Show Notes
Summary
In this episode, Glen and Dave explore disaster management and business continuity planning through a talanoa with Vasiti Soko who was the first female director of Fiji’s National Disaster Management Office. Vasiti led the organisation through COVID 19 as well as through a number of natural emergencies. The talanoa comes off the back of Dave working with Vasiti on facilitation of a webinar discussing the fuel crisis with Fiji’s Business Disaster and Resilience Council and examines important topics like business continuity planning.
Keywords
Pacific region, disaster management, economic frameworks, fuel crisis, Pacific investment, Fiji, Samoa, regional development
Key topics
Pacific Value for Investment Model (P-VIM) Government budgets and regional economic policies Vasiti Soko’s career journey from Fiji to UC Berkeley Leadership and trust-building in disaster management The role of NDMO in Fiji and regional influence Business continuity planning and crisis preparedness The importance of relationship building before crises Empowering local experts and Pacific communities Disaster management framework: assess, prepare, respond, recover System level thinking and regional cooperation
Guest Name
Visiti Soko
Sound bites
"Vasiti Soko's role in disaster management" "New framework evaluates community benefits" "Pacific budgets reflect regional priorities” "You can't change the person but you can change the relationship" "Assess the situation, prepare, respond, recover" "When dealing with the Pacific, do things wholeheartedly from the heart"
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Introduction 05:04 Economic Announcements and Regional Developments 05:29 Transitioning to the Talanoa with Vasiti Soko 06:29 Introduction to Vasiti Soko 09:33 Vasiti's Journey to Leadership in Disaster Management 13:23 Lessons from Leading the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) 17:50 The Role of NDMO in Crisis Management and Coordination 20:32 The Role of NDMO in Crisis Management 21:54 Business Continuity Planning: A Necessity 23:18 Building Relationships for Effective Disaster Response 25:12 Leveraging Local Resources in Crisis Situations 27:35 Entrepreneurial Ventures and Community Impact 30:36 Conclusion and Reflections on the Discussion 36:30 The NZ Fiji Business Council Heads to Fiji 38:34 PM Rabuka plays Waltzing Matilda 42:30 Read out
Resources
VPAC Consultancy - https://pacific-vigil.com BCP Template - https://pacific-vigil.com/pacific-ready Pacific AI Recruit - https://pacific-ai-talent.replit.app/talent/ Fiji Hub - https://fiji-travel-hub.replit.app/
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