About the Journal
About the Journal
Editorial Board
Scientific Council
Reviewers
Ethical Code
Special Issue
GDRP - information on the processing of personal data
Terms of the journal
Indexing
Licenses & Access
Archive
For Authors
Publishing Policy
Technical instruction for the authors
Agreement CC BY-SA
Copyright statement
Publication procedure
Contact
About the Journal
About the Journal
Editorial Board
Scientific Council
Reviewers
Ethical Code
Special Issue
GDRP - information on the processing of personal data
Terms of the journal
Indexing
Licenses & Access
REVIEW PAPER
Digital technologies in the global humanitarian sector: A case study of Ukraine
1
Ignatianum University; Jagiellonian University
Submission date: 2024-04-05
Final revision date: 2024-12-20
Acceptance date: 2024-12-23
Publication date: 2024-12-29
JoMS 2024;60(6):730-743
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
A critical approach regarding the potential for side effects associated with the use of digital technologies in the humanitarian sector as well as identifying potential risk factors arising from their “experimental” or “hasty” and unstructured use of the technologies in crises, finds real justification and is recommended by the humanitarian community, and notably the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Based on a literature review, reports containing data on humanitarian sector, as well as interviews with humanitarian practitioners, the phenomena occurring at the interface between humanitarian space and new technologies and their associated risks were analysed. The paper identifies critical, unresolved gaps in the legal, management and ethical frameworks of digital humanitarianism, among others accountability issues that have traditionally regulated the professional conduct of operations in this sector. It also presents the phenomena emerging in the context of response to the crisis situation in Ukraine. The Ukrainian case study, by bringing new digital experiences to the sector, will probably contribute to enriching the “learning” process of humanitarian agencies for similar emergencies in the future.
License
REFERENCES (51)
1.
Amnesty International. (2020). Press releases. 2020, 29th September Available at: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/pre... (accessed 28 March 2024).
2.
Bandura, R. and Staguhn, J. (2023). Digital Will Drive Ukraine’s Modernization. Report, Center for Strategic and International Studies.
3.
Barnett, M.N. (2013). Humanitarian Governance. Annual Review of Political Science. Vol. 16:379-398. https://doi.org/10.1146/annure....
4.
Betts, A. and Bloom, L. (2014). Humanitarian Innovation: The State of the Art. OCHA Policy and Studies Series No. 009. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
5.
Beduschi, A. (2022). Harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence for humanitarian action: Opportunities and Risks, International Review of the Red Cross 104 (919), 1149-1169. DOI:10.1017/S1816383122000261.
6.
Bryant, J. (2022). Digital technologies and inclusion in humanitarian response. Humanitarian Policy Group Report. June.
7.
Burns, R. (2015). Rethinking big data in digital humanitarianism: practices, epistemologies, and social relations. GeoJournal 80:477-490. DOI 10.1007/s10708-014-9599-x.
8.
Chapman, L. (2022). Palantir CEO Alex Karp Met with Zelenskiy in Ukraine. Bloomberg, June 2. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news... (accessed 28 March 2024).
9.
Dijkzeul, D. and Sandvik, K.B. (2019). A world in turmoil: governing risk, establishing order in humanitarian crises. Disaster.
10.
Duffield, M. (2013). Disaster-Resilience in the Network Age Access-Denial and the Rise of Cyber-Humanitarianism. DIIS Working Paper: 23.
11.
Duffield, M. (2016). The resilience of the ruins: towards a critique of digital humanitarianism. Resilience Vol. 4, No. 3: 147-165.
12.
Duffield, M. (2018). Post-Humanitarianism: Governing Precarity in the Digital World, Polity December. ISBN: 978-0-745-69858-8.
13.
Duffield, M. (2019). Post-Humanitarianism Governing Precarity through Adaptive Design. Journal of Humanitarian Affairs Vol. 1, Issue 1, 01 Jan.
15.
Fox, F. (2001). New humanitarianism: does it provide a moral banner for the 21st century? Disasters. 01 December. 25(4):275-289. DOI: 10.1111/1467-7717.00178.
16.
Jacobsen, K.L. and Fast, L. (2019). Rethinking access: how humanitarian technology governance blurs control and care. Disasters 43(S2): 151−S168. Overseas Development Institute.
17.
Koops, B.-J. (2021). The concept of function creep Law. Innovation and Technology 13:1, 29-56. DOI: 10.1080/17579961.2021.1898299.
19.
Madianou, M. (2019). Technocolonialism: Digital innovation and data practices in the humanitarian response to refugee crises. Social Media þ Society 5(3): 1–13.
20.
Martin, A. (2023). Aidwashing Surveillance: Critiquing the Corporate Exploitation of Humanitarian Crises. Surveillance & Society. Vol.21, No1, Kingston: 96-102.
21.
Martin, P., Wu, O.Q. and Yakymova, L. (2023). Anti-Corruption and Humanitarian Aid Management in Ukraine. SSRN. Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA, Department of Economic and Mathematical Modelling, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, Ukraine. 16 January.
22.
Meier, P. (2011). New Information Technologies and Their Impact on the Humanitarian Sector. International Review of the Red Cross Vol. 93, No. 884.
23.
Meier, P. (2015). Digital Humanitarians. How Big Data Is Changing the Face of Humanitarian Response. Routledge. New York. https://doi.org/10.1201/b18023, p. 259.
25.
Müller, T. (2019). Innovation in Humanitarian Action. Journal of Humanitarian Affairs 1(3):1-3 September. DOI:10.7227/JHA.019.
26.
OCHA. (2013). Humanitarianism in the network age. OCHA Policy and Studies Series.
30.
Paul, A., Jolley, C. and Anthony, A. (2018). Reflecting the Past, Shaping the Future: Making AI Work for International Development. USAID. Available at:.
33.
Parker, B. (2019). New UN deal with data mining firm Palantir raises protection concerns. The New Humanitarian. 2019, 5th February. Available at: https://www.thenewhumanitarian... (accessed 28 March 2024).
34.
Rahman, Z. (2018). Biometrics in the humanitarian sector. Oxford: The Engine Room and Oxfam Available at: www.theengineroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Engine-Room-Oxfam-Biometrics-Review.pdf (accessed 28 March 2024).
35.
Raymond, N.A., Scarnecchia, D.P. and Campo, S.R. (2017). Humanitarian Data Breaches: the Real Scandal Is Our Collective Inaction. The New Humanitarian. 8 December. Available at:.
37.
Raymond, N.A. and Scarnecchia, D.P. (2018). At the era of humanitarian digitisation, lifting the veil of newness. Humanitarian Alternatives. 8th Issue – July. Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. pp. 64-75.
38.
Read, R., Taithe, B. and Mac Ginty, R. (2016). Data hubris? Humanitarian information systems and the mirage of technology. Third World Quarterly Vol. 37, issue 8, 1314-1331.
39.
Rejali, S. and Heiniger, Y. (2020). The Role of Digital Technologies in Humanitarian Law, Policy and Action: Charting a Path Forward. Digital technologies and war. International Review of the Red Cross 102 (913), 1–22. doi:10.1017/S1816383121000114.
40.
Sandvik, K.B., Jumbert, M.G., Karlsrud, J., Kaufmann, M. (2014). Humanitarian technology: a critical research agenda. International review of the Red Cross 96 (893), 219-242.
41.
Sandvik, K.B. (2016). The humanitarian cyberspace: shrinking space or an expanding frontier?, Third World Quarterly Volume 37. No1, 17–32. DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2015.1043992.
42.
Sandvik, K.B. (2017). Now is the time to deliver: looking for humanitarian innovation’s theory of change. Journal of International Humanitarian Action 2:8. DOI 10.1186/s41018-017-0023-2.
43.
Sandvik, K.B., Jacobsen, K.L. and McDonald, S.M. (2017). Do no harm: A taxonomy of the challenges of humanitarian experimentation. International Review of the Red Cross. doi:10.1017/S181638311700042X.
44.
Smith, E. (2018). The techlash against Amazon, Facebook and Google – and what they can do.
45.
The Economist. 20 January. Available at: www.economist.com/briefing/2018/01/20/the-techlash-againstamazon-facebook-and-google-and-what-they-can-do (accessed 29 March 2024).
46.
Time Magazine. (2024). How Tech Giants Turned Ukraine Into an AI War Lab. Vera Bergengruen. Available at: https://time.com/6691662/ai-uk... (accessed 29 March 2024).
47.
Timmins, N. and Shevchenko, A. (2023). Adaptive Innovation in the Ukraine Humanitarian Response: How Context, Leadership and Partnerships Matter. A case study from Ukraine for the Global Prioritisation Exercise for Humanitarian Research and Innovation. London: Elrha.
48.
Willitts-King, B., Bryant, J. and Holloway, K. (2019). The humanitarian ‘digital divide’. Report/Working Paper. Humanitarian Policy Group. November.
49.
World Economic Forum. (2017). The Future of Humanitarian Response, Annual Meeting, February. Available at: https://www3.weforum.org/docs/... (accessed 29 March 2024).
50.
Wamsley, D. and Chin-Yee, B. (2021). COVID-19, Digital Health Technology and the Politics of the Unprecedented. Big Data & Society Vol. 8, No.1: 3.
51.
Van den Homberg, M.J.C., Gevaert, C.M. and Georgiadou, Y. (2020). The Changing Face of Accountability in Humanitarianism: Using Artificial Intelligence for Anticipatory Action. Politics and Governance. Vol. 8, Issue 4, pp. 456–467. DOI: 10.17645/pag.v8i4.3158.
Share
RELATED ARTICLE
| eISSN: | 2391-789X |
| ISSN: | 1734-2031 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
