AECOM and IBM have revealed that they have helped with the development of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. The two companies were involved in developing the new platform for the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Initially the Disaster Resilience Scorecard was introduced as a way to improve how prepared cities and governments were to reduce the risks of disasters. Now, with the help of the United States Agency for International Development and the European Commission, AECOM and IBM have developed the scorecard so that is has more information and tools that will help to reduce the risks from the after effects of any natural hazards or climate change.

The new Platform and Scorecard is part of the Unite Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction campaign called Making Cities Resilient. It is thought that at the moment the scheme has 3,500 signatures from cities. It has been estimated that losses originating from disasters stemming from natural and man-made hazards are increasing. It is thought that events such as floods, storms and any impacts of climate change is costing governments on average more than US$300 billion globally every year.

It is thought that the Scorecard will offer a list of different assessments that can be carried that cover a range of different aspects including policy, planning, organisation, financial, social and environments. The assessments look at these different areas in order to determine their resilience. The assessments have been designed and then led by a number of local authorities and it is thought that the Scorecard will deliver a way of monitoring and reviewing progress. The monitoring of resilience in cities is also a part of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

It is thought that the introduction of the new Scorecard is a significant step towards making cities more resilient and the infrastructure can be reinforced before an incident happened and then the impact could be reduced.