Humanitarian innovation
April 15, 2016
144 min read
This edition of Humanitarian Exchange, co-edited with ELRHA Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF) manager Kim Scriven, focuses on innovation in the humanitarian sector.
- Kim Scriven provides an overview of the rising interest in and funding for innovation, while highlighting what more needs to be done to improve the evidence base, relocate capacity and develop guidance.
- In her article, Alice Obrecht proposes three success criteria for innovation based on case studies of HIF-funded innovation projects.
- Nathaniel A. Raymond and Casey S. Harrity argue for clear ethnical and technical doctrine to guide the use of technology innovation.
- Rahel Dette and Julia Steets explore the role of technology in monitoring aid in insecure environments.
- Monica Zikusooka and colleagues report on using technology to conduct simulated field visits in Somalia.
- Karen Kisakeni Sørensen highlights the challenges of innovating in the midst of armed conflict in her article on the use of technology in mine action in Ukraine.
- Andrew Schroeder and Patrick Meier explore the opportunities and challenges posed by robotics.
- Josiah Kaplan and Evan Easton-Calabria look at the opportunities and hazards of military innovation for the humanitarian sector.
- Ben Ramalingam shares lessons on innovation in the Nepal earthquake response.
- Elizabeth Gilmour discusses crowd-sourced mapping during the Nepal earthquake response.
- Ronak Patel and Mihir Bhatt discuss a small-business micro-insurance programme in India.
- Robert Hakiza and Evan Easton-Calabria elaborate on their research into urban micro-finance programmes run by refugees in Uganda.
- Caetano Dorea describes the development of a new water filtration product.
- Eric James and Laura James explore the potential of 3D printing of humanitarian supplies in the field.
- Paul Currion offers personal reflection on the rise and decline of Humanitarian Information Centres (HICs).
Issue 66 articles
1. Humanitarian innovation and the art of the possible
The issue of innovation in humanitarian response has risen up the humanitarian policy agenda with remarkable speed. Recent years have…
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7. Automation for the people: opportunities and challenges of humanitarian robotics
On a crisp late-September morning in Panga, Nepal, just outside Kathmandu, a small aerial robot, the DJI Phantom 3, floats…
April 20, 2016
12. (Loan) cycles of innovation: researching refugee-run micro-finance
Refugees across the global South are increasingly choosing to venture into cities rather than staying in camps. Currently, approximately half…
April 20, 2016
13. Innovating humanitarian emergency water supply: the Clarifier Kit for Emergencies
Emergency water treatment kits are often designed to favour water quality over the quantity produced. While quality is important, water…
April 20, 2016
14. 3D printing humanitarian supplies in the field
Anyone working in the field long enough will have experienced the frustration of failed supply chains, the backbone of all…
April 20, 2016
15. The life and death of an innovation lab: a personal reflection
At the end of 2015 I stepped down from the Grants Advisory Panel of the Humanitarian Innovation Fund. The Panel…
April 20, 2016
