Using emerging technologies in the humanitarian sector

Photo by Suraj Ratna Shakya for USAID / CC BY 2.0.

What is the issue?

Climate change, protracted and complex conflicts, and increased fragility are all contributing to an increased need in humanitarian assistance and protection. The pressure on the humanitarian sector is likely to continue to increase over the coming years, while the human resources available will remain limited.

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. However, the potential adoption and use of emerging technologies has remained limited to isolated issues or small-scale initiatives.

The variety of challenges and stakeholders that comprise the humanitarian sector create numerous capacity, knowledge, ethical or financial constraints to the utilisation of new and emerging technologies.

How did we help?

This Foresight Initiative was developed by RAND Europe together with Athena Infonomics and glass.ai, with support from the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH), and was funded by UK International Development.

The project had three objectives:

Understand and define trends in the adoption and use of emerging technologies within the humanitarian sector.
Identify key emerging technologies that could strengthen humanitarian practice through an online survey.
Envisage a future research and innovation journey for the identified key emerging technologies.

To fulfil these goals, the study was divided into three phases. During the first scoping phase the study team conducted key informant interviews, targeted desk research, horizon scanning and web reading to assess the current use of emerging technologies in the humanitarian sector. Based on this initial assessment, the study team then deployed a survey and organised workshops with humanitarian stakeholders under the second phase of the project. These activities were supplemented by additional desk research, LinkedIn polls and validation interviews to select five promising technology areas. In the third and final phase of the project, the study team conducted an in-depth review of preliminary findings and conducted additional targeted desk research and key informant interviews to develop the future research and innovation journey, in the form of three foresight concepts.

What did we find?

Emerging technologies have often been explored in the humanitarian sector through small scale pilot projects, testing their application in a specific context with limited opportunities to replicate the testing across various contexts. The level of familiarity and knowledge of technological development varies across the specific types of humanitarian activities undertaken and technology areas considered.

The study team identified five promising technology areas for the humanitarian sector that could be further explored out to 2030:

Advanced manufacturing systems are likely to offer humanitarians opportunities to produce resources and tools in an operating environment characterised by scarcity, the rise of simultaneous crises, and exposure to more intense and severe climate events.
Early Warning Systems are likely to support preparedness and response efforts across the humanitarian sector while multifactorial crises are likely to arise.
Camp monitoring systems are likely to support efforts not only to address security risks, but also support planning and management activities of sites or the health and wellbeing of displaced populations.
Coordination platforms are likely to enhance data collection and information-sharing across various humanitarian stakeholders for the development of timely and bespoke crisis response.
Privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) can support ongoing efforts to comply with increased data privacy and data protection requirements in a humanitarian operating environment in which data collection will remain necessary.

Beyond these five technology areas, the study team also considered three innovation journey opportunities:

The establishment of a technology horizon scanning coalition
Visioning for emerging technologies in crisis recovery
An emerging technology narrative initiative.

To accompany the deployment of specific technologies in the humanitarian sector, the study team also developed a four-step approach aimed to identify specific guidance needs for end-users and humanitarian practitioners.