President’s Message

Joe Ozorio, President - DRIE Toronto, CBCP, CBCA, MBCI

Dear DRIE Member:
 
Who would have thought, almost two years later, and into our second Holiday season, that we’d still be talking Covid, more variants, return of restrictions, continuance of work from home, etc.? I’m as fatigued as you probably are about it all, but this is our new reality. Perhaps we’ll finally get a handle on the virus in 2022, but we’ll still be faced with a new normal that that will persist perhaps for good.
 
I am encouraged however that through various forums, the need for BCM professionals, will be stronger than ever post pandemic as resiliency plans need to be dusted off, updated and exercised once our attention moves off Covid.
 
As a profession, our new normal seems to be headed in the direction of overall Organizational Resiliency, rather than the relatively narrow confines of Business Continuity, IT Disaster Recovery, or Crisis Management. This will embrace many broader disciplines outside of what we have traditionally embraced. BCM professionals, will have to expand skill sets, extend their reach into other disciplines (e.g. cyber response, insurance, broader Operational Risk, supply chain, etc.), and plan for threats unimagined just two years ago.
 
DRIE Toronto is taking a lead role by recognizing the evolving nature of our profession and is starting by moving to change the name of our association from Disaster Recovery Information Exchange (DRIE) to Resiliency Information Exchange (RIE). DRIE Toronto members have already voted and ratified this name change, and we are working with the other DRIE chapters to do the same. Hopefully we’ll emerge in 2022 as an association that has embraced the future.
 
In the meantime, I wish you all the best for the Holidays, and that you remain, safe, healthy and thrive in 2022.
 
Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Joe Ozorio – President, DRIE Toronto.