Striking a Balance: Disaster Responder's and Affected Communities' Interests in New Technologies

Abstract

This report explores how to balance the needs of disaster responders and those of the disaster-affected when using emerging technologies. It draws on 10 semi-structured interviews conducted in Manila, Philippines in August 2018 with purposefully selected interlocutors representing both government and non-government sectors. The outcomes of those interviews were then discussed with humanitarian workers in Japan in September 2018 to gain a comparative perspective between a developing and a developed economy, both of which routinely experience significant disasters. This policy report relays the findings of the research and, where appropriate, situates those findings within broader debates in the literature on humanitarian innovation. It then provides some policy recommendations based on those situated findings.