15 October 2021
- RSIS
- Publication
- External Publications
- Humanitarian Technology: What’s in a Name?
Humanitarian Technology: What’s in a Name?
Abstract:
Humanitarian technology, or HUMTECH, refers to technologies developed and used in the humanitarian sector, for the purpose of improving the quality of prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery, and rebuilding efforts in humanitarian emergencies. While technology has always been used to facilitate more effective humanitarian action, there is still a lot of confusion over what exactly constitutes humanitarian technology. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and drones are the most cited examples, but that is just the tip of the HUMTECH iceberg. HUMTECH can be broken down into hardware such as drones, modular shelters, robots; or software such as data collection systems, biometric identification programmes, and blockchain-components. It is important for humanitarian actors to assess how these components fit into the current humanitarian landscape, and mitigate any unwanted side effects.
Link used with permission from the World Scientific.
Abstract:
Humanitarian technology, or HUMTECH, refers to technologies developed and used in the humanitarian sector, for the purpose of improving the quality of prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery, and rebuilding efforts in humanitarian emergencies. While technology has always been used to facilitate more effective humanitarian action, there is still a lot of confusion over what exactly constitutes humanitarian technology. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and drones are the most cited examples, but that is just the tip of the HUMTECH iceberg. HUMTECH can be broken down into hardware such as drones, modular shelters, robots; or software such as data collection systems, biometric identification programmes, and blockchain-components. It is important for humanitarian actors to assess how these components fit into the current humanitarian landscape, and mitigate any unwanted side effects.
Link used with permission from the World Scientific.
