Climate change and COP26: role of information technologies in disaster management and resilience

COP26 focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which are the major source of climate change. Natural and man-made disasters have occurred in recent years, resulting in human deaths and environmental degradation. To mitigate the harm caused by these catastrophes, governments and their administration need to locate and support victims and provide coordinated relief operations at disaster areas in real-time. Promising developments in information and communications technology (ICT) can aid in many stages of disaster management. Scientific examination of the disaster management literature is essential to understand the domain's general structure and evolution to ensure disaster resilience. Therefore, this study intends to explore the role of information technology (IT) in disaster management and resilience in light of COP26 and the existing literature. The PRISMA (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses) approach has been applied to reveal the most relevant documents, with a narrative review approach used to interpret the nexus from the existing literature. This study, after identifying the 28 most relevant documents from the Scopus database, argues that ICT has potential roles in prevention and preparedness before disasters occur, and in the recovery and response phases of disaster management. The study also identifies a few major technologies, such as big data, the global information system (GIS), artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), drones, and advanced robotics that may help in managing disasters. The study also argues that ICT contributes to building the adaptive, absorptive, and transformative capacity of the community and humanitarian stakeholders to enhance disaster resilience. An effective data-driven disaster management program can help vulnerable communities worldwide.