Digital Volunteers ‘Activated’ in Typhoon Haiyan Relief

This online piece was written on November 19, 2013, two weeks after Typhoon Haiyan struck, when aid relief was underway.  This piece would be most appropriate for news outlets’ technology section, or even the Guardian’s development section. 

By Phoebe Yu

Crisis Map (Photo: Standby Task Force)

A new approach to disaster relief efforts is being mobilized as the Philippines continues to struggle with aid operations in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan. 

Developers worldwide have been called to participate in an emergency hackathon, to work on developing web apps (web applications) to help various humanitarian agencies and come up with solutions to disaster management.

As local and foreign aid agencies scramble to reach the hardest his areas, others provide assistance from behind their computers.  A new era of ‘digital humanitarianism’ is taking hold, as volunteers and humanitarians increasingly recognize the importance of technology in disaster management.

Geeklist, an online social network for developers and the technology community made the hackathon appeal to volunteer developers on the eve before the typhoon hit.  Out of 36 ideas, three projects have been launched. 

One such project is a Facebook appeals app, which the UK disasters emergency committee is now using to direct funds to UK charities that are working in the Philippines.

The other one is called Status PH, a real time mobile web app.  It allows people to find what they need nearby and kind of offer what they can give.  And the presidential communications and strategic planning team are using the third app, which helps the Philippine government track rescue cases.

Dan Cunningham, Director of the Corps of Developers for Geeklist in the UK, says that they’re working closely with organizations like UNOCHA, Doctors Without Borders and President Ninoy Aquino’s office, to further adapt what they’ve built to the organizations’ needs.

“The recovery and rebuilding process will take years really, and so these are long terms projects,” says Cunningham.

The recently published World Disasters Report 2013 highlighted technology’s potential in early crisis detection systems, and providing new platforms for training or raising awareness and funds.  Patrick Vinck, editor of the report, says that the integration of cameras, communication and GPS into the same tools just wasn’t possible even two years ago. 

“All the humanitarian [workers] are really thinking and looking at how do we make humanitarian action more efficient,” says Vinck.

But due to the lack of manpower and resources, aid agencies are not able to fully utilize the advantages of technology.  That’s where digital humanitarians come in, with their network of digital volunteers on standby as they wait to be ‘activated.’

“As far as possible, we try to get the projects based on challenges that are sent to us by the humanitarian organizations,” says Cunningham.

But a major problem that the technology and development communities recognize is the lack of technological infrastructure in some areas.

“We need to be mindful of communities that are not connected, that are isolated, that do not have access to the technology in this world, where we now start to think about technology as part of a response,” says Vinck.

Telecommunications and power was down for quite a while after the typhoon struck.  Cunningham notes that it was difficult to understand what people needed at the time, and they had to fall back to using very basic technology, like printouts of previously collected data.

Vinck suggests still maintaining traditional responses to disaster relief so communities won’t be left behind.