UN Improves Responses to Humanitarian Crises

The article Improving UN Responses to Humanitarian Crisesby the UN Chronicle  documents the efforts that have been made to improve responses to complex humanitarian crises, including how they plan on incorporating new technologies into that improved effort. It talks about the two different phases that made up this effort:

1) Improving Coordination- one of the huge issues in humanitarian crises is that everyone responds at the same time, with similar intentions for what they do to alleviate suffering, with little coordination to figure out what is already being addressed and what still needs attention. The UN tried to remedy this by creating a humanitarian “cluster” system in 2005; this cluster consisted of UN agencies, NGO’s, and IGO’s. Within these organizations, each would be assigned a cluster: protection, camp coordination and management, water sanitation and hygiene, health, emergency shelter, nutrition, emergency telecommunications, logistics, early recovery, education and agriculture. Each cluster then coordinates with a main UN office for Humanitarian Affairs. These clusters are flawed in that the information they have is difficult to share, and their remains little coordination with the office of humanitarian affairs. Another huge problem is that many in the field were not aware that the clusters even existed, so they werent utilized for their specific function by many agencies on the ground.

2) This cluster system was especially proven to be flawed in the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. It was then that the United Nations Foundation, along with other partners published a report on Disaster Relief 2.0, or how new technologies would help make things like the cluster system more effective. These new technologies include crisis mapping (which we worked with in class this week), mobile technologies, geospatial data and active citizen-based reporting. All of these have played a role in improved quality of response and response time in disasters, but the mapping systems have been particularly useful. In Japan in 2011, crowdsource mapping played a huge role for relief workers as they tried to figure out their priorities for delivery of food, shelter and sanitation aid. Mapping was also used during the conflict in Libya to track fighting and the movement of refugees.

The UN report then continues to note how new technologies like the ones above not only are proving extremely useful in disaster settings, but also allow for new voices to play a role in disaster response. Through the use of new media and mapping sources, citizens and not just officials can play a role in reporting where and what needs help most immediately and urgently. The mapping that we plan to do for our final project is not only informative on how to use mapping systems like Open Street Map, also provide us with a skill that is becoming increasingly important in the aid world as a way to support official agencies on the ground.

WaterForLife and #firstworldproblems

In early October, a hubbub was created online when a video of impoverished Haitians reading tweets tagged #firstworldproblems was released by charity WaterforLife. The video, created by marketing firm DDB, attempts to garner donations by pointing out the problems inherent with #firstworldproblems trend. Critics and embarrassed privileged teens and young adults everywhere began to lambaste the campaign for missing the point of the tag, (that they know they’re whining about inconsequential things). If it’s true that there is no such thing as bad publicity however, DDB seems to have accomplished it’s goal. A relatively small and unknown charity has now been written about extensively in newspapers around the world, and their video has received millions of views on Youtube. Criticisms of the campaign in ways also seem to enhance the message: the lives of these individuals are so privileged that they have time to whine about how a water charity is being mean to them.

One of the most thoughtful articles I read about the whole debacle was the article in The Guardian, which talked not just about the video and the backlash, but about the more subtle problems with the trend. Namely, the self-referential tag creates an inside joke that necessarily excludes the unprivileged in the developed and developing world. Further, an us-and-them mentality is created by trends which delineate the world so severely and takes as a given that the developing world has some problems, the developed world has others, and never the twain shall meet.

While I understand the feeling that WaterforLife missed the joke, the video still managed to use social media as a platform and illustration of why they’re mission is so important, which I found exciting and fresh. I also think critical discussions of the problems with exclusionary trends predicated on privilege, such as #firstworldproblems, will be increasingly important in our global world, especially as social media brings us closer than ever.

FrontlineSMS: The Impact of Open Source Tools for Development

Through Mission 4636, 80,000 earthquake victims throughout Haiti were able to solicit help via text message. What’s most astonishing about the project is not the large number of people it was able to help, but the speed at which it was set into motion. From conception to launch, the Mission 4636 came together in a mere 48 hours. People from 10 organizations from around the world dropped everything to build the best platform possible. Among these organizations was one that caught my eye, Frontline SMS:medic, whose director was responsible for obtaining the short code “4636” for the project.

Frontline SMS:medic is one of many programs that utilizes the FrontlineSMS free software program. Through FrontlineSMS, users can text large groups of people anywhere there is a mobile signal. FrontlineSMS enables instantaneous, two-way communication on a large scale by utilizing computers and mobile phones—two technologies that are available to most NGOs. This means a laptop plugged into a cell phone can become a low-cost communication hub. Frontline SMS makes use of open-source software to support development services across the globe and provides easily implemented solutions to many communication barriers in developing countries.

FrontlineSMS:medic is one of the most successful initiatives of the 5 FrontlineSMS programs (others are credit, learn, legal, and radio).  It utilizes FrontlineSMS to improve and extend healthcare delivery systems by helping health workers communicate, coordinate patient care, and provide diagnostics using appropriate cost-effective technologies. The pilot program was launched in 2009 to great results: in six months, hospital workers saved 1200 hours of follow up time and an accompanying $3000 in motorbike fuel. In less than one year, FrontlineSMS:Medic grew to 1,500 end users who were serviced by clinics seeing approximately 3.5 million other patients. Growing from the first pilot at a single hospital in Malawi, programs were subsequently established in 40% of Malawi’s district hospitals and the software was introduced in nine other countries, including Honduras, Haiti, Uganda, Mali, Kenya, South Africa, Cameroon, India and Bangladesh.

FrontlineSMS demonstrates the importance of building upon and implementing open source tools to serve end users and achieve impact in the field of development. For complete information on FrontlineSMS click here. For complete information on FrontlineSMS:Medic click here.

More from Dr. Robert Munro on Tracking Epidemics, Emergency Response, Crowdsourcing, and Natural Language Processing

Today in class, we had a guest lecturer – Dr. Robert Munro – that led the class via a telecommunications source.  His discussion of crowdsourcing and natural language processing was extremely interesting, but there were a few concepts that I did not fully understand.  I decided to do a little more research about these topics online, and  I found this short video that features a brief talk given by Dr. Munro, which gives a great overview of the topics discussed in today’s lectures.  Click here to watch it!

Today’s lecture was extremely insightful and provided us with an example of how ICTs can have a hugely positive impact on development, especially in regards to epidemics and disasters.  The video is a nice supplement to the classroom lecture and gives a brief overview of some of the important topics and an extremely helpful explanation of some of the key terms and concepts discussed in our lecture today.

Here is a video of another lecture given by Dr. Munro: click here to watch this video! This video is longer and provides a more in depth description of the topics discussed today, as well as some topics and examples that Dr. Munro did not have time to cover today.

I wanted to highlight these videos in my blog so that people who were  not able to be in class (ie. non-Tulane students who are interested in the material we cover in our ICT4D course) are able to learn about these interesting ICT4D topics.  This blog is meant to serve as a forum to share information and create a public forum for discussion of ICT4D initiatives.  These initiatives and ICT tools are amazingly interesting and innovative examples of how ICT can be used for development.  I think it is important that these tools and success stories be shared among the development community.

I also think that the fact that the lecture today was presented through telecommunications (which allowed Dr. Monru to present a lecture to our class from a distance location) and the fact that these videos are available to the public on youtube are excellent examples of how ICTs can be useful for education.  Telecomm improves communication capabilities, and forums like youtube allow for information and knowledge to be made available to anyone with internet access for free.  Lectures available on youtube are an excellent example of the democratization of information and knowledge.

Truth in Disaster: “I can’t live without my cell phone”

        Cell phone use has become increasingly important in disasters to warn, react and recover. Phones, both fixed and mobile, allow messages to be delivered quickly and play an integral role in warning before a natural disaster. Mobile phones, specifically, have the capability to send Short Message Services (SMS), which can send data even when phone lines are congested and can quickly be sent to large groups of people. This choice of mobile technology for disaster preparation and response has been tested with the recent earthquake in Haiti when mobile phones helped coordinate humanitarian aid effort, find lost family members and stay up to date with news and conditions.

           This article from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti details exactly how cell phones and radios saved lives post disaster. Thomson Reuters Foundation’s AlertNet humanitarian news service provided residents with the first-ever Emergency Information Service that offered free, practical SMS messages. This service allowed Haitians to:

•          Direct injured residents to open hospitals
•           Help search and rescue teams coordinate response
•           Information alerts through SMS (publicized through radio)
•           Information to reduce disease risk, find missing persons and protect vulnerable populations

       One of the reasons that this ICT was so effective was the ability to get the SMS networks back up and running within almost a day of the earth quake. Free re-charging was also offered at local mobile carriers.

This experience of cell phones in Haiti prompted FEMA to issue a blog about using cell phones in an emergency here in the United States. FEMA advises citizens to:

•         Store useful phone numbers (family and emergency)
•           Utilize twitter through SMS without needing an account
•           Bookmark useful mobile sites
•           Backup your battery

Stay safe, stay charged, stay connected!

The 50×15 Foundation: An Organization Working to Bridge the Digital Divide

The digital divide describes the gap between those who have access to information and communication technology and those who do not. The gap can be based on many factors: age, geography, economic status, etc. It plagues not only impoverished and developing countries, but also affects wealthy countries where, for example, the elderly may have much lower access to use of new technologies such as the internet and mobile phones.

There are a variety of organizations working to combat the digital divide. One such organization is the 50×15 Foundation. This organization’s mission is to provide “affordable Internet access and computing capacity to 50 percent of the world’s population by 2015.” By providing these resources to communities formerly without or with costly Internet and computer access, 50×15 provides many people with access to financial services, job hunting, healthcare information, education, and global communication and commerce.

50×15 works with partners around the globe to accelerate the rate of digital inclusion. The organization focuses specifically on high-growth markets. At this time, 50×15 is focusing on initiatives in Africa where only 54 million of 1 billion people currently have access to the Internet. 50×15 has also launched emergency learning labs in the wake of natural disasters like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. To date, they have launched more than 30 learning labs in more than a dozen countries.

The 50×15 approach focuses on achieving development through economic growth, an important development strategy over the last several decades of Western thought. 50×15 does this by promoting connections between infrastructure providers, government institutions, and consumers. The organization believes that access to technology will fuel economic growth by providing opportunities in manufacturing and product design, service provision, infrastructure development, and entrepreneurship. As 50×15’s website states “bridging the digital divide isn’t just an act of goodwill; it’s good business.”

In order to promote sustainability, 50×15 works with partner organizations and companies, focusing on the following six areas of development:

• Power: grid-based, solar, or manual power generation
• Connectivity: wired, wireless, or satellite service providers
• Devices: servers, personal computers, thin clients, smart-phones, and other tools to help people access the internet
• Financing: government programs, financial institutions, and foundations that provide micro-loans and other means of helping local people afford Internet access tools and services
• Content: locally relevant software applications and information available in multiple languages
• Expertise: training, repair services, and general ecosystem support
• Structure design: pre-planning for technology when designing a building

50×15 is an interesting example of a public-private entity working to bridge the digital divide. 50×15 has demonstrated success. As Flavio Pimenta of Brazil states, “Our collaboration [with the 50x15 Foundation] has put us on a path to creating a beautiful future, building something together that will deliver fruits for our children and also be completely self-sustaining.” However, despite success stories like this, many might argue that 50×15’s focus on generating economic growth is an oversimplified, neoliberal agenda. Economic growth is, without a doubt, one aspect of international development. However, many, including myself, would argue that other factors such as quality of life, reduction of inequality, and empowerment are equally important development goals. 50×15 seems to have a fairly one-dimensional approach to the issue of the digital divide and, because of this, may be missing out on opportunities to make an even greater impact.

ICT4D Professional Profile: Robert Munro

Robert Munro is a computational linguist in the area of communication technologies and works largely on less resourced languages.  As a graduate fellow at Stanford University, much of his research involves topics such as crowdsourcing and machine learning.  Mr. Munro originally came into the field through his previous research experience. After graduating from University of Sydney in 2004 with majors in Linguistics, Computer Science, Information Systems, and English and Film Studies, he proceeded to work on the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project at the University of London.  Mr. Munro worked as the project’s software developer – designing digital archives, working with multimedia development, and researching into computational linguistics.

After his original experience with HRELP, Mr. Munro proceeded to work on many ICT4D projects worldwide.   For example, Mr. Munro was involved with the Mission 4636 service during the January 12^th, 2010 earthquake in Haiti.  With this service, Haitian’s were able to text their medical needs and receive aid.  Mr. Munro helped to coordinate the translation and categorization of text messages that were received.  With the help of Crowdflower, their crowdsourcing platform, Mr. Munro and his colleagues were able to translate the messages within ten minutes.   Overall, the initiative was successful and they were able to process more than 80, 000 messages – “the first time that crowdsourcing had been used for real-time humanitarian relief and the largest deployment of humanitarian crowdsourcing to date.”Along with crowdsourcing efforts, one of Mr. Munro’s major areas of interest includes machine loading.  In 2011, Mr. Munro worked as Chief Technology Officer at the Global Viral Forecasting, an initiative dedicated to predicting and preventing the emergence of new disease outbreaks.  In particular, he worked with a system called EpidemicIQ.  With the help of thirty labs worldwide, the team, currently, is able to gather information about epidemics and load them into the system to filter out what is relevant.  The machine-loading technique gathers various types of information that it can then use to predict a certain epidemic arising in an area.  For example, Google Flu trends determined that flu outbreaks could be predicted by simply tracking the symptoms that are usually searched.Beyond these experiences, Mr. Munro has worked in Sierra Leone as Chief Information Officer for Energy for Opportunity (EFO), an organization devoted to finding a safe and environmentally friendly way of providing electricity to communities throughout West Africa. He currently, “heads the IT services at EFO and does everything from developing software systems to training and acceptance testing” (EFO).When he is not involved in attending conferences or performing research, Mr. Munro enjoys blogging at Jungle Light Speed and traveling around the world.

Sources:  Robert Munro’s Website, EFO

Frontline SMS

Frontline SMS is a free open source software that can work without an internet connection. Frontline SMS only requires a computer and cell phone. By using the cell phone and local phone number as a modem, the Frontline SMS software allows SMS messages to be managed without Internet.

This software was originally created by Ken Banks in 2005 in South Africa to help conservationists keep in touch with communities within Kruger National Park. The software became available online in 2007 and was released as open source in 2008. In 2009, the Frontline SMS founder hired the first employee of a team that has since grown to 15 members. During the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, Frontline SMS worked with Ushahidi, CrowdFlower and Samasource to create Mission 4636 that we discussed in class on Wednesday. Frontline SMS has assisted in other disaster situations since then, including the Pakistan floods in 2011.

Frontline SMS has been useful for more than just disaster humanitarian response. Frontline SMS has been used in the medical community to track outbreaks of diseases, saving hospitals thousands of dollars. The coolest new improvement to Frontline SMS is Medic Mobile, a new aspect of Frontline SMS. They are developing technology that will include a $15 cell phone addition that will allow people (like hospitals in rural areas) to put a blood sample into the back of the phone under an LED light and take a holographic image that can be sent via MMS. A diagnosis would be sent back within 10 seconds and would be able to diagnose malaria, some STDs and potentially HIV. This technology will be invaluable once finalized.

 

 

 

 

Mobile Phone Cash Transfers

This week marks the beginning of a new program in Haiti, commissioned by UNDP and developed by Digicel, in which those affected by the 2010 earthquakes can receive cash subsidies to put towards construction supplies to be used in rebuilding homes.  As stated in the article, two-thirds of the population have access to a mobile phone, while only 10 percent have bank accounts.  Utilizing a mobile phone to act as a personal banking system allows individuals to not only provide security and convenience over carrying around large sums of money, but also empower individuals to better their own lives.

The program does raise questions about the digital divide within the country though.  The digital divide may be increased in this situation do to the selection process of those with mobile phones, a lack of service for the most poor with a mobile phone, and the location of centers providing materials and training.  All of these create more opportunities for certain individuals while neglecting others.  Despite these possibilities, this program still is a great way to provide much needed resources directly to the individuals affected by disaster.

Samasource

Samasource is one of the four organizations that have been essential to the Mission 4636 project in Haiti. In a recent interview by The Trailblazers for Good Q&A Series, Samasource founder Leila Janah expresses her objectives and successes with the program.

She initially started the project in 2008 with the hope of helping women and youth living in poverty by providing them with sustainable work. This work entails “small, web-based tasks like enhancing or verifying data, images and text.”  The project then works with clients to move the data to an online distribution system, the SamaHub, which can then be accessed worldwide by other Samasource staff. Today, there are 16 work centers around the world and over one million US dollars have been distributed to the poor through wages. Before starting the project, Janah determined that what small companies in poor regions struggled with most was finding enough contracts for employment. If she could find them work, they would do it, they simply lacked the access to global markets.

From what I gathered from her interview, Janah did not create this project geared toward disaster relief, nevertheless it is showing to be a huge asset to the 4636 project. When asked to name a success of the Samasource platform, she pinpointed the work in Haiti. What I did not realize before was that Samasource was already working in Haiti prior to the earthquake. The program was delivering low cost netbooks and satellite connectivity to Haitians. In the aftermath of the earthquake, Samasource then became essential in maintaining Internet connectivity. At the heart of their work however, has been the microwork employment opportunities that they have been providing to locals trying to regain their livelihoods. They have addressed one of the biggest factors in a projects success, local involvement and capacity building. By educating Haitians in the technology field, the presence of Samasource in Haiti becomes is becoming more sustainable. Not only this, the actual information that the workers are gathering and imputing into the Samahub is is extremely important in organizing and utilizing data for Mission 4636.

Overall, the Samasource is still small, employing only 2000 workers worldwide; nevertheless, the project is young and full of potential. Through this project, the poor are getting a new chance at building skills that will give them a competitive advantage in the ICT field. Even more important however, Samasource is giving poor women and youth, and now those affected by the disaster in Haiti, the chance to improve their livelihoods and overcome the struggles of poverty.