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CROWD-SOURCED GOVERNANCE IN A POST-DISASTER CONTEXT

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2014

Shahla F Ali
Shahla F Ali*
Affiliation:
Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Program in Arbitration and Dispute Resolution, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong, Sali@hku.hk.
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Abstract

In the wake of recent catastrophic natural disasters, the United Nations (UN) has developed an increasingly sophisticated network of collaborative partnerships to assist with humanitarian relief operations. The growing use of open-source technology such as crowd mapping and resource tracking—being universally accessible, collaboratively designed, subject to ongoing improvement, and responsive to on-the-ground needs—reflects in many respects the emerging UN governance mechanisms developed to support the creation of such technology. The 2008 meeting of the World Economic Forum called for increased documentation and ‘dissemination of the work of humanitarian relief’ and ‘mapping of assets, non-food items’ and resources to prevent duplication.1 However, as yet, little attention has been given to the role of open-source governance mechanisms in the context of disaster response. This article aims to fill this gap by examining the emerging mechanisms by which private sector collaboration is coordinated by international institutions such as the UN. It finds that the emergence of post-disaster open-source humanitarian relief reflects the observations of new governance legal scholars that coordination is increasingly the result of expanded participation and partnership on the part of governments and non-State actors, a learning-focused orientation, with the State increasingly acting as a convener, catalyst and coordinator.

Keywords

crowd sourcingdisaster lawhumanitarian aidlaw and collaborative technologynew governance
Type
Shorter Articles
Information
International & Comparative Law Quarterly , Volume 64 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 211 - 226
Copyright
Copyright © British Institute of International and Comparative Law 2014 

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References

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3 Ibid.

4 UN Resolution 2001, A/RES/56/76, Towards global partnerships <http://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/issues_doc/un_business_partnerships/A_RES_56_76.pdf>.

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105 The World Summit of the Information Society (‘WSIS’) Tunis Commitment 2005, para 36 states, ‘36. We value the potential of ICTs to promote peace and to prevent conflict which, inter alia, negatively affects achieving development goals. ICT can be used for identifying conflict situations through early-warning systems preventing conflicts, promoting their peaceful resolution, supporting humanitarian action, including protection of civilians in armed conflicts, facilitating peacekeeping missions, and assisting post conflict peace-building and reconstruction.’

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115 Ibid.

116 See generally: E Walker, R Siegel, T Khozein, N Skytland, A Llewellyn, T Aldrich, M Brennan, ‘Lessons in Mass Collaboration’, Stanford Social Innovation Review (26 May 2014) <http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/lessons_in_mass_collaboration>.

117 For more, see <www.understandrisk.org>.

118 For more, see <www.globalquakemodel.org>.

119 Random Hacks of Kindness, ‘2013 Report’ 6 <http://open.nasa.gov/blog/2013/03/11/random-hacks-of-kindness-report-2013/>.

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121 ibid 23.

122 ibid 10.

123 ibid 14.

124 ibid 14.

125 ibid 25.

126 ibid 26.

127 ibid 42.

128 ibid 44.

129 UNCTAD, ‘Partnership for Development: Information and Knowledge for Development’ (2004) 6–7 <unctad.org/en/docs/td394_en.pdf>.

130 Ibid.

131 Stauffacher (n 107) (emphases added).

132 Ibid (emphases added).

133 Harvard University, Humanitarian Health Conference 2007: Final Report 18 <http://hhi.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/publications/hhc_2007_final_report.pdf> (emphases added).

134 Ibid 18–19.

135 ibid 19.

136 ibid 19–20.

137 ibid.

138 Solomon (n 22).

139 Alexander (n 82).

140 Ibid 740–1; see also Ali (n 83).

141 OCHA (n 6) 16–17.

142 Ibid.

143 World Economic Forum (n 1) 1.

144 Ibid.

145 ibid.