Relief 2.0 or disaster relief 2.0 is the deployment of

digital information Digital data, in information theory and information systems, is information represented as a string of discrete symbols each of which can take on one of only a finite number of values from some alphabet, such as letters or digits. An example i ...

techniques in the management of

disaster relief Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...

History

The first large-scale use of modern digital information techniques was by technology experts and volunteers responding to the Katrina disaster in 2005 in the USA. Further notable developments came in the disasters that followed, in particular the 7.0MW

earthquake in Haiti Some of the earthquakes in Haiti have been very destructive to the country. The widespread damage and high-number of casualties of events in 2010 and 2021 can be partially blamed on the fact that most of the population in Haiti resides in struct ...

on January 12, 2010 and the 9.0MW earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11, 2011. In Japan, a disaster relief organization was created under the name "Relief 2.0".

Academia involvement

Following the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, a group of fellows, academics, technology experts and emergency response volunteers organized a Relief 2.0 workshop at Stanford University in February 2010 to collect and organize the lessons learned in the field in Haiti. These lessons were further researched and worked on at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in th ...

Entrepreneurship Centre in collaboration with the Stanford University Peace Innovation Laboratory and later tested in the field in the

Tōhoku Region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku ret ...

of Japan after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami of 2011. The findings were presented at

Kyushu University , abbreviated to , is a Japanese national university located in Fukuoka, on the island of Kyushu. It was the 4th Imperial University in Japan, ranked as 4th in 2020 Times Higher Education Japan University Rankings, one of the top 10 Desig ...

in Fukuoka, Japan in April 2010 during the TEDxEarthquake9.0 conference.

International organization reports

In April 2011, the report "Disaster Relief 2.0: The Future of Humanitarian Information Sharing" report was presented at the US Mission to the UN in New York."Disaster Relief 2.0: The Future of Humanitarian Information Sharing"
UN OCHA It was prepared by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, in cooperation with the

United Nations Foundation The United Nations Foundation is a charitable organization headquartered in Washington, DC, that supports the United Nations and its activities. It was established in 1998 with a $1 billion gift to the United Nations by philanthropist Ted Turne ...

Vodafone Foundation Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. , Vodaf ...

and the

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...

(UN OCHA). This report highlighted the role of mass participation using

mobile communication Mobile telephony is the provision of telephone services to phones which may move around freely rather than stay fixed in one location. Telephony is supposed to specifically point to a voice-only service or connection, though sometimes the ...

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

and crisis mapping to pinpoint the most urgent needs following a disaster.

Tools

There are a number of tools, toolkits and specific platforms available and used in the practice of Relief 2.0, including

Ushahidi Ushahidi is an open source software application which utilises user-generated reports to collate and map data. It uses the concept of crowdsourcing serving as an initial model for what has been coined as "activist mapping" - the combination of ...

Crowdmap, Frontline SMS,

OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed ...

Sahana FOSS Disaster Management System Sahana Software Foundation is a Los Angeles, California-based non-profit organization founded to promote the use of free and open-source software (FOSS) for disaster and emergency management. The foundation's mission statement is to "save lives b ...

and Crisis Maps.

Private groups

Several private, government funded and non-profit groups have emerged in recent years to advance the practice of Relief 2.0, increase preparedness and the effectiveness of disaster response at a local and a global level. These include
Crisis Mappers

Standby Task ForceSempo

Digital Humanitarian Network The Digital Humanitarian Network is a consortium allowing Volunteer and Technical Communities (V&TCs) to interface with humanitarian organizations that seek their services. The Digital Humanitarian Network’s (DHNetwork) website was launched o ...

and Relief 2.0 Inc.

References