Basic Crisis Information ManagementHumanityRoad All Hands Training – December 1st, 2010

Who Am I?

Gisli OlafssonEmergency Response DirectorNetHope (http://www.nethope.org)

Twitter: @gislio

Skype: disasterexpert

Email: gisli.olafsson@nethope.org

Blog: http://blog.disasterexpert.org

Other hats:

• ICE-SAR team leader• UNDAC Member• IFRC Delegate• EU/UN/IFRC Trainer• Disaster Management Consultant• Former Microsoft Disaster Advisor

Why is information important?

noise becomes data when it has a cognitive pattern

data becomes information when its assembled into a coherent whole which can be related to other information

information becomes knowledge when its integrated with other information in a form that is useful for making decisions and determining actions,

knowledge becomes understanding when related to other knowledge in a manner useful in anticipating, judging and acting,

understanding becomes wisdom when its informed by purpose, ethics, principals, memory and projection

Dee Hock, 1996

The Information Management Chain

Input

CollectThroughput

ProcessOutput

Disseminate

Sources of Information

New Sources

Data Collection Issues

• Information coming from multiple sources

• Information coming through multiple paths

• Information coming in multiple formats

• Some information digital, other analog

• Reliability of information

• Conflicting information

• Information Gaps

• Getting information from everyone is hard

Consider the volume of data

DATA VOLUME = # of Forms Collected x Number/Type of Questions x

Periodicity (Frequency of data collection)

Well organized information

Incoming data

Incoming phone

calls

Incoming

emails

Data Processing

Format

• Enter data• Reformat• Clean

Collate

• Compile• Collate

Verify quality

• Cross-reference

• Request information

• Triangulate

Storage

• Track• Store• Assign

metadata

Archiving

• Back-up• Retrieval

Data Processing Framework

Format

• Structured vs. Unstructured

• Electronic vs. Paper vs. Word of Mouth

• Spelling

• Number format

• Date format

• Currency format

• Database vs. Spreadsheet

• Geo-tagging

Collation

• Identify different sources of data to compile from

• Agree methodology with ALL teammembers

• Identify Priorities EARLY• Capture information about people and

organizations into 3W• Collect information into charts, matrixes,

tables, etc.• Ensure enough human resources to process• Establish a reporting systems / forms• Document what you are collating• Try to compile information into one repository

OPERATIONALIMPORTANCE

TIME / EFFORT INVOLVED TO PROCESS DATA

High

Low

Easy Medium Hard

PRIORITY #1

PRIORITY #2

PRIORITY #3

Prioritization Graph

Courtesy: UNHCR

Prioritizing and Processing Messages

„There are 5 people trapped in the Caribbean Market“

• Where is the Caribbean Market?• When was this reported?• Who reported it?• How can we contact the person reporting?• Has this already been reported?• Has this been acted upon?• Are the people alive?• Is this a trust-worthy report?• What happens if we ignore this report?

Processed and Prioritized Reports

• 5 people can be heard alive in the Caribbean Supermarket which is at the corner of 5th and Park (Lat Long). Source of this report is American Embassy. This has not been reconfirmed by other reports. No teams have been reported going to this area. Supermarket is a reinforced concrete building.

How do we get to this improved report?

Quality Assurance

• Verification

• Cross-reference

• Request information

• Triangulate

Verification

• Make sure to record source & other metadata • Add a ranking to assess credibility (1-High; 5 low)• Different quality control needed on different types of data

Cross-reference

• Requires baseline data

• Are we all using the same common baseline data?

• Are we seing similar data from other sources?

Feedback loop

• If something doesn‘t seem right – can you reach back to the source?

• If you publish the data to those who report it they will usually provide you feedback

• Social media has been shown to be very self-correcting due to its openess with the data

Triangulate

• Are there more people affected than live in that area?

• Do the numbers add up?

Dissemination

Situation Reports

Compare and Relate

Group and Locate

Summarize

Qualify

Make sure to compare to previous state

Utilize administrative boundaries to group information

Describe patterns and trends instead of individual cases and reports

Make sure to qualify the information as much as possible

„Cholera outbreaks are on a rapid increase in Leogane with 100 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, an increase from

50 yesterday. This brings the toal cases in Leogane to 250. Two hospitals are operating in Leogane with capacity for 150

pateients. Main needs are additional treatment facilities, nurses and purified water“.

Describe the needGiven this information summarize how it affects the overall need there

Source: xkcd, http://xkcd.com/386/

And finally...