Download - Standby Task Force
Introducing the Standby Volunteer
Task Force: An Online Community for Live
Crisis Mapping
Anahi Ayala Iacucci
International Network of Crisis Mappers
January 12, 2010: Haiti
•At 16:53 local time a catastrophic earthquake magnitude 7.0 Mw hit the island of Haiti•52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater follow the earthquake •316,000 people died•300,000 injured•1,000,000 homeless
14th Jan: Flecther SchoolCredit Patrick Meier
Credit: Rob Munro
All around the world
Ushaidi Haiti
Credit Patrick Meier
February 27, 2010: Chile
•At 03:34 local time, a earthquake rating a magnitude of 8.8 and lasting up to 3 minutes hit Chile•The earthquake triggered a tsunami which devastated several coastal towns in south-central Chile•By March 6, more than 130 aftershocks had been registered, including thirteen above magnitude 6.0•723 people were reported killed•Nearly half the places in the country were declared "catastrophe zones", and curfews were imposed in some areas of looting and public disorder
29th Feb: SIPA, Columbia University
Ushahidi Chile
July 2010: Pakistan
•The 2010 Pakistan floods began in late July 2010 following heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan regions of Pakistan and affected the Indus River basin•Approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's total land area underwater •20 million people directly affected•death toll close to 2,000•More than 500,000 people displaced from their homes in the first month
CROWDFLOWER
PakReport
The crowd is always there…and it is ready to help!
Why wait for an emergency to happen?
An Online Community for Live Crisis Mapping: The Standby Volunteer Task Force
Launched at the International Crisis Mappers Conference in October 2010
Over 150 skilled volunteers with dedicated experience in online Crisis Mapping from 17 different countries
Only working with open, non-proprietary data
Specific protocols for organizations seeking to activate the online volunteer community
Specific criteria for the Task Force to decide whether or not to accept a request
Decentralized horizontal network of volunteers acting on the base of a code of conduct
What is Crisis Mapping?
Crisis Mapping is composed four key components:
1. Information collection
2. Visualization
3. Analysis
4. Response
1. Information collectionMedia Monitoring Team -Monitors
online media for relevant reports.
SMS Team -Monitors incoming SMS from already existing feed.
Verification Team – Triangulates reports from the Media and SMS Teams
2. VisualizationTranslation Team – Translates Media and
SMS reports from/to English.
Geo-Location Team – Finds GPS coordinates for Media and SMS report.
Report Team – Categorize and approve reports after they have been translated and geo-located
Technology Team – Responsible for all technical tasks
3. Analisys
Analysis Team -Provides summary reports based on the incoming data
Analysis Mapping Team – will provide PDF maps, printable maps and GIS maps for the teams in the field
4. ResponseHumanitarian Team – Comprises
existing professional humanitarians who liaise between the Task Force and humanitarian organizations.
OCHA Colombia Simulation
On November 2010 UNOCHA (United Nation’s Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) Colombia requested the participation of the Standby Task Force in the earthquake simulation exercise in order to test the ability of the crisis mapping volunteer network to participate and contribute to the emergency operations.
Cuerpo Oficial de Bomberos de Bogotá (Bogotá Fire Department) –Urban Search and Rescue Operations (USAR)
UNOCHA Colombia – United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Genève/INSARAG – International Search and Rescue Advisory Group
UNDAC – United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination
OSOCC – On-Site Operations Coordination Center, where UNDAC coordinates every USAR tasks
UNETE – United Nations Emergency Team consisting of UN agencies, ICRC and other humanitarian actors
Bogota Mayor and national governmental bodies
Red Salvavidas – www.redsalvavidas.org
InSTEDD – www.instedd.org
45 volunteers participated in the simulation
200 reports were geo-located, translated and categorized over the course of 2 days
3 Situation Reports were created for UNETE
Several Maps for rescue teams were created under the request of the teams in the field
“For me, as an SBTF Member, it was a cool experience to test the coordination abilities of a highly professional SBTF team, but as a UNOCHA Information Officer, it was magical to experience the support for humanitarian workers by committed volunteers. I am seeing all this like a big step forward on building better and more coordinated and structured ways.
- Luis Hernando Aguilar – Information Management Officer, UNOCHA Colombia
Why the Standby Task Force?
People will use any available channel of communication to share and communicate their situation during crisis.
The online crisis mapping volunteer community has an unique opportunity to become a facilitator in this process that can help to turn these conversations into data that are actionable for the humanitarian responders, both local and international.
The volunteer crisis mapping community can respond to the demand of the traditional humanitarian responders who seek the ways to more effectively incorporate the community generated data into their standard operating procedures.
The volunteer crisis mapping community can respond to the demand of the traditional humanitarian responders who seek the ways to more effectively incorporate the community generated data into their standard operating procedures.
Online Communities for Live Crisis Mapping like the Standby Volunteers Task Force CAN make the difference in the humanitarian landscape to bring to more effective and accountable communication with crisis affected communities in disaster response.
The question is not whether the community generated communication is useful or not, the question is HOW to make it useful.
The answer?
STANDBY VOLUNTEER TASK FORCE
To become a member apply at http://blog.standbytaskforce.com
or contact [email protected]
THANK YOU!