A diverse audience of 403 contributors from 42 countries gathered for 4 days in the 2^nd International Conference of Natural Hazards and Infrastructure to work together, listen to each other and complement each other in a common, vital quest: to find ways to enhance infrastructure resilience against natural hazards.

Both during the 58 sessions that took place in conference rooms and the knowledge sharing hub, as well as during the various breakout sessions, it became evident that the solution cannot be given by a single discipline. It is now, more than ever imperative to try to understand each other; engineers have to understand what financiers have to say, technology developers need to find out how the insurance industry can benefit from novel applications, researchers have to be aware of the needs of contractors.

This is precisely what ICONHIC2019 was all about. Comprising an ensemble of 284 presentations, 41 keynote and invited talks, 2 panel discussions, an Ingenuity and Innovation Colab and various networking activities, the conference nurtured discussion among engineers, financiers, insurers, policymakers, academics, contractors, consultants and operators. As the first major International event to bring all these people under the same roof, ICONHIC2019 has been able to increase our confidence in a better future for our infrastructure.

It is true that a great proportion of Infrastructure at its present state may be too weak to sustain the extreme loading imposed by natural disasters which do occur at an increased frequency in an era when resources for maintenance or upgrading are obviously inadequate. At the same time, the global urbanization trend calls for increased utilization demand thereby further increasing society’s dependence on infrastructure. That’s why ICONHIC’s slogan is currently more timely than ever:

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much

.

This famous 1888 quote by Helen Keller perfectly describes ICONHIC’s message and its evolution philosophy.

Thank you all for coming together and contributing to making this event a reality. We wish to express our gratitude to our sponsors, invited lecturers, attendees, exhibitors and staff; ICONHIC2019 has been a collaborative effort and this is how we intend to proceed.

This journey has now begun!

Thank you

ICONHIC Organizers

GOLD