I had the distinct pleasure of co-authoring this major new United Nations Foundation & Vodafone Foundation Technology Report with my distinguished colleague Diane Coyle. The report looks at innovation in the use of technology along the time line of crisis response, from emergency preparedness and alerts to recovery and rebuilding.
“It profiles organizations whose work is advancing the frontlines of innovation, offers an overview of international efforts to increase sophistication in the use of IT and social networks during emergencies, and provides recommendations for how governments, aid groups, and international organizations can leverage this innovation to improve community resilience.”
Case studies include:
- Global Impact and Vulnerability Alert System (GIVAS)
- European Media Monitor (EMM, aka OPTIMA)
- Emergency Preparedness Information Center (EPIC)
- Ushahidi Crowdsourcing Crisis Information
- Télécoms sans Frontières (TSF)
- Impact of Social Networks in Iran
- Social Media, Citizen Journalism and Mumbai Terrorist Attacks
- Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS)
- InSTEDD RIFF
- UNOSAT
- AAAS Geospatial Technologies for Human Rights
- Info Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action (ITHACA)
- Camp Roberts
- OpenStreetMap and Walking Papers
- UNDP Threat and Risk Mapping Analysis project (TRMA)
- Geo-Spatial Info Analysis for Global Security, Stability Program (ISFEREA)
- FrontlineSMS
- M-PESA and M-PAISA
- Souktel
I think this long and diverse list of case studies clearly shows that the field of humanitarian technology is coming into it’s own. Have a look at the report to learn how all these fit in the ecosystem of humanitarian technologies. And check out the tag #Tech4Dev on Twitter or the UN Foundation’s Facebook page to discuss the report and feel free to add any comments to this blog post below. I’m happy to answer all questions. In the meantime, I salute the UN Foundation for producing a forward looking report on projects that are barely two years old, and some just two months old.
iRevolutions 
Great work Patrick. Sahana is also becoming an important part of this equation as an integration platform for a lot of open source crowd sourcing systems, which is the focus we started at Camp Roberts last August, and are continuing as a research project at the quarterly RELIEF experiments. We are pleased to join the crisis-mapping effort and look forward to working with you in the future.
Thanks Mark! Looking forward to collaborating closely with you and Sahana in the very near future!
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