Operations and support ~ operational support

 

 

Summary

 

It is nearly impossible to work in the difficult environment of a complex emergency without support from organizational headquarters. This is true for all large organizations, and no less true for field-based ICT projects such as those described above. A number of initiatives have been created specifically to provide this type of support in terms of expertise and resources, using additional ICT capacities to provide technical support to projects in remote locations, as well as more general ongoing forums for specific areas such as GIS and logistics.

 

Excerpt from The Role of ICT in Preventing, Responding to and Recovering from Conflict, published by the ICT4Peace Foundation.

 

 

Resources

 

The Geographic Information Support Team (GIST)

https://gist.itos.uga.edu/index.asp is a US-funded collaboration among a number of governmental and intergovernmental organizations, with OCHA acting as the secretariat. The GIST works to improve humanitarian response through the improved information flow and presentation, provide a forum for geographic and geo-referenced information and data exchange amongst humanitarian response agencies and donors, and develop and promote the use of techniques and standards to enhance data and information coordination and exchange.

 

Humanitarian Information Unit (HIU)

http://www.state.gov/s/inr/hiu.

 

ReliefGuide

http://www.reliefguide.com is an Internet platform that brings together buyers and sellers of relief-relevant products and services to promote deal making. It includes an interactive list of sellers organized by categories and has a facility to make public tenders.

 

Global Hand

http://www.globalhand.org works in a similar way, but operates on a request basis, aiming to match requirements of organizations (and potentially communities) in the field with private donors.

 

AidMatrix

http://www.aidmatrix.org is a non-profit that seeks to build partnerships to bring items such as food, clothing, building supplies, medical and educational supplies to people in need during the time of need.

 

Humanitarian Information Unit (HIU)

http://www.state.gov/s/inr/hiu/

 

The mission of the Humanitarian Information Unit (HIU) is to serve as a U.S. Government interagency center to identify, collect, analyze, and disseminate unclassified information critical to U.S. Government decision-makers and partners in preparation for and response to humanitarian emergencies worldwide, and to promote best practices for humanitarian information management.

 

To accomplish this mission, the HIU performs the following tasks:

 

• Identifies key sources of geospatial and georeferenced data best suited to meet the information requirements of our consumers;
• Collects timely, verifiable, and relevant data utilizing an extensive network of information partnerships;
• Analyzes data using multi-agency expertise and applying proven technologies to determine significant trends and relationships; and
• Disseminates information of value to all levels of consumers, from national-level policymakers to operational field managers.

   

The HIU is part of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and receives oversight from a U.S. Government interagency Executive Steering Committee. Its staff  is composed of personnel from the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Defense, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). 

 

UNOSAT

http://unosat.web.cern.ch/unosat/

 

 

UNOSAT is the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme, implemented in co-operation with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

 

UNOSAT is a people-centred programme delivering satellite solutions to relief and development organisations within and outside the UN system to help make a difference in the life of communities exposed to poverty, hazards and risk, or affected by humanitarian and other crises. People-centred means that we operate keeping in sight the beneficiary needs at the end of the process.

 

The UNOSAT core team consists of UN fieldworkers as well as satellite imagery experts, geographers, geologists, development experts, database programmers and internet communication specialists. This unique combination gives us the ability to understand the needs of our users and to provide them with suitable, tailored solutions anywhere at any time.

 

UNOSAT created an extended network of public and private partners, and collaborates with the majority of UN agencies, space agencies and several international initiatives active in satellite technologies field. Created initially to exploit fully the potential of satellite earth observation, UNOSAT has developed skills in additional technical areas such as satellite navigation and telecommunications and is today looking into the future of integrated solutions.

 

Our mission is to deliver integrated satellite-based solutions for human security, peace and socio-economic development, in keeping with the mandate given to UNITAR by the UN General Assembly since 1963. Our goal is to make satellite solutions and geographic information easily accessible to the UN family and to experts worldwide who work at reducing the impact of crises and disasters and plan sustainable development.

 

AAAS Science and Human Rights Program | Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights

http://shr.aaas.org/geotech

 

The AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, with funding from the MacArthur Foundation, the  Oak Foundation, and the Open Society Institute, is working to expand the applications of geospatial technologies to human rights issues through its Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project. Geospatial technologies include a range of modern tools, such as satellite images, geographic information systems (GIS), and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) that allow for mapping and analysis of multiple layers of georeferenced data. Analysis of such data can provide critical information on the impact of remote, isolated conflicts on civilians, environmental and social justice issues, indigenous rights, and more. Geospatial technologies can broaden the ability of non-governmental organizations to rapidly gather, analyze, and disseminate authoritative information, especially during times of crisis. They can also provide compelling, visual proof to corroborate on-the-ground reporting of conflicts and natural disasters affecting human rights.

 

SHRP partners with other human rights organizations to provide them with technical assistance in using geospatial technologies to strengthen advocacy campaigns, support legal cases, and enhance response coordination and prevention efforts. A brief background document, "What can geospatial technologies do for the human rights community?" details how geospatial technologies may assist human rights work. This website provides descriptions of case studies, methods in use, and other geospatial technology resources for human rights organizations.

 

Info Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action 

http://www.ithaca.polito.it

 

ITHACA - Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action - is a non-profit association, founded in November 2006 by the Politecnico of Torino and the Higher Institute on Innovation Territorial Systems (Si.T.I.). It is located in the Politecnico of Torino campus.

 

Through its partnership with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) - the world's largest operational humanitarian agency - ITHACA is envisioned as a centre of applied research developing IT products and services in support of humanitarian activities. ITHACA is dedicated to scientific research, delivering methodologies, analytical services and technical tools which improve the capacity of WFP and the wider International community in humanitarian early warning, early impact assessment and other related areas. The initiative was realized thanks to the support of the Politecnico di Torino, specifically with DITAG - the Land, Environment and Geo-Engineering Department - and other partners such as public and private research centers, societies operating in the aerospace and telecommunications fields and other companies supplying territorial data. ITHACA’s operational team is composed of experts from the academic, industrial and scientific environments.

 

Geo-Spatial Info Analysis for Global Security, Stability Program

http://isferea.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Pages/default.aspx

 

In the field of conflict studies, automated data processing for relevant information extraction is essential to process the huge amounts of data being collected on countries and political groups. Automated quantitative information analysis can support political decision makers to make timely evaluations of the risk of severe crises. Such tools are more and more required in the framework of early warning systems to support political decision makers in making timely evaluations of the risk of severe crises. We aim to provide a scientifically sound approach to build a statistical model to assess quantitatively the risk of intra-state armed conflict on the global level. Particular attention is paid to the operationalization of the approach in early situation assessment. The first phase concentrated to modelling the risk of armed internal conflict using structural indicators like economic indicators (GDP, GDP growth, exports and imports), demographic and societal indicators (total population, population density, school enrollment, social fractionalization, etc.), political indicators (regime type and duration, involvement in international organizations, peace duration, etc.) and environmental factors (spatial dispersion of the population, mountainous terrain, forest cover, etc.).