Ready for the Worst

Bob Watson heads a company using technology to prepare organizations for risk and emergencies.

Risk is everywhere, especially today. For organizations hoping to protect their people (citizens, employees, patients, etc.), property, or even reputa-tions, risk response is “driven by the speed and pace at which events are happening across the globe,” says Bob Watson ’79 BA (PSt), president and CEO of Juvare. “The risks today are greater than ever before — natural disasters, man-made disasters, mass-casualty incidents, or cyber-attacks.”

Watson’s company, spun off from Intermedix last year, helps a broad range of organizations and communities plan for emergencies. In America, cli-ents include 50 federal agencies, nearly 100 state agencies, 3,500 hospitals, 400-plus municipalities, and nearly 100 corporations; Juvare is also active in more than 25 countries. Its specialty is software that addresses the astonishingly complex considerations a community makes when planning for an array of possible events. One project helped multiple agencies and stakeholders prepare for the Super Bowl in Atlanta.

Watson, who previously spent 20 years in the health-care technology sector, is guiding Juvare’s shift to a new product, Exchange, that creates a re-al-time network of previously siloed emergency response organizations. He’s optimistic it will help “save lives, protect brands and assets, and, most importantly, protect citizens when an event becomes a crisis or a disaster.”