In the aftermath of a humanitarian or natural disaster information is often slow, inflexible, out of date, or difficult to understand. Yet information can reassure, calm, and empower a community. My idea will improve how information is gathered and used and hence improve rescue and relief outcomes. By combining social collaboration with augmented reality in a mobile app, we will improve how relief resources are deployed and ensure people can help themselves and those around them
Consider this scenario:
Joe has survived a major storm and needs to get to a relief centre. He has a vehicle and some supplies; he enters this detail into the app, which nominates a safe route based on real-time data. The app alerts Jo that another local – Ann has medical expertise but low mobility; the app arranges a meet point with Joe. Both get to the centre safely and the agency logs both movements and Ann’s expertise availability.
The app will optimise how local resources are used, and provide new, rich, real-time insights for aide agencies. Importantly, human behaviour is now a shared data source that will improve macro and micro-level decision-making, information flow and response outcomes