Data that has been ‘crowd sourced’ – taken from a huge number of people at once rather than gathered individually by a central agency – can provide a vital help in co-ordinating the response of disasters or conflict and has become a crucial part of disaster management, but aid agencies are failing to take advantage of the new technology available.

The new report by the Vodafone Foundation and UN Foundation partnership suggests examples of new technologies that when used correctly by agencies can help to save lives, but also states that many aid agencies are failing to use the tools.

The partnership is a five year plan focusing on technological aid aspects and highlights products that are both already being used to good potential or could be useful when used properly.

Adele Waugaman, spokesperson for the Foundation said:

“In the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, there’s been a lot of appreciation of the need for improved early warning systems using technology.”

Tools like Ushahidi which combines text messaging and Google maps had already seen use in the aftermath of the 2007 Kenyan elections as well as in Colombia, the Congo and Afghanistan.

There’s also FrontlineSMS which can broadcast emerging information via SMS to anyone in the region who has a working mobile signal. Such easy to access and disseminate information could be vital in a crisis, although it could also be used to spread false information, too.

Diane Coyle, author of the report and economist said:

“The top-down and centralised nature of aid agencies fails to take advantage of the potential offered by the technologies. It’s really quite a different approach from what they’ve done traditionally, which is that when there’s an emergency”


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