Question

Discussion: How Mobile Phones Power Disaster Relief

Watch the following video, and Provide a critique. Also, think of other possible scenarios where mobile technology can be used to address humanitarian efforts.

https://youtu.be/L9_c1j9VRwE

Answer 1

In response to natural disasters such as Hurricane katrina (2005),the earthquake in Haiti(2010),earthquake and tsunamis in japan (2011) and the oklahoma tornados(2013),mobile invention and application have skyrocketed. Mobile development has surged in reaction to the increase in need for instant and accurate information. In Australia, for example researchers have created software that combine voiceover IP technology with Wi-Fi to enable communication between mobile devices in areas where there is no available reception.

Mobile phones are helping transform how relief agencies respond to humanitarian crises by enabling them to pin point where aid is needed most after hurricanes, earthquakes and other disasters.

At the same time mobile apps that need just a few taps of the finger to make a donation are becoming an increasingly important source of funding to relief efforts, aid workers and tech specialists said atnthis week's Mobile World .

Telecoms operators can see where people are gathering after a disaster strikes by tracking cell phone location data, said Mats Granryd, director geberal of the GSMA, the global mobile operators association that organises the worlds largest mobile phone fair.

Relief agencies also shift through the thousands of pictures and posts which people share on social media after a disaster to get a view of conditions on the ground.

Softwares has been developed that can mine tweets and other crowd-sourced reports from crisis zones to find out what is happening where -- from mapping floods to identifying relief needs after a hurricane.