“Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.” – Steve Jobs I was recently having coffee with a friend in the crisis technology community (hi, Willow!), and we were bemoaning the lack of design in many crisis technology circles. Whether supporting public safety (emergency management, police, fire, EMS […]
If you work in data protection or privacy, you already know this: the clock is ticking. On 25 May 2018, the most significant data protection law in this young century will go into effect in the European Union: The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Regulation 2016/679. Europe has long regarded privacy as a fundamental […]
Humanitarian aid workers are increasingly challenged in their use of data collection in order to accomplish their development and crisis response objectives. The unending growth of mobile devices, the ubiquity of connectivity in even the most remote corners of the world, and the trend towards ‘digitization’ means that aid agencies are dealing with an […]
“It’s no longer a luxury. This is serious. It’s really a social justice issue. It’s a 21st century civil rights issue.” – Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner on the Digital Divide Once upon a time, there was no connectivity in disasters and humanitarian emergencies. The Internet was not really regarded as an essential service in the midst of […]
A key part of any modern disaster or crisis response is that of the volunteer technical community (VTC). VTCs have emerged in the last few years to enable the collection, analysis, fusion and dissemination of maps, imagery, social media and other products. These products are in turn used by responding humanitarian organizations and governments on […]
“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.” – Article 12, Universal Declaration of Human Rights Humanitarian organizations – NGOs, governments and organs of the […]
The United Nations recently set out the ETC 2020 strategy, asking for a remarkable change in how humanitarian communications will happen in future disasters and other humanitarian crises. The ETC 2020 strategy does something which I’ve previously advocated for, a focus on delivering communications not just to the humanitarian responder community, but directly to the population affected […]
