Conference Explores Technological Side of Humanitarian Assistance

Humanitarian workers around the world must incorporate technological advances into their work if they are to better realize their mission to help disadvantaged people, said Kevin Cahill, M.D., director of Fordham’s Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs, as he launched the “Technology for Humanitarian Action” conference on Dec. 4. The symposium brought together leaders in the technology industry and the humanitarian aid community to exchange ideas and information.

According to Cahill, a recent report by the Council on Foreign Relations estimated that the United States spends $57 billion on international humanitarian aid, a figure that underscores the importance of finding better ways to provide humanitarian assistance.

“It is not a small business…yet we do not approach the problems in the humanitarian world with the same sophistication that you would if you were in the Defense Department or the business sector,” said Cahill. “Through this conference, I was trying to get the best minds that I could to give us ideas to improve our work.”

The conference was designed to focus on areas where technology is being underused by humanitarian aid agencies, either because it is inaccessible or because workers are unaware that it exists.

Paul Kolodzy, director of the Wireless Network Security Center at Stevens Institute of Technology, discussed the use of wireless technology to hurdle communication obstacles in many developing countries. He said that topography often prohibits the development of a conventional communications infrastructure, which in turn destabilizes a region.

Another speaker, C. Kumar Patel, the vice chancellor of research at the University of California at Los Angeles, discussed the advances and benefits of personal identification systems that could be used to track refugees, promote safety and stimulate commerce. He suggested the eventual use of retinal and iris scans, as well as palm imprints, in airports, offices, libraries, hospitals and rescue missions.

Experts from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Hewlett Packard, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the United States Army, the Columbia Earth Institute and other intellectual and technological outlets also shared their expertise. They discussed technologies that can be used to de-mine former war fields and to assist with communications among populations that speak different languages.

The IIHA hosted the conference in conjunction with Stevens Institute of Technology to facilitate the transfer of technology to the humanitarian sector and convey to the technology world the challenges that many aid agencies confront.

“We are going to have to train humanitarian workers…but we are also going to have to train the technology world about [our work and needs], as most people are unaware of the needs of the humanitarian community,” said Cahill.

The reports presented at the symposium will be published as part of the IIHA’s 2004 book series, which provides practical texts for use in the field as well as in academic courses.

The Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs at Fordham University offers multidisciplinary training in humanitarian assistance, negotiations, humanitarian rights and humanitarian law. It also provides consultations and field assistance on humanitarian issues, especially in conflicts and disasters.

—Michael Larkin