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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
The power of TNOFrom idea to innovation
Knowledgedevelopment
Knowledgeapplication
Knowledgeexploitation
Develop fundamental knowledge
Withuniversities
Withpartners
Withcustomers
Embedded in the market
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Seven themes
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Response cards
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
What do you study?
1 2 3 4
49%
35%
14%
3%
1. International Hospitality Management2. Media and Entertainment
Management 3. Creative Therapy4. Other
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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%
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Have you travelled already to an emerging country?1. Africa2. America3. Asia4. Not yet..
1 2 3 4
15%
44%
23%
18%
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Are you thinking of pursuing a career in the humanitarian aid sector?1. Yes2. No3. Maybe
1 2 3
42% 42%
16%
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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%
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Up- and downward accountability
>> SMS
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Empowerment of beneficiaries >>
Cash transfer programming + local procurement
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Financial services for the Base of the Pyramid
>> Mobile banking (M-Pesa)
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Financial
operational costs,maintenance,
training
Human
education, computer literacy,
motivation,awareness
Social
institutions,norms,
political support
Digital
hardware, software,
connectivity,content
Physical
building,goods,
transport,roads
In the Developed World…
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
In the Developing World…
Digital
hardware, software,
connectivity,content
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Focus areas TNO ICT4D team:
• Empowered Living, Working
and Learning
• From open data to open development
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
There are no scraps of man
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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?
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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.
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
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
Marc 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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Lead Incident sharing system for ngo’s
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Sneak preview newest version Centre for Safety and Development
Any feedback on the
current design?!
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Empowered Living, Working and Learning
• Empowered Working:
• Mental Resilience
• Security incident social network
• Empowered Living:
• Voice based mobile technology to reach illiterates
• Empowered Learning:
• [email protected], new media for children in War
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
VOICES
Example development
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Example relief
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
[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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
“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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
“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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
From open data to open development
• Open development
• Open data
• Examples
• Open data and earth observation
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Open data
“The comprehensive availability and accessibility of development flow
information in a timely and comparable manner that allows public
participation in government accountability”
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Open data in raw format
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Example efficiency + collaboration + transparency (UN OCHA)
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Example efficiency + transparency (Worldbank)
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Other leads…External transparency and accountability (NGO/MinDevAid)
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
External transparency and accountability (NGO sector)
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Open data in combination with earth observation
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Monitoring internal displacement Harare, Zimbabwe
© UNOSAT (2005)
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Monitoring internal displacement Harare, Zimbabwe
Quickbird 25 August 2004
Quickbird 2 August 2005
© DigitalGlobe, Inc. (2004, 2005)
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
Monitoring IDP camps Darfur
© CNES (2004)
© Imagesat International (2004)
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012
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, 21032012
Marc van den Homberg, 21032012Questions?? Ideas?
Jump in!
Feel free to contact me at:
Marc van den Homberg+31 6 [email protected]