International Conference to Examine Humanitarian Logistics in Africa

Wed., Apr 23, 2008
John F. Smith Professor of Operations Management Anna Nagurney is organizer of the international conference, Humanitarian Logistics: Networks for Africa, which will take place on May 5th to 9th at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center at Lake Como in Italy. Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the conference will bring together an international gathering of academic researchers and human services practitioners, who will examine state-of-the-art logistics and supply chain research, experiences from the field in Africa, and humanitarian logistics partnerships between the academic community and African nations and relief agencies.

“Logistics networks, in times of crisis, provide the essential infrastructure for the
movement of both goods and services,” observes Professor Nagurney, who authored the grant proposal that is funding the conference. Goods, she notes, includes water, fuel, clothing, medicines, housing, and other basic supplies. Services include relief and medical workers, engineers and technicians, security officials, and critical expertise. “Recent events in Africa, including natural disasters, wars and uprisings, and the spread of disease have presented major challenges for the timely delivery of essentials to needy and suffering populations,” Nagurney continues. “Our focus on Africa is an urgent response to an ongoing challenge.”

Speakers at the conference will include leading academics from the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, Imperial College in the UK, INSEAD in France, the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration in Finland, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Auburn University, the University of Florida, the University of Connecticut, and UMass Amherst. In addition, representatives from the International Telecommunications Union, World Vision, CARE Kenya, and several research organizations will give presentations.

The Institute of International Education is providing travel support to speakers from developing countries based on a proposal written and submitted by Professor Nagurney. In addition, Nagurney is using her John F. Smith Memorial Funds at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to support travel for several academics.

The conference represents the second grant awarded to Professor Nagurney by the Rockefeller Foundation through its Bellagio Center program. In March 2004, Nagurney led a two-week research team residency at the center, which brought together three women academics from three countries for the project, Dynamics of Complex Networks in an Environment of Risk and Uncertainty: Theoretical Foundations and Applications to Global Supply Chain and International Financial Networks.

Click here for further information about the conference.