Transcript
Mobile Collaboration for Disaster Response
Problems, Methods, and Tools
Robert KirkpatrickChief Technology Officer
We create free and open-source software
for collaboration toward collective action.
We then teach other people how to create it for themselves.
Some of the most pertinent questions in disaster response…are collaboration questions
What information
isn’t getting to
those who need
it?
Which groups should be
making more decisions together?
What field reports and alerts
should come faster?
Which systems
need to share
information?
In our opinion, collaboration, in humanitarian action is THE critical task
Refugee management
Cholera outbreak
Katrina response
What ought to happen every time:
1. Diverse organizations self-organize temporarily into a coherent whole.
2. Information flows freely, reliably, and securely.
3. Information flows up, down, and sideways.
4. Information flows across geographic, cultural, technical, and organizational boundaries
5. Information shared is timely, accurate, complete, relevant, and credible.
6. All actors -- including those in the field, in the community, at the edge of the network – maintain a common operating picture.
7. The response is agile, coordinated, efficient, and effective.
Challenges in crisis collaboration• Harsh field conditions
• Slow, unreliable networks
• Hot, tired, busy, scared users
• Disincentives for cooperation
• Unsuitable platforms
• Slow and inaccurate data collection
• Lack of tools for information sharing
• Low signal-to-noise ratio
• How to include the local community?
The role of collaboration technology• Problem
– Agencies can’t (or won’t) collaborate effectively in crisis.
• Observation– Technical obstacles are an easy scapegoat and are frequently used
as an excuse for not working together.
• Hypothesis– Mutual recognition that there is a new class of software that is
effective, free, standards-based, easy to use, sustainable, measurable, and flexible…will change the rules of the game.
• Approach– We’ve built four free and open-source tools as prototypes for
improved collaboration in crisis. They fill gaps we identified.
• Implementation – beta evaluation in progress with all four in Southeast Asia
We think this is what collaboration requires…(…and we hope you have already built much of this.)
We work on several principles…
• Participatory design
• Agile development
• Build only where we must
• Internal capacity first
• Teach innovation
Innovation LabPhnom Penh
Stung Treng Province, Cambodia: SMS is the only option…
Mesh4X: a data-mesh synchronization platform:bring together tools, services, data, and people in a collaborative network
•Cross-device
•Cross-platform
•Cross-application
•Redundant
•Socially-neutral
•Standards-based
•Works offline
•HTTP and SMS
•Hibernate, KML, and JavaRosa
Linking early detection to rapid response:from a faint signal to collective action
Merge &
Analyze
- Collective understanding- Response initiation
Immediate analysis & decision support
Peer-to-peer information sharing and collaboration
Informed collectiveaction
Real-time exchange of information
Mesh4X and Forms on Mobile Phones
• Collect information in the field
• Press “sync”
• The information on the phone can be linked by Mesh4x and SMS to:
– spreadsheets
– databases
– Google Earth
– And to anywhere in the world
GeoChat: Emergent Awareness
GeoChat Preview Features
1. Group chat on a map surface
2. Via SMS, email, or browser
3. Int’l gateway +45 60 99 10 321
4. Twitter integration
5. SMS command interface
6. Automatic geo-coding
7. Supports location and tags
8. Public or private chat groups
9. Optional anonymity
10. RSS feed relay over SMS
Example command syntax
Reflections for discussion
Mobiles play a critical but partial role in crisis management.
Successful mobile collaboration solutions for crisis management will have broad utility in other settings and markets.
As with all disaster technology, interoperability trumps features. Pay attention to ease of data access and data integration when shopping.
Broad adoption and daily use are key, so look at other scenarios.
Issues: anonymity vs. verifiability, authentication, authorization, data retention.
Thoughts?
Robert KirkpatrickCTO, InSTEDDhttp://www.instedd.org+1 650 796 5709kirkpatrick@instedd.orgSkype: robertkirkpatrick
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