Why Emergency Management Requires Trust

Blog authors: Fatima Akhtar, Associate Partner, IBM and Jordan Klavans, Managing Consultant, IBM

Emergency management is based on a principle of “locally executed, state managed, and federally supported.”  This interconnected web cannot function without trust.  Plans and procedures matter, but trust must be at the heart of emergency management strategies because relationships across communities, governments, and organizations determine the effectiveness of a response. When a disaster hits, weaknesses that harm communities are often exposed.  Local and state governments are the first responders and primary decision-makers.  The nation needs an intergovernmental system that empowers local communities to build capacity, expand capabilities and continuously build resilience. Together, governments and local partners must prepare for the next crisis long before it arrives.

In a recent emergency management panel at the National Academy of Public Administration’s (NAPA) annual national conference, trust emerged as the central theme. This discussion with NAPA Fellows, led by the IBM Institute for Business Value and the IBM Center for The Business of Government, reflected on the key enablers of effective responses to global shocks such as extreme weather. Senior leaders from government, business, academia, and NAPA Fellows provided their perspectives on what works best.

Drawing on IBM’s recent research on community-based resilience and emergency preparedness, NAPA Fellows shared stories and observations from their extensive experience. Their insights quickly converged on a single point: trust enables communities and individuals to act decisively when a crisis occurs. Trust must be earned long before an emergency occurs and is a critical element of every step in the emergency management lifecycle including mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

Trust Enables New Partnerships

Resilience grows when governments work in partnership with community organizations, businesses, and local leaders. Local actors in civil society with the speed, situational awareness, and on-the-ground intelligence must be actively engaged. NAPA Fellows emphasized that the most effective disaster responses emerge when citizens, local leadership, voluntary organizations active in disasters (VOADs) and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) work together with all levels of government in a seamless way.

The discussion focused on the importance of citizen engagement and trust in building resilient communities. Local entities offer critical advantages:

• Trusted messengers come from the communities they protect; therefore, people listen to voices they already know. Whether delivering evacuation instructions or protective guidance, these messengers act as communication hubs that ensure information is both understood and acted upon.
• Community partners bring specialized expertise. They are acutely aware of their communities’ terrain and risks. For example, IBM’s case study on Community Brigades in California illustrates how neighborhood-based teams expand firefighting capacity by leveraging intimate knowledge of local vulnerabilities. Trained, equipped, and embedded, these Brigades provide a hyper-local response when every minute counts. The case study highlighted the success of working with communities to develop emergency plans and response strategies. It also emphasized that collaboration unlocks deeper understanding of community needs.

NAPA Fellows encouraged leaders to widen the scope of potential response partners. For instance, universities were highlighted as an important yet overlooked node in the emergency management network. Universities, especially those located in rural regions, provide specialized technological capabilities that emergency managers can mobilize. Emerging partnerships, which also include grassroots groups, business coalitions, and civic networks, enhance traditional emergency preparedness models and increase the overall capacity of communities to withstand disruption.

Trust Makes Learning Possible

Trust is equally essential after the disaster.

During the national conference, Cristina Caballe Fuguet, IBM’s Vice President of Global Public Sector, noted, "Every shock exposes the same truth: resilience is not a cost, it’s an investment. Governments and communities that act now will thrive in the future—not just survive it.  Shocks repeat and often hit harder on the very same exact location (e.g. Malibu's seashore). Communities understand this fact and are working jointly with governments to prepare in advance and build resilience for the years to come, investing in training, resources and advanced equipment and technologies." This recognition reinforces why trust matters, emergency managers must be willing to confront performance honestly—unearthing vulnerabilities and failures, not hiding from them—so those weaknesses can be transformed into strengths for the next disaster. Improving resilience demands a continuous, iterative process of learning and adaptation.

Trust and strong community relationships are essential to building the integrated networks needed for effective crisis response. One NAPA Fellow described an experience where two governmental entities hesitated to plan for a future event due to the stigma of a prior failure. During that delay, vulnerabilities persisted despite significant risk. Progress became possible only when both agreed to prioritize learning over blame. Trust enabled a reframing of preparedness as a long-term commitment rather than a judgment on past performance.

Another Fellow, a cybersecurity expert, noted how adversaries often exploit disasters to prolong disruption. In these instances, the attacked government agency or organization should take the time to thoroughly conduct an assessment. Just as artificial intelligence will improve cybersecurity it will also enable threat actors to find new attack vectors. If unprevented and unmanaged, adversarial behavior will reoccur. By taking the time to analyze the attack, agencies can improve resilience and trust.

Trust Helps Plan for the Unexpected

Preparing for the next shock is inherently challenging. NAPA Fellows emphasized that disasters often unfold unpredictably; therefore, leaders must prepare for a wide range of scenarios. Across the discussion, there was clear consensus that the first 24-48 hours of a response are decisive. Early success often depends on the ability of leaders to rapidly interpret and act on tactical information. Building trust before a crisis is critical. Without it, early failures can have a ripple effect and cause disjointed response and recovery efforts.

As global shocks increase in frequency and intensity, emergency managers must explore new ways to communicate with and earn the trust of their community. Misinformation campaigns, such as false claims about emergency aid availability, further complicate disaster preparedness and response.

To address these challenges, NAPA Fellows recommended using new engagement strategies to build resilience:

• Gamification, which is the creation and deployment of games, was highlighted as an innovative technique that could upskill the public. Much like health and wellness apps which allow individuals to track performance, disaster education games could teach individuals in a way that boosts preparedness.
• Social media influencers can also be a helpful voice in advancing communications. They recommended leveraging existing networks, such as emergency management associations and community groups, on widely used platforms like YouTube. Reaching new people, this would create trust from those who consume information through non-traditional, digital media.

To meet the moment, emergency managers must routinely build, test, and strengthen their response networks. As part of their preparation, governments and communities must be willing to plan for their most significant vulnerabilities and most difficult scenarios. They must agree upon and establish clear strategic priorities during disruptions. Citing the lessons of 9/11, one Fellow noted that future preparedness cannot succumb to the same “failure of imagination.” Leaders must account for the full spectrum of possibilities and deliver a coordinated effort worthy of public confidence.

As disruptions become more frequent, leaders will need to focus as much on relationship-building and preparedness exercises as they do on systems and infrastructure. Building trust today ensures that, when the next crisis arrives, communities and institutions are ready to respond. Time, resources, and lives depend on building trusted relationships and capacity before disaster strikes.