Emerging Technology

There has been much promise of greater impact to strengthen humanitarian responses through the adoption and utilisation of new technologies. However, there are limited practical examples of technologies being taken up and integrated systematically by humanitarian actors, and fewer still resulting in significant and sustainable improvement at scale.  

Our research on emerging technology aims to review the current and emerging technology landscape and opportunity space within the humanitarian sector. It will identify the process by which these technologies are coming to the fore to tackle challenges and define trends in adoption and use of emerging technologies by humanitarian actors.  

Using a problem-led approach to technology and innovation, we can inform the design of the foresight initiative to more robustly plan for, assess, and adopt innovative technologies in response to future humanitarian priorities.  

Foresight Initiative

The Foresight Initiative was developed by RAND Europe together with Athena Infonomics and glass.ai.

The project had three objectives:

1. Understand and define trends in the adoption and use of emerging technologies within the humanitarian sector.
2. Identify key emerging technologies that could strengthen humanitarian practice through an online survey.
3. Envisage a future research and innovation journey for the identified key emerging technologies.

The study was conducted in three phases to assess the use of emerging technologies in the humanitarian sector. In the first phase, key informant interviews, desk research, and web analysis were used to understand current trends. The second phase involved a survey, workshops, and LinkedIn polls to identify five promising technology areas. Finally, the team reviewed initial findings and conducted further research to develop three foresight concepts for future innovation.

Five deep dive areas

The study team identified five promising technology areas for the humanitarian sector that could be further explored:

• Advanced manufacturing systems are likely to offer humanitarians opportunities to produce resources and tools in an operating environment characterised by scarcity, the rise of simultaneous crises, and exposure to more intense and severe climate events.
• Early Warning Systems are likely to support preparedness and response efforts across the humanitarian sector while multifactorial crises are likely to arise.
• Camp monitoring systems are likely to support efforts not only to address security risks, but also support planning and management activities of sites or the health and wellbeing of displaced populations.
• Coordination platforms are likely to enhance data collection and information-sharing across various humanitarian stakeholders for the development of timely and bespoke crisis response.
• Privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) can support ongoing efforts to comply with increased data privacy and data protection requirements in a humanitarian operating environment in which data collection will remain necessary.

Please contact us if you would like to find out more about the development of this work.