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.

Humanitarian Technology Adoption Case Study

Technology-enabled Cash and Voucher Assistance

Hampton Toole, Pauline Paillé, Chryssa Politi, Jacob Ohrvik-Stott

ResearchPublished Oct 17, 2024

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.

To supplement initial project activities, the study team also developed two case studies focusing on specific technology areas that have already been adopted in the humanitarian sector. These topics were explored during workshops with a wide range of stakeholders.

This document explores the adoption of technology-enabled cash and voucher assistance (CVA) within the humanitarian sector, including factors or pre-conditions that have contributed to the development of these systems. These encompass the development of adjacent technologies, governance and risks, digital capacity and norms, and funding and collaboration.

Key Findings

  • The development of adjacent technologies has enabled the adoption of CVA in the humanitarian sector. These include, for example, closed-loop payment systems and application programming interfaces (APIs).
  • Cultural contexts and practices of local communities are likely to act either as an enabler or a barrier to the adoption of CVA, including: the use of physical cash, digital literacy or the impact of external events (e.g. the Covid-19 pandemic).
  • There are increased risks associated with data protection or data privacy that can hamper the adoption of CVA. Norms and regulations (e.g. GDPR) can help address some of these risks.
  • CVA is good example of multi-stakeholder collaboration and cooperation in the humanitarian sector, including donors and funders as well as practitioners.

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Document Details

Citation

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Toole, Hampton, Pauline Paillé, Chryssa Politi, and Jacob Ohrvik-Stott, Humanitarian Technology Adoption Case Study: Technology-enabled Cash and Voucher Assistance, RAND Corporation, RR-A3192-5, 2024. As of April 30, 2025: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3192-5.html

Chicago Manual of Style

Toole, Hampton, Pauline Paillé, Chryssa Politi, and Jacob Ohrvik-Stott, Humanitarian Technology Adoption Case Study: Technology-enabled Cash and Voucher Assistance. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2024. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3192-5.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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