Call for Chapters
Proposals Submission Deadline: July 29, 2020
Full Chapters Due: October 11, 2020
Submission Date: January 19, 2021

Introduction
Pandemics are disruptive, they cause crisis yet they occur every now and then. According to the UN the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is the defining global health crisis of our time and the greatest challenge we have faced since World War Two. Within the first three months, the spread of the virus around the world and in particular, in more than 196 countries, challenged public and private health systems and governments worldwide, leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global pandemic. The director-general of WHO when referring to COVID-19 referred to that this is not just a public health crisis alone but it is a crisis that will touch every sector. During the last two decades society had suffered by epidemic outbreaks, including the SARS in 2003 and the H1N1 in 2009. Pandemic is not a term to use lightly or carelessly and, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the challenge is over, potentially leading to unnecessary suffering and loss. However, humans are not always capable of avoiding the risks and consequences of such situations. Thus, there is a need to prepare and plan in advance actions in identifying, assessing and responding to such events in order to manage uncertainty and support sustainable livelihood and wellbeing. A detailed assessment of a continuously evolving situation needs to take place and several aspects have to be brought together and examined before the declaration of a pandemic. Various health organisations, crisis management bodies and authorities at local, national and international levels are involved in the management of pandemics. There is no better time to revisit current approaches in order to advance the disciplines and cope with these new and unforeseen threats. As countries must strike a fine balance between protecting health, minimizing economic and social disruption and respecting human rights, there has been an emerging interest in lessons learnt and specifically in revisiting past and current pandemic approaches. Such approaches involve the strategies and practices from several disciplines and fields, to name a few, healthcare, management, IT, mathematical modelling and data science. Reviewing these approaches as a means to advance in-situ practices and prompt future directions could alleviate or even prevent human, financial and environmental compromise, loss and social interruption via state-of-the-art technologies and frameworks. According to the UN, humanity needs leadership and solidarity to defeat pandemics. Leadership without science cannot support such issues in their full potential and therefore the scope of this book is to bring these aspects together.

Recommended Topics
• State-of-the-art practices, tools and applications for detecting, assessing and managing pandemics and outbreaks • AI, machine learning, deep learning, mathematical modelling, data science • Big data for risk identification, assessment and management • IoT, cyber-physical systems, smart systems, HealthCare 4.0 and Industry 4.0 • Modeling techniques, simulations and predictive analytics • Interfaces, visualization systems, dashboards, GIS • Intelligent and smart decision making • Monitoring systems and alerting systems • Security, privacy and ethics • Critical reviews on past and current approaches in detecting, assessing and managing pandemics and outbreaks • Principles, strategies and practices • Current and future concerns, lessons learnt • Standards and policies • Public awareness, education and training, community resilience • Management and intelligence in decision making • Healthcare risk analysis and assessment • Public health consequences • Social consequences of quarantine and social distancing • Contingency planning, business continuity and recovery • Impact of pandemics on the global society including work environments, educational institutions, public services and the economy • Applicable future concepts, trends and strategies for the mitigation and preparedness of pandemics and outbreaks