Humanitarian Data Toolkit Provides Off-the-Shelf Solution to Assess Information Needs
To help humanitarian responders to quickly gather, analyze, and act upon data during a crisis, Humanitarian Data Toolkit a physical box of tools and a ready-to-go research design that can be rapidly implemented anywhere, has recently been piloted. The toolkit was created through collaboration with the Internews Center for Innovation and Learning, academic partner Modi Research Labs, Columbia University, and tech company Captricity.
In a crisis, Internews works to improve the availability of accurate information for affected communities, and to open up channels for two-way communication between those affected and those providing aid. The first step to establishing strong information systems is understanding the current information needs of the population.
The toolkit includes software, a survey, training materials for interviewers, and an established research methodology for use in the midst of a crisis. It contains all the necessary equipment and software to conduct an information needs assessment: mobile smartphones with survey software, with paper and pencil surveys as a backup, a computer with data aggregation software, and other equipment, all in a portable box.
An open design competition is currently underway to design the physical container of the toolkit. The goal of the competition is to redesign the Humanitarian Data Toolkit (HDT) system for rapid deployment into crisis locations, such as natural disaster and conflict situations. The toolkit must be simple to carry, assemble, and use by Internews employees and other humanitarian responders. The design competition, Summer of Design, is run by the Design Thinking DC Meetup.
The toolkit itself is flexible; each team can decide whether to use mobile phones or paper to conduct surveys. If both are used, the paper surveys are scanned and the system combines the digitized data with data collected on mobile phones to create one dataset. The toolkit does not require internet access to collect or aggregate data with mobile phones. It includes a solar panel in case the electricity source is unreliable. Standard surveys, research methodology, and training manuals are included; a standardized rapid data analysis system is planned for later iterations.
The toolkit was launched under a Lean Startup Model, which provides a rapid, efficient approach to creating and managing startups and gets a desired product to users' hands faster. Other organizations are welcome to use the methodology, create their own toolkit, and improve upon it. The survey collection and aggregation software is open source, and a list of materials for the toolkit is freely available.
A recently released report documents a test of the effectiveness of the toolkit for an information needs assessment in Dadaab, Kenya. It was found that the toolkit enables the quick execution of an information needs assessment, keeping user error to a minimum during the data collection and that it provides backup measures in case of equipment failure, lack of internet access, or insufficient electricity.