Abstract
In December 2019 cases of pneumonia were first detected. By April 2020 the global pandemic called COVID-19 was declared by the WHO. As of January 2021, nearly 2 million people globally had died from COVID and numbers continue to grow with many areas around the globe still in crisis mode while other parts toggle between lock down and opening up again. Since June 2021, there are still concerning out breaks of COVID with new variants such as the “Indian variant” that continue to create catastrophes in different countries even as vaccine are being rolled out. By any measure, COVD is a global emergency and disaster situation (E&DS). Such E&DS events serve to underscore the utter chaos that ensues both during and in the aftermath of such disasters; the many casualties and loss of life not to mention the devastation and destruction that is left behind. One critical question that is apparent in such situations is that irrespective of warnings of the eminent threats, why have countries not been prepared and ready to exhibit effective and efficient crisis management and how can we address this moving forward? This chapter tries to answer this question and suggests that by applying the tools, techniques and processes of the knowledge economy to develop a prescriptive model to support superior decision making and better context awareness in E&DS contexts it is possible to be better prepared and ready as well as enable effective and efficient crisis management.