Patrícia Leal Coutinho holds a bachelor's and master's degree in Electrical Engineering and Specialist in Telecommunications from the University of Brasília - Brazil. Idealizer of the regulation in the use of telecommunications in disaster preparedness and response measures in Brazil, as well responsible for the implementation of the Emergency Short Message Service- SMS in the whole country. Currently coordinates the emergency telecommunications and risk management activities of the critical infrastructures at the Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency - Anatel. In her previous professional experiences, planning and interconnection activities were developed in Claro telecommunications service provider, implementation of the anti-fraud system in the mobile telephony in Tele Centro Oeste Celular (current Telefónica) and implementation of the national roaming network in the Telebrás Holding. Patrícia is Anatel´s sub-rapporteur in ITU-D Question 5/2 – “Utilizing telecommunications / ICTs for disaster risk reduction and management”.