our systems and hopefully make Albania a better and more disaster resilient country.” – Anila and Edmond, IGEO. No images found. GALLERY 1/10 VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS FACT BOX

News METIS Summer School on Seismic Hazard Analysis By: Mar 1, 2022 Share Facebook LinkedIn Applications are now being accepted for the METIS Summer School on Seismic Hazard Analysis, to be held at in Pavia (Italy) from 20th to 23rd June 2022. The Global Earthquake Model Foundation (GEM; www.globalquakemodel.org) and the University School for Advanced Studies (IUSS; www.iusspavia.it) will host a summer school on probabilistic seismic hazard analysis. The school, organized under the auspices of the METIS project (EU Euratom research and training program 2014-2018, grant agreement n°94512 - metis-h2020.eu), will be held in person1 and will consist of a series of lectures and hands-on laboratories. The goal of the school is to introduce the participants to the calculation of probabilistic seismic hazard and to recent methodologies developed in the framework of the METIS project. The topics offered will include an introduction to the main functionalities of the OpenQuake Engine (see www.globalquakemodel.org/openquake) and, GEM's tools for building components of a hazard input model, aftershock PSHA (Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis), vector-valued PSHA and the conditional spectrum approach, and time-histories selection for engineering applications. The School targets PhD/Master students and other early-career researchers. Participation to the school is free. Participants are expected to cover their travel and accommodation costs. The maximum number of participants is 20. Applications to the summer school can be submitted by filling the form available at the following link: . The application deadline is April 15, 2022.* More about the call at . ____________________ *We are monitoring the Covid-19 situation and will adapt accordingly. No images found. GALLERY 1/0 Gallery VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS FACT BOX

News Eigenrisk® adds GEM earthquake modeling resources to its global catastrophe risk management platform By: Mar 16, 2022 Share Facebook LinkedIn ANN ARBOR, MI, January 2022 – EigenRisk® today announced a new agreement with Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation, an international public-private partnership committed to the development of open-source hazard and risk assessment software, tools and data, to make GEM’s global earthquake exposure modeling resources available through the EigenPrism® catastrophe risk management platform. “Earthquakes continue to be among the most deadly and devastating natural catastrophes in all parts of the world,” said Deepak Badoni, president, EigenRisk. “Our relationship with the GEM Foundation enables our clients around the globe to integrate earthquake-related risk analytics into their key business processes and be more proactive in all aspects of catastrophe planning, monitoring and response.” GEM’s Global Seismic Hazard Map (version 2019.1) will be its first dataset added to EigenRisk’s extensive library of hazard models from public and private sources. Users can easily select and compare risk results from multiple sources on the platform. "We're pleased to offer our global earthquake modeling capabilities to the risk management and insurance community through EigenRisk's platform," said John Schneider, GEM Secretary General. “The expanded availability of our resources aligns with our objectives to widen the global understanding of earthquake risk, enhance related protection and safety measures, and facilitate the development of insurance products that address the economic consequences of seismic events.” Beyond the global assessment capabilities currently available on the EigenRisk platform, GEM’s array of earthquake hazard, exposure and vulnerability models as well as OpenQuake software tools can be used to simulate the seismic behavior of buildings, lifelines and critical facilities. In particular, it allows for the assessment of the probability of earthquakes occurring, and the consequent physical damage and economic loss, essential information for implementing a wide range of risk reduction and transfer mechanisms, including parametric insurance. Press release link: . EigenRisk, Inc., an independent insurance technology firm, helps (re)insurers, brokers and risk managers across the globe manage catastrophe risk, and drive higher growth, customer engagement and operational efficiency. The firm's cloud-based platform provides one-stop access to powerful data management, geo-visualization, analytics, reporting, modeling, alerts and APIs. These capabilities are integrated with hazard data, event projections and simulations curated from more than 20 leading public and private sources to provide a more dynamic and complete perspective of risk. Visit www.eigenrisk.com. No images found. GALLERY 1/0 Gallery VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS FACT BOX

News From Volcanic Hazard to Risk Assessment By: Jul 12, 2018 Share Facebook LinkedIn The University of Geneva hosted the inaugural International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) - Global Volcano Model Network (GVM) Workshop in Geneva, Switzerland from June 27-29. More than 30 international experts in the field of volcanic hazard, exposure, vulnerability and risk assessment participated in the workshop to evaluate the state of the art of risk assessment in volcanology, investigate current gaps and identify research priorities. The workshop tackled three thematic areas: i) current perspectives in volcanic risk assessment, ii) how to analyze volcanic vulnerability and iii) how to combine volcanic hazard and risk. Luis Martins, GEM Physical Risk Engineer presented and discussed the differences and similarities between earthquake and volcanic impact assessment. He shared key vulnerability aspects that need to be assessed for a comprehensive and efficient risk assessment based on the recently completed GEM’s global earthquake vulnerability database project, which he led from 2017-2018. “Earthquake risk assessment and volcano risk assessment share many key aspects, and it is clear that close collaboration between both communities can greatly improve the understanding of both hazards,” Luis concludes at the end of his presentation. GEM is actively pursuing collaboration with other peril groups in particular the volcano hazard and risk assessment community through the CRAVE and the GED4ALL projects (global exposure database), to share its long experience in developing ‘open data and open tools’ to promote global risk information sharing. GEM’s participation in this first international workshop further strengthens its commitment to contribute and lead the global efforts to make risk information across perils accessible to the DRR community and its stakeholders. No images found. GALLERY 1/0 VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS FACT BOX

News GEM Highlights Open Science Benefits and Challenges at OECD Forum By: Apr 23, 2024 Apr 23, 2024 Share Facebook LinkedIn Photo credit: Gemma Volpicelli GEM Highlights Open Science Benefits and Challenges at OECD Forum Paris, France - April 23, 2024 - The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation underlined the importance of open science collaboration and future directions at the 50th meeting of the OECD Global Science Forum (GSF) this week, a key platform for discussing international scientific collaboration on global challenges. John Schneider, Senior Advisor at GEM, participated in two key discussions, the evolution of international scientific collaboration on April 22nd, and the importance of Open Science for societal benefit on April 23rd. Shifting Landscape of Collaboration A roundtable discussion at the GSF on April 22nd, focused on research infrastructures and their evolution over time, featured John alongside former GSF chairs. “GEM's experience over the past 15 years exemplifies a significant shift," John noted. "The private sector is actively collaborating and increasingly values open frameworks," he said. This shift reinforces collaboration between public and private entities on resolving common challenges for the public good. John presented the history of GEM as a public-private partnership and non-profit foundation, conceived at one of the OECD GSF workshops in 2004. He presented the importance of its collaboration framework and open approach, and the issues GEM faces in operating in an open framework. Underscoring GEM's contribution, Jerry Sheehan, Director of the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, highlighted it as a success story during the 50th meeting closing summary. This was an excellent acknowledgment of the value of the GSF's work in fostering collaborative research infrastructures. Open Science: Benefits and Actions Needed In a separate Multi-Stakeholder High-Level Dialogue on Open Science on April 23rd, John presented GEM's work in open science, using the OpenQuake Engine, an open-source software for earthquake hazard and risk assessment, as a prime example of successful Open Science practices. "OpenQuake has been essential to developing a shared understanding of earthquake hazard and risk across complex and multi-disciplinary fields," he highlighted. The benefits extend beyond technical aspects including fostering the development of local capabilities to assess earthquake risk, strengthening trust in scientific results, and facilitating risk reduction actions. At the same time, challenges include balancing the availability of free and open data and information with the need to have sustained financial support for the organisation, and developing better legal frameworks and communication surrounding data sharing is needed to encourage more participation in open science. The Multi-Stakeholder High-Level Dialogue on Open Science is part of a larger discussion to strengthen international scientific collaboration. This forum, convened during a meeting of Science and Technology Ministers from around the world, addressed challenges and opportunities for the future of science and international scientific collaboration. Open science, along with other themes like biodiversity, climate change, artificial intelligence, and engaging communities in science, were key topics of discussion. Moving Forward with Open Science John underscored the need for concrete actions to promote Open Science. "We need to provide scientists and legal professionals with better tools and resources to understand and implement open licensing," he said. Developing clear guidelines and promoting successful Open Science projects were also highlighted as ways to encourage broader adoption. Finally, John called for a shift in scientific reward systems, placing greater value on the development and maintenance of open software and data alongside traditional publications. The GEM Foundation sees continued collaboration and open data sharing as essential for advancing earthquake risk assessment. GEM's open data-sharing initiatives have allowed researchers and policymakers around the world to access critical earthquake hazard and risk information. This has facilitated the development of more accurate seismic hazard maps, improved building codes, and enhanced disaster preparedness measures in earthquake-prone regions. By making this data openly available, GEM has played a crucial role in enabling local scientists and researchers and collaborating with communities to better understand and mitigate earthquake risk, ultimately saving lives. Stay tuned for the event recording. To learn more, please visit www.globalquakemodel.org or email product@globalquakemodel.org . No images found. GALLERY OECD Science and Technology Policy Ministerial_Day 1.jpg OECD Science and Technology Policy Ministerial_Day 2.jpg OECD Science and Technology Policy Ministerial_Day 1(1).jpg OECD Science and Technology Policy Ministerial_Day 1.jpg 1/12 Photo credit: OECD VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS FACT BOX

News GEM Governing Board Meeting June 2023 By: Jun 30, 2023 Share Facebook LinkedIn The GEM Governing Board meeting was held from June 15-16 in Bergamo, Italy. The meeting was highlighted by the confirmation of Helen Crowley as GEM Secretary General starting August 1st, replacing John Schneider. John who has held the Secretary General position since February 2016 will move to an advisory role. The June meeting included a meeting of the new GEM Advisory Board: below from left: Laurie Johnson (Laurie Johnson Consulting - expert in post-disaster recovery), Shanna McClain (NASA, Disasters Program Manager) and Sangeeta Singh (Professor of Urban Planning and Deputy Director of Centre for Disaster Studies Tribhuvan University - Institute of Engineering, Nepal). The Advisory Board will provide advice on topics such as earthquake model validation, exposure model development and urban risk assessment and planning. Key discussions and recommendations included: There is a wide demand for development of GEM products and services leveraging the global hazard and risk models. The Secretariat is scoping the development costs and working with sponsors and others to define user requirements and funding opportunities. Delivery of GEM data and hazard/risk modelling results through an API is gaining interest. GEM is currently testing an API for global hazard curves with several prospective clients. As identified in GEM’s strategic plan, the effects of secondary hazards (especially tsunami, landslide and liquefaction) are an important to a complete understanding of earthquake risk. While some progress has been made, there is work to be done to determine how to capture the risk effectively on a global scale. The February earthquakes in Turkey raised considerable interest in the potential for GEM to provide impact estimates rapidly to assist disaster relief operations. GEM is now working with the USGS, the European ARISTOTLE project and other organisations to expand its current capability. Sponsors expressed interest in working with GEM on a number of projects aimed at improving hazard and risk assessment capabilities. The priorities for this work and the extent to which such developments would require additional funding is to be determined. John Schneider presented reflections of his 7-½ years of leading the GEM Secretariat, which included the release of the first global earthquake hazard and risk maps (2018) and culminated in the second major release in June 2023. More on GEM accomplishments in this period are summarised in John’s Story at [ https://www.globalquakemodel.org/gemstories/bridging-science-and-Society%3A-reflections-of-a-geophysicist's-impact-on-global-seismic-understanding ] No images found. GALLERY DSC04271.JPG DSC04260.JPG DSC04195.JPG DSC04271.JPG 1/15 VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS FACT BOX

News Allianz-GEM partnership focuses on global earthquake risk resilience By: Sep 15, 2022 Share Facebook LinkedIn The Allianz Group, one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers, has joined the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation, an international public-private partnership providing open-source hazard and risk assessment software, tools and data for the application of science to understanding and managing earthquake risk on a global scale. The Allianz-GEM partnership aims to enhance the understanding of earthquake risk by leveraging Allianz’ experience in multi-peril modelling and the use of data in an insurance context; and GEM’s open, transparent and collaborative approach to earthquake risk analysis at the global, regional, and local levels. Matthias Hackl, Head of Cat Research & Development, Allianz Re, has joined the GEM board as part of the cooperation. “We are happy to welcome Allianz to the GEM family. Allianz’ experience in natural catastrophe risk management combined with GEM’s long-term strategy toward multi-hazard risk modelling, can improve both organisations’ understanding of earthquake risks, and contribute to natural hazard risk resilience globally.” - John Schneider , GEM Secretary General. Allianz Re natural peril experts currently model around 90 natural catastrophe scenarios worldwide using data collected from scientifically robust sources and Allianz exposure data to allow in-house and vendor applications to build a quick picture of risk accumulation in any defined location and form the basis for effective risk management measures. “Partnering with GEM provides an opportunity for us to enhance the way we look at earthquake risk worldwide. GEM’s scientific experience and knowledge will improve our own earthquake models with their high-quality open data and models, proven methods and processes,” says Matthias Hackl . “Allianz is committed to apply science to understand, manage and estimate the costs of natural hazards. We see the engagement with GEM as a great opportunity to expand our network of partners with whom we want to push the boundaries of understanding natural perils worldwide,” says Sibylle Steimen , Managing Director of Advisory & Services, Allianz Re. ----- About Allianz Group The Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers with 126 million private and corporate customers in more than 70 countries. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing around 809 billion euros on behalf of its insurance customers. ----- Media contacts: Elizabeth Goetze Allianz Reinsurance ELIZABETH.GOETZE@allianz.com Jephraim Oro GEM Foundation jephraim.oro@globalquakemodel.org No images found. GALLERY 1/0 VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS FACT BOX