PRESENTATION
Answering the Call: Katrina, the Tsunami, Darfur, Afghanistan
Lessons Learned from the Global ICT Responses
Oct. 17, 2005, Washington, D.C., N-TEN/HumaniNet

Meeting here today, our assumption is that information is critical to humanitarian operations; and that ICT facilitates information management. In particular, ICT can help us to bridge the critical gaps in humanitarian responses that must be addressed in each and every emergency situation:

• Between theory and practice. The ICT4Peace research project exposeed a lack of research into the use of technology in humanitarian and peace work. This is symptomatic of the gap between theory and practice in the sector, with the result that practical aid work is seldom supported by a strong theoretical framework understood by a broad range of practitioners. Technology can help us to become learning organisations that improve our work from emergency to emergency.
• Between field and headquarters. The assessment currently being carried out by the Emergency Capacity Building (ECB) Project of the Interagency Working Group (IWG) demonstrates that links between the field and headquarters of major organisations are frequently weak. ICT can help us to overcome this, particularly the push for internet connectivity deeper into the field ? but headquarters must first take account of the user requirements of those in the field.
• Between international and local. The public image of international humanitarianism is that of the white aid worker selflessly helping a starving black child. This image is not only misleading, but often insulting. National staff shoulder the burden of aid work in almost every organisation; national organisations often work where international agencies have yet to reach. We must make sure that the benefits of ICT extend to them as well.
• Between civilian and military. Civil-military relations have been particularly topical in the past few years, particularly in the context of Afghanistan and Iraq. Much progress has been made in clarifying how these relations should work in order to ensure both humanitarian principles are maintained and humanitarian assistance is delivered. ICT can facilitate this process, particularly in supporting collaboration that does not compromise either party.
• Between North and South. In the traditional sense, north/south is used to express the polarity between developed and lesser developed countries. The question of the digital divide does not just impact on social and economic development, but also on disaster response and relief operations. More investigation is needed on how ICT-supported early warning can save more lives, and how ICT can act as a motor for recovery from conflicts and natural disasters.
• Between private and public. The need for Multi-Sector Partnerships (MSPs) in humanitarian response is particularly critical. The private sector offers many resources for humanitarian response, as we have seen this year particularly during the responses to the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. On the humanitarian side, we need to engage with these processes much more than we do at present, and seek creative inputs in terms of both ideas and resources. Conferences such as this one organised by NTEN and Humaninet, as well as those organised by the US Institute of Peace and the Crisis Management Initiative, are the starting point for this.

To bridge these gaps calls for creative thinking, particularly for new ideas to be injected into the sector from outside. However we can identify approaches that will support us:

1. Common Standards. During Katrina, the People Finder Interchange Format (PFIF) was spontaneously generated to support family tracing; why not work on developing this, and other formats, that can be applied universally to enable the easy exchange of data during an emergency? I am currently involved in the development of a GIS data model for the humanitarian community, to support future use of GIS in responses as a open resource.
2. Common Services. Projects such as the Humanitarian Information Centres (HICs) and Joint Logistics Centres (UNJLC) established by the United Nations have demonstrated their worth as co-ordination tools. On the NGO side, initiatives such as the NetHope Consortium offer the prospect of interoperable, jointly-owned connectivity solutions that will overcome some of the basic communications problems for those working in the field.
3. Common Platforms. If agencies can overcome their natural tendency to seek their own solutions (the humanitarian field is filled with independent spirits!), we might begin to see the emergence of common technology platforms for action. Paul Meyer of Voxiva, speaking here today, has such a vision; so does the Humanitarian-FOSS community and Sahana, the Open Source projects that I am involved with. There are examples of success, such as the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA), which has become widely used solely on the basis of voluntary adoption.

The above approaches will enable us to begin to develop a Common Language of humanitarian assistance, supporting better co-ordination and more effective operations. To support this, we can draw lessons from the experience of communities of practice from this and other sectors. We can identify clusters of activity around key technologies ? satellite communications, wireless connectivity, geographic information systems, and so on ? that could generate specific activities that will support those approaches. Generally, these communities do not currently exist; we need champions that will lead their formation and guide them towards continued improvements in each sector.

Although it?s easy to get excited about technology, we must not be distracted by technology for its own sake. It is worth remembering that there are no utopias; organisations and people are not perfectable. Humanitarian action is messy and chaotic, and it always will be: by their very definition, disasters are when existing systems are overwhelmed and require external support. However, we have a tremendous opportunity to leverage new technology to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our responses, with a clear and singular goal in sight: to save lives with dignity.