Mumbai, Nov 28: The third Annual International Conference on Disaster Reduction (ICDR) 2007 will begin here today.

The two-day conference focuses on the theme of "Business Continuity Management and Disaster Recovery” under the chairmanship of Professor Ian Davis.

The conference is under the flagship of Global Forum for Disaster Reduction. A one-of-its kind attempt that connects the corporate world with the disaster mitigation efforts in the country will bring together eminent experts from India and abroad for an in-depth discussion.

The conference will seek participation from various verticals such as information technology, banking and finance, telecommunications, insurance, retail industry, government and education.

It will be attended by delegates from 12 countries.

Some of the eminent speakers include Prof. Ian Davis, Visiting Professor, Cranfield University, Anil Sinha, United Nations International Risk Recovery Platform, Etsuko Tsunozaki and M.S. Gowari Sanker, Asian Disaster Reduction Centre, Dr. Sanjay Srivastav , ISRO, Prof. Vinod Menon, National Disaster Management Authority, Abraham (Avi) Bachar, ISRATEAM 98 Ltd., Prof. Ravi Sinha, IIT, Dr. Manish Tripathi, IBM, Dilruba Haider Managing Partner, Oracle Communications, C.A Khushroo Panthaky, Grant Thornton, Vinay Disla, Wipro , Sunder Krishnan Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited and many more, who will share their experiences and best practices in implementing BCM in their organisations.

Israel is the country partner of this conference while knowledge partner is Grant Thornton.

Other partners include IBM, JCB, TERI, WebEx Communications, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, EXIM Bank, National Housing Bank and Global Trade Finance.

NEW MEDIA, as part of its commitment to serving society, initiated and established Global Forum for Disaster Reduction (GFDR) in 2004, with a mission of connecting governments, corporates and communities.

GFDR has taken several step and succeeded in creating a Platform for Public-Private Partnership. (ANI)