Humanitarian Innovation

World Humanitarian Youth SummitSeptember 1 - 2, 2015

What is humanitarian tech?Any technology used by anyone in

humanitarian response

How is QCRI leading the way?Combine Research, Field Work, Active

Deployments

Communication is Aid

Project Collaboration with UN OCHA and the Standby Task Force.

AIDR SMS/WhatsApp classification AIDR-SMS Classification extension helps UNICEF classify SMS.

The U-Report platform is a free and open-source SMS platform used by UNICEF to engage on a widevariety of issues across different countries. In Zambia, UNICEF is using U-Report for public health messaging and polling.

Aerial imagery and computer visionUAVs for aerial imagery:

Fast deploymentEasy maintenanceHigh resolution imageryOblique viewControl flexibilityCheaper operational cost

Aerial surveys to complement or accelerate the traditional field-based damage and needs assessment surveys.Buildings (e.g., dwellings, schools, hospitals, etc.)Transportation infrastructure (roads, bridges, etc.)Logistic support

Aerial imagery and computer visionHybrid approach

human computing to annotate features of interest in aerial imagesmachine computing to learn to recognize such features automatically in new, unseen imagesComputer vision challengesorthorectification: mapping between the image pixels and the real world coordinatesimage classification (filtering): not all images are relevant or interestingobject detection: objects of interest do not have well-defined structure/geometryscene understanding: usually cluttered scene, difficult to understand

Timeline2010 QCRI Created2012 QCRI’s Social Innovation Programme

2013 ● AIDR Development starts● MicroMappers Development starts● Uaviators Created● Typhoon Haiyan Response with UN

OCHA

2014 ● MicroMappers - Coconuts for Computer

Vision● UNICEF AIDR SMS - Zambia● Typhoon Hagupit Response

2015 ● WoRDE prototype with Translators

without Borders● Cyclone Pam (Vanuatu Response)● Nepal Earthquake Response

Learn new skills:

Thank you

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