In humanitarian disasters people affected by the unfolding tragedy need more than physical necessities, they also have an urgent need for information. The Humanitarian Information Dashboard (HID) helps meet that need by providing information, management and analysis tools for use by Internews field teams and their local partners.

The HID supports Internews' belief that information is an essential part of humanitarian relief and helps them respond to issues of information overload during a time of crisis. It also increases the effectiveness of field interventions and improves the impact of the work that Internews does.

The platform aggregates feedback from affected communities giving humanitarian responders unprecedented insight into community information needs and allowing them to make informed decisions that save lives.

Aptivate worked closely with Internews to understand their grand vision for the HID and turn it into an actionable digital project, which we successfully implemented. They're currently testing this and looking to move to the next phase with new learnings. Part of the HID's function is to interface with other information systems such as SMS text services and IVR voice platforms.

Ultimately its purpose is to publish timely, relevant data and responses that communities and organisations working in disaster areas need. So, we have a lot to bring to the interoperability debate and much to gain from emerging standards, protocols and other initiatives.

After spending 7 months creating this service with Aptivate, Anahi from Internews shared her insights on the project.