The center's goal will be to support more informed public policy decisions on how to manage terrorism risk and provide for adequate and equitable risk sharing and compensation of those affected by terrorist acts.
The center will pursue a research program to understand terrorism risk using mathematical models and other advanced techniques.
Research from the new center will be disseminated through a series of peer-reviewed publications as well as lectures, conferences, briefings to policymakers and testimony to government agencies, legislatures and other parties. RAND and RMS will work closely to pursue these initiatives, with RMS providing terrorism risk modeling for RAND's use as a core research tool. RMS, based in Newark, Calif., is a leading provider of products and services for catastrophe risk management.
RAND has been in the forefront of research and analysis on terrorism for three decades, including investigating the origins, development and implications of terrorism; developing a body of theory spanning its various and disparate elements; tracking terrorist acts in a comprehensive database; and examining the policy options for response to terrorism that are available to democratic governments and the private sector.
"The center will provide policymakers with tools and insights to manage terrorism risk, and design policies and programs for compensation to victims of terrorism," said Robert Reville, director of the RAND Institute for Civil Justice. "The projects we are planning for the center complement an enormous amount of research at RAND on homeland security and counterterrorism."
Hemant Shah, president and CEO of RMS, noted, "The issue of terrorism… transcends the concerns of any single industry. By furthering our collaboration with RAND, and by using our models to support the center's research agenda, we feel we can make a real contribution to the formation of public policy."