Taking to the skies: displacement, drones, and maps

Taking to the skies: displacement, drones, and maps

Following massive population displacements from Nigeria and within Niger in 2015 and 2016 the UNHCR operation and partners in Niger were faced with a significant mapping challenge. At the end of July 2016, there were reportedly up to 300,000 people displaced within...
Diffa, Niger: An ‘unexpectedly’, diverse communications eco-system

Diffa, Niger: An ‘unexpectedly’, diverse communications eco-system

“Never assume you know the communications eco-system – never think you know how people share information and which sources they trust better than community members themselves”. These were the words I found myself repeating in South Sudan, whilst supporting the recent...
10 defining principles of radical openness

10 defining principles of radical openness

At the World Humanitarian Summit in May, Google, Mercy Corps, UNHCR Innovation and ThoughtWorks were lucky enough to win an award for having one of the Top 5 Innovations of the World Humanitarian Summit for our collaborative project Translation Cards. While...
Whose innovation is it anyway?

Whose innovation is it anyway?

Technical Top Trumps Having never worked with an innovation unit -let alone been in an innovation ‘Lab’ before-it’s fair to say I had an ‘innovation complex’ when starting as the Emergency Lab Manager. For many, innovation is synonymous with the use of technology....