Abstract
COVID-19, a devastating global pandemic, has disrupted lives and killed millions of people worldwide. Such an emergency and disaster situation serves to highlight the utter chaos, devastation and destruction that is created and the effort that is required to build back better. The global COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected lives everywhere, officially began in 2020 and continues to impact with far-reaching consequences throughout the world during 2021. When one looks at the key issues that are related to the pandemic, it is possible to recognise a common theme: too many countries had not been prepared and ready to exhibit effective and efficient crisis management to deal with COVID-19 (or any other emergency or disaster), nor did these countries respond quickly or give due consideration to alerts and warning signs. The WHO and other bodies have stated that it is essential to be better prepared for such emergency and disaster scenarios; thus this chapter proffers a model ground in Boyd’s OODA loop and examines the application of the tools, techniques and processes of the knowledge economy to support superior decision-making in pandemic scenarios and thereby enable effective and efficient crisis management.