Next Generation of Tool to Assess Security and Political Risk to Operations and Personnel Launched

London, United Kingdom, May 20, 2009 --(PR.com)-- International Security and Risk Mitigation Provider AKE has launched the next generation of its secure online country information website, Global Intake.

The site is used by many of AKE’s client companies from a range of industries including the international media and energy industries, the insurance and finance sectors, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and governments. Subscribers to the website use it for a variety of different purposes such as pre-deployment planning and country familiarisation for duty of care purposes; and risk management, emergency planning and crisis response management.

One of the main areas to be re-worked, the result of client consultation and feedback, is the Global Intake Risk Rating System. This system is an analytical tool that allows risk to be quantified and categorised. Through the rating system Global Intake tracks worldwide security and political risks, which can be monitored on the Risk Rating page of the website or on individual country entries. The system helps to assess emerging risks and key trends, including the brunt of the financial crisis, and allows for a forecast of political and security developments for over 170 countries.

Nadina Bernecker, AKE’s Head of Intelligence and Risk Consultancy comments:

“I am delighted to have been able to respond to our clients’ feedback on Global Intake and we will continue to strive to deliver a premium service. The upgrading of the Risk Ratings in particular will help clients accurately assess the risks they face in the diverse range of countries and industries they work in – whether this risk is classified as more traditional security threats or political in nature.”

The Global Intake Security Risk Ratings are intended to classify countries by their security environment, as determined by five weighted categories. These categories are profiled in Global Intake's Security Risk Profiles. Analysts use a scale of 1-100 allowing a unique accuracy through the ability to break the rating down from a global, into a regional and even down to the local level. Security ratings are real-time and are updated as and when the operational environment in a country has changed. Alerts are sent directly to the subscriber's inbox explaining why a rating was changed and what it was changed to.

The Global Intake Political Risk Ratings are intended to classify countries by their political and investment climates, as determined by four weighted categories. These categories are profiled in Global Intake’s Political Risk Profiles. The final score shows the level of political risk in each country. Analysts use a scale of 1-5 to give an overview of each country's risk. A trend indicator marks the likeliest direction of a country over a 12-month period. A ‘+’ designation means that the short-term outlook (12 months) is notably positive; a ‘-’ designation means that the outlook is sharply negative. No trend indicator signifies a stable outlook.

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