I certainly don't think missing software is the problem for disaster recovery, but there's something to be said for the idea that disaster recovery is missing from software instead.

Two examples that come to mind: Facebook developing their "check in as safe" feature for disasters, and Uber adding one-sided surge pricing so that they can respond to post-disaster demand without raising prices. Uber's move was mostly about fixing a prior oversight, but Facebook's has provided some fairly novel benefit. Basic mobile internet is both more widely available and more disaster-proof than other communications, so it's a welcome improvement on "people flood the phone system trying to call loved ones".

That said, the biggest opportunities here seem to be in disaster-awareness from developers of existing software. IBM's pitch of "come create novel software for disaster response" looks rather less convincing.

> I would've picked money or maybe leadership.

I think autonomous systems and AI can greatly reduce the cost of disaster recovery. Search and rescue using drones for example, the NASA Autonomy Incubator was working on a system like that with MIT while I was there [1].

[1]: https://youtu.be/2hRNx_0SWGw

Exactly. Natural disasters aren't even real, so to speak. They are just weather events that have large scale economic and social impact, i.e. the problem isn't really the storm, but how humans are prepared or not to handle it. If a hurricane hits an island with no human influence or concern, is it still a natural disaster?