DIHAD conference and exhibition commences in its second day with participation from key international humanitarians

On the sidelines of the event, the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations Foundation and Vodafone Foundation released today at the Dubai International humanitarian Aid and Development Conference (DIHAD) a landmark publication examining how technology is reshaping the information landscape in which aid groups respond to sudden onset emergencies.

The report, Disaster Relief 2.0: The Future of information sharing in Humanitarian Emergencies, analyses how the humanitarian community and the emerging volunteer and technical communities worked together in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and recommends ways to improve coordination between them in future emergencies.

"the challenges is to improve coordination between the structured humanitarian system and the relatively loosely organized volunteer and technical communities. This report illustrates a potential ways forward" said Valerie Amos, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. "Without direct collaboration with humanitarian organizations, volunteer and technical communities run the risk of mapping the needs without being able to make sure that these needs can be met" she stressed.

Written by a team of researchers led by John Crowly at the Harvard humanitarian Initiative, the report is based on interviews with more than 40 technology and humanitarian experts, many of whom responded to the devastating January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The report identifies best practice and lessons learned from the Haiti operation; makes recommendations to strengthen coordination between the humanitarian and technology communities; and proposes a draft framework for institutionalizing this collaboration.

Kathy Calvin, CEO of the UN Foundation, welcomed the report saying "Humanitarian crises from Libya to Japan remind us that fast and accurate information is imperative in effective emergency response efforts. Today's increased access to collaborative technologies and networks presents and important innovation milestone and an opportunity to rethink how data about urgent humanitarian needs are gathered, proceed and shared. We are pleased to partner with OCHA in making this research available to advance this discussion and decision-making about the future if humanitarian aid.