By James Perkins
A Liverpool-based technology company is using data science to help aid workers tackle the humanitarian crisis in Nepal following this year’s earthquake.
ScraperWiki has assisted in setting up the Humanitarian Data Exchange, a UN website which used data from a multitude of sources so that aid agencies can respond effectively to crises and disasters.
The HDX is being used in the relief efforts in Nepal which left nearly 3 million people in need of aid, the Nepal earthquake page offers aid workers access to over 80 different datasets, including census records, local infrastructure, casualty figures and an interactive map of aid and refugee camps.
Aidan McGuire of ScraperWiki commented: “
Aid agencies do a remarkable job but ultimately the impact they make depends on having the right information to hand – such as details of casualties, local and the resources available in the area.
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This information is usually held by many different organisations and in different formats. Now for the first time, developments in data science allow us to bring such information together very quickly and even combine it with data from mobile phones and social media to give relief workers a much clearer picture.
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The more quality data that is included, the more powerful a tool it becomes.”
Charity Digital News, 22
Jul 2015