Humanitarian Assistance: ICT related innovations

ICT related innovation for HumanitarianAssistance

Marc van den HombergMarch 21st, Stenden Hogeschool, Leeuwarden

Contents

• Introduction

• ICT and its relation to humanitarian aid

• Three examples of ICT innovations

• Role of ICT

• Vision and mission

• ICT themes in relation to humanitarian aid

• Empowered Living, Working and Learning

• From open data to open development

Marc van den Homberg, 21032012

TNO

TNO connects people and knowledge to create innovations that boost

the sustainable competitiveness of industry and well-being of society.

Founded in 1932 by act of parliament.

Independent and not-for-profit

14 locations in The Netherlands

14 offices abroad

4189 employees

564 M€ (total income 2010)

35%

65%

Government

Market


The power of TNOFrom idea to innovation

Knowledgedevelopment

Knowledgeapplication

Knowledgeexploitation

Develop fundamental knowledge

Withuniversities

Withpartners

Withcustomers

Embedded in the market


Seven themes


Areas of expertise

To safeguard the consistency and quality of TNO’s knowledge and

resources, the following areas of expertise have been identified:

• Technical Sciences

• Behavioural and Societal Sciences

• Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences


Marc van den Homberg

Study and work background:

Ph.D. Physics and MBA

KPN Research

TNO, founded ICT4D team in 2006

Reserve officer civil-military battalion

since 2010

Private:

Living in Rotterdam, married with two kids

Hobbies: mountaineering, running


Response cards


What do you study?

1 2 3 4

49%

35%

14%

3%

1. International Hospitality Management2. Media and Entertainment

Management 3. Creative Therapy4. Other


What is your favorite topic?

1. Geopolitics and International Relations

2. Comprehensive Analysis of Conflicts3. Humanitarian Response and Actors 4. Planning & Project Management 5. Service Provision Logistics and

Operations6. ICT related innovation for

humanitarian assistance

1 2 3 4 5 6

42%

5% 5%3%

11%

34%


Have you travelled already to an emerging country?1. Africa2. America3. Asia4. Not yet..

1 2 3 4

15%

44%

23%

18%


Are you thinking of pursuing a career in the humanitarian aid sector?1. Yes2. No3. Maybe

1 2 3

42% 42%

16%


Which percentage of humanitarian aid workers goes on a second mission?

1. 80%2. 60%3. 40%4. 20%

1 2 3 4

3%

39%

34%

24%


Contents

• Introduction



• Role of ICT






Up- and downward accountability

>> SMS


Empowerment of beneficiaries >>

Cash transfer programming + local procurement


Financial services for the Base of the Pyramid

>> Mobile banking (M-Pesa)


Developing country

Beneficiaries Consumers

“Technology can be a major force to advance financial inclusion, which can help improve the lives of the poor in the developing world.”

– Bill Gates


Financial

operational costs,maintenance,

training

Digital

hardware, software,

connectivity,content

Physical

building,goods,

transport,roads

Human

education, computer literacy,

motivation,awareness

Social

institutions,norms,

political support

However, technology is Just One Part


Financial

operational costs,maintenance,

training

Human

education, computer literacy,

motivation,awareness

Social

institutions,norms,

political support

Digital

hardware, software,


Physical

building,goods,

transport,roads

In the Developed World…


In the Developing World…

Digital

hardware, software,



VisionA connected world supporting poor people in developing and emerging countries to create their own sustainable future

Together with strategic Western and Southern partners, we develop and apply pro-poor ICT innovations following a market based approach that empower people to become from beneficiaries consumers and entrepreneurs and that contributes to sustainable social and economical development.

Pro-poor (inclusive) ICT innovations IMPACT

Mission


Focus areas TNO ICT4D team:

• Empowered Living, Working

and Learning



Developing country

Humanitarian aidAid and action designed to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain and protect human dignity during and in the aftermath of emergenciesDiffers from development aid, because of:

•Humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence•Short-term in nature, immediate aftermath of a disaster

>> In practice it is often difficult to say where ‘during and in the immediate aftermath of emergencies’ ends and other types of assistance begin


Contents

• Introduction



• Role of ICT






There are no scraps of man


Empowerment

A person or organisation is empowered when these three elements are available:

– Information: knowledge, data– Skills: know how to…– Drive: ambition, urgency, entrepreneurial, passion

(and the power relations make it possible)

Examples• Autonomous and self-managing learning• Open Data______________________Own responsibility


Empowered Living, Working and Learning

• Empowered Working:

• Mental Resilience

• Security incident social network

• Empowered Living:

• FP7 project VOICES: VOIce-based Community-cEntric mobile

Services for social development

• Empowered Learning:

• [email protected], new media for children in War


Mental Resilience

• Work has been done on how to train mental resilience for the military, but not

(much) yet for humanitarian aid workers

• However similar problems…, similar preparation possible?


The problem (1) Turnover during training for marine s: 30-60%

2929

Intent to stop Turnover

1.Quality of the training

2.Self confidence

3.Dealing with problems

Mentally stronger military


The problem (2) Military confirms Afghanistan's "invisible" tragedy (16-11-11)A just released Canadian Forces report says almost one in three Kandahar vets has sought some degree of mental health treatment. The most mentally-damaged are about 8% with difficult to treat "Afghanistan-related PTSD." Another 5% have what

the army calls Operational Stress Injury (OSI).

Veel militairen Uruzgan kampen met mentale problemen (15-10-11)Zeker zestienhonderd Nederlandse militairen die op missie zijn geweest naar het Afghaanse Uruzgan, zeggen na terugkomst te kampen met mentale problemen.Ze hebben last van flashbacks van gevechtsacties, woedeaanvallen en depressies en veel militairen zijn kort na de missie overmatig gaan drinken. Twintig procent van de militairen slaat de hulp die ze van defensie krijgen aangeboden af.

Humanitarian Relief Workers and Trauma-related Mental IllnessRelief workers, compared with the general population, experience elevated trauma rates and suffer from more posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Organizations that employ relief workers have varying approaches to train for these risks, and more support in the field is needed. .

Mission impossible? The impact of humanitarian aid context and individual features on aid worker retentionFindings are for example: only 40% of MSF aid workers goes on a second mission.


Optimal

• Top achievements• Positive attitude• Engaged• Takes on challenges

Reacting

• Irritated• Can no longer handle it• Sleeping problems• Tense• Concentration problems

Wounded

• Feelings of guilt• Reduction of energy• Fear• Losing interest• Social isolation

Ill

• Depression and fear• Anger/agression• Danger for yourself and others

Deployabe Continuous stress Not deployable

Pha

ses:

from

hea

lthy

to s

ick


Employee, Manager, Colleague, Family (Medical) Professional aid

Education & Training

Treatment &Re-integration

Social Medical Team (Geestelijk Verzorger, Bedrijfsmaatschappelijk Werker, Doctor, Psychologue)

Mom

ents

for

inte

rven

tion

Coaching &early therapy

Mental resilience engages on the whole trajectory

Optimal

• Top achievements• Positive attitude• Engaged• Takes on challenges

Reacting

• Irritated• Can no longer handle it• Sleeping problems• Tense• Concentration problems

Wounded

• Feelings of guilt• Reduction of energy• Fear• Losing interest• Social isolation

Ill

• Depression and fear• Anger/agression• Danger for yourself and others

Deployabe Continuous stress Not deployable


Hig

h P

erfo

rman

ce E

mpo

wer

men

tM

enta

l asp

ects

and

lead

ersh

ipMarc van den Homberg, 21032012

Biofeedback game


3. Cognition: Consciousness• Evalution of situation

• Match situation to earlier situations

• Select/adapt behaviour

(in relation to coping strategies)

1. Reflexes• ‘Flight or fight’: immediate safety

2. Mobilise!: Hormones• Energetic means for a continued

stress reaction

• Protection of indivudual against first (physical) reaction

(Relation with biomarkers, feedback therapy)

Psy

chop

hysi

olog

yMarc van den Homberg, 21032012











The problem:

Amount of incidents with field workers has increased. NGOs leave

countries that are marked as unsafe, whereas the specific area they

are active in might be safe enough. Developmental work is stopped

and the local community left behind

Security incidents


Lead Incident sharing system for ngo’s



Sneak preview newest version Centre for Safety and Development

Any feedback on the

current design?!







• Voice based mobile technology to reach illiterates



Voice based services for the Base of the Pyramid

Rapid growth of ICT services in developing countries

>> Opportunities and challenges

The Mobile Web for Social Development Roadmap indicated

two main challenges

Locally relevant content

Access barriers (low end mobiles, connectivity, illiteracy, visual disabilities,

language)

The VOICES project aims to tackle the access barrie r with

voice based services

>> This approach can be used for relief as well as for development aid


FP7 project VOICES: VOIce-based Community-cEntric mobile Services for social development

Business knowledgeVoice technology

knowledge

VOICES services

toolbox

m-Health Pilot m-Agro Pilot Mobile Training Lab


VOICES

Example development


Example relief












[email protected] program of War Child, Child Helpline International, RNTC, T-Mobile and TNO

Goal: Enable children in conflict zones to give a perspective to their future using ICT and Media

Where: Sudan, DR Congo, Burundi, Uganda


[email protected]


“My name is Dembe, and I am from Uganda. I like to go to school, but I find maths very difficult. Often, I have to think so long that I get distracted and start to talk to my friends. My teacher then gets angry with me as she always hears me, even though we have 50 students in our class. I wish there was a more fun way to learn maths”.

Concentration problems

Explaining mathematics

Overcrowded classrooms


“My name is Mary, and I am a school teacher. Although I love my work, I have such a lack of resources and so many pupiles -over 50! - that I cannot give them the attention they need. I get really frustrated that I know that some of them will not have the knowledge they need when they finish school. My husband always comforts me by saying that there is only so much I can do. But still, I wish I could do more”.

Lack of resourcesOvercrowded classroomsChildren left behindTeacher frustration


Struggling learners

Little support from parentsParents are not thereParents did not go to school themselves

Little support from teachersThere are not enough teachersThere are many children per teacherTeachers are not always well educated

ApproachStrong basisExplicit instructionEngagement



E-learning System

Personal lesson plan per day per child

Within personal lesson plan, control for child

Child can move on if learning goal is masteredKnow how to do itCan do it easilyCan do it automatically

Exercises and mini-games based on the real world

Work together, if possible


Contents

• Introduction



• Role of ICT






From open data to open development

• Open development

• Open data

• Examples

• Open data and earth observation


Open development

“An emerging set of possibilities to catalyze positive change through

open information-networked activities in international development”

Possibilities are for ngo’s to increase:

their transparency and accountability (e.g. open data)

their efficiency (e.g. data management, data sharing)

participation of stakeholders (e.g. social games)

collaboration with stakeholders (e.g. crowdsourcing)

Open data is first step towards open development


Open data

“The comprehensive availability and accessibility of development flow

information in a timely and comparable manner that allows public

participation in government accountability”


Open data in raw format


Example efficiency + collaboration + transparency (UN OCHA)


Example efficiency + transparency (Worldbank)


Other leads…External transparency and accountability (NGO/MinDevAid)


External transparency and accountability (NGO sector)


Open data in combination with earth observation


Monitoring internal displacement Harare, Zimbabwe

© UNOSAT (2005)


Monitoring internal displacement Harare, Zimbabwe

Quickbird 25 August 2004

Quickbird 2 August 2005

© DigitalGlobe, Inc. (2004, 2005)


Monitoring IDP camps Darfur

© CNES (2004)

© Imagesat International (2004)


ICT related innovations for humanitarian assistance: conclusions and wrap-up

A mighty interesting, challenging and rewarding area to work in!

ICT on its own is no silver bullet, all other dimensions of the ecosystem

have to be taken into account as well

Very important to co-create with all (crucial) stakeholders, especially the

beneficiaries. It is all about empowerment.

Often reverse innovation or cross-fertilization possible from South to

North

Green field situation, e.g. M-Pesa


Marc van den Homberg, 21032012Questions?? Ideas?

Jump in!

Feel free to contact me at:

Marc van den Homberg+31 6 [email protected]

Documents

Humanitarian Assistance: ICT related innovations