The JRC, a key partner in the IRDR Working Group DATA, has published a report on “Current Status and Best Practices for Disaster Loss Data recording in EU Member States“. This Science and Policy Report by the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission’s in house science service is a major contribution to and outcome of a joint activity with the IRDR Working Group DATA on understanding and improving current practices on disaster loss data collection.

The report presents a state of the art for recording disaster loss data in European Union member states. It summarize the contribution of experts from 15 EU Member States. A comparative analysis shows that methodologies for disaster loss data collection and recording in Europe are heterogeneous and that the available loss databases vary in their level of completeness and detail. In addition, IT systems vary in purpose, complexity and openness. This precludes a reliable and representative aggregation of loss data at the EU level.

This report provides recommendations to European Union Member States that would help increase the quality of (shared) loss data within the current policy framework, and in particular for the targets and indicators of the post – 2015 framework for disaster risk reduction.

It is recommended to continue the consultative process in a third phase with the aim of expanding the network of Member States ready to participate, tackling remaining technical issues in the EU framework for disaster loss recording and assisting Member States in implementing better loss data recording processes.” (Source: Report Abstract)

The work leading up to this report was based on an extensive survey which is also documented here: http://drr.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Loss-Data-Standards/Loss-Database-Survey1