12 July 2018
Roundtable on Humanitarian Technology and Innovation: Critical Questions and Implications for Southeast Asia
Executive Summary
The Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Programme of RSIS’s Centre of Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre) hosted a roundtable on 11th June. It discussed the critical questions that have arisen since humanitarian technology and innovation became a dedicated focus of the aid sector approximately ten years ago. The first panel – comprising speakers from academia and the aid sector –raised three unintended side-effects stemming from the rapid adoption of new technologies in humanitarianism. The second was the particular challenge of privacy when collecting data in conflict or disaster settings, both of which can render data acutely sensitive in ways that do not apply in ordinary contexts. The third challenge noted how new technologies are being deployed by civil society disaster response actors in China in a way that challenges government monopolies on emergency action. This introduces a novel, technology-based tension into the relationship between aid and politics. The roundtable successfully brought together a cross-section of stakeholders to share their experiences and contribute to the dialogue on the implications new technologies and innovation have for humanitarian action.
Executive Summary
The Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Programme of RSIS’s Centre of Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre) hosted a roundtable on 11th June. It discussed the critical questions that have arisen since humanitarian technology and innovation became a dedicated focus of the aid sector approximately ten years ago. The first panel – comprising speakers from academia and the aid sector –raised three unintended side-effects stemming from the rapid adoption of new technologies in humanitarianism. The second was the particular challenge of privacy when collecting data in conflict or disaster settings, both of which can render data acutely sensitive in ways that do not apply in ordinary contexts. The third challenge noted how new technologies are being deployed by civil society disaster response actors in China in a way that challenges government monopolies on emergency action. This introduces a novel, technology-based tension into the relationship between aid and politics. The roundtable successfully brought together a cross-section of stakeholders to share their experiences and contribute to the dialogue on the implications new technologies and innovation have for humanitarian action.
