RAND Europe, with Athena Infonomics and glass.ai, conducted a study that characterised the current landscape of technology use in the sector and explored potential development pathways out to 2030, as well as associated risks and opportunities. The study developed five deep dives of promising technology areas, three foresight concepts and a four-step guidance framework to ensure the suitable deployment of technologies in humanitarian contexts.

Opportunities for supporting humanitarians

Technology foresight concepts

Pauline Paillé, James Besse, Hampton Toole, Chryssa Politi, Shruti Viswanathan, Eunice Namirembe, Jyoti Nayak, Jacob Ohrvik-Stott

ResearchPublished Oct 17, 2024

In an international context where simultaneous crises arise, due to conflicts, fragility or climate change, humanitarian needs continue to increase rapidly. In the meantime, resources remain limited, therefore, the pressure on the humanitarian sector is expected to continue to rise over the coming years.

To help address this challenge, ongoing efforts have been initiated to increase efficiency and shift towards the adoption of a forward-thinking standpoint within the humanitarian sector.

In this context, RAND Europe, in partnership with Athena Infonomics and glass.ai, conducted a study exploring the adoption and use of emerging technologies (excluding AI solutions) and to explore opportunities for future responsible adoption of technologies. The research was funded by the United Kingdom Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH) as part of their Foresight Initiative.

The document presents three humanitarian technology foresight concepts: (i) the establishment of a technology horizon scanning coalition; (ii) visioning for emerging technologies in crisis recovery; and (iii) an emerging technology narrative initiative. Each of these concepts include some of the activities and tools that could be developed over a nine-month timeframe and that could include a wide range of technologies in different locations.

Key Findings

  • Foresight methods present humanitarian stakeholders with an opportunity to develop a forward-looking mindset while their operating environment is increasingly characterised with uncertainly and simultaneous crises. Rather, these methods help explore the uncertain character of the future to inform decision-making processes.
  • Foresight methods that also integrate emerging technologies could enable humanitarian actors to keep track of sectoral developments and initiatives at present or to look into potential developments over the longer-term, for example within a five-year time horizon.
  • Building upon all project activities and insights gathered by the study team, each of the three concepts was developed across four types of factors, including: considerations relating to the audiences or intended users as well as the benefits they may gain from the concept (audiences and objectives); relations and engagement with other organisations, including at the local level (partnerships); the novel or disrupting nature of the concept compared to existing practice in the sector (integration with current practices), and potential ethical concerns or issues that may arise (ethical considerations).

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Paillé, Pauline, James Besse, Hampton Toole, Chryssa Politi, Shruti Viswanathan, Eunice Namirembe, Jyoti Nayak, and Jacob Ohrvik-Stott, Opportunities for supporting humanitarians: Technology foresight concepts, RAND Corporation, RR-A3192-4, 2024. As of May 1, 2025: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3192-4.html

Chicago Manual of Style

Paillé, Pauline, James Besse, Hampton Toole, Chryssa Politi, Shruti Viswanathan, Eunice Namirembe, Jyoti Nayak, and Jacob Ohrvik-Stott, Opportunities for supporting humanitarians: Technology foresight concepts. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2024. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3192-4.html.
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This project was commissioned by the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH) and funded by UK International Development. The research was conducted RAND Europe.

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