How Cloud Software Makes it Easier To Handle Public Emergencies

The recent global pandemic highlighted the many challenges that are faced by the public sector when dealing with major emergencies. Thanks to those organisations that had already migrated some or all of their IT systems to the Cloud, it also highlighted how cloud solutions can make it considerably easier for government agencies and other organisations to deal with public emergencies in an effective manner. Whether you are considering cloud hosting in Australia or cloud data storage in Canada as part of a public emergency response plan, you are sure to find the following use cases for cloud computing in public emergencies of great interest.

Tracking citizens with cloud software solutions

Of the many benefits that cloud solutions have to offer as far as handling public emergencies are concerned, the ability to deploy apps that collect a large amount of data from millions of users in a short space of time is one of the most important. Whether you are faced with a global pandemic or a bush fire, you need to know where everyone is before you can formulate an appropriate plan of action. Mobile, cloud-based apps that are capable of handling a large amount of simultaneous traffic are the ideal tool with which to collect the latest location data from local citizens.

Scalable, cloud-based call centre solutions

Fielding calls from large numbers of frightened citizens who are desperate for news can be a very difficult task. Quite apart from the emotional trauma that call centre staff have to deal with, there is the logistical challenge of keeping waiting times to a minimum, even at times of peak demand. A cloud-based telephony solution makes perfect sense in such circumstances: it provides emergency response teams with the capacity to field thousands of simultaneous calls without missing a beat. Telephony solutions, like most software in the Cloud, can be expanded almost endlessly when hosted on a capable cloud platform. A government call centre in Canada handled as many as 40,000 calls a day during the recent pandemic, using a cloud-based solution.

Highly secure data repositories

The amount of data that needs to be collected in a public health emergency can quickly become burdensome for organisations that are not well prepared for such an event. However, for an organisation with a well-planned cloud solution in place, it is a simple task. Major cloud service providers offer virtually unlimited storage space with world-class security to protect the data that resides on it. Furthermore, because of the nature of cloud platforms, your data will be easily accessible from any location that has a secure connection to the Internet.

Big data and Machine Learning (ML) solutions

Whether you are trying to track the unfolding progress of an epidemic or deal with the aftermath of a terrorist incident, the ability to rapidly collect and analyse large volumes of data could prove crucial. Cloud platforms excel in this area: when given vast amounts of data to work with, cloud-based ML software is capable of making discoveries that would be impossible by normal means. The predictive capabilities of ML solutions in the Cloud could prove to be extremely useful in a genuine, large-scale emergency.

There are many more use cases for cloud platforms that have yet to be thoroughly investigated which could help organisations that are tasked with handling public emergencies in the future.