Challenges to Effective Information and Communication Systems in Humanitarian Relief Organizations

1. Challenges to Effective Information and Communication Systems in Humanitarian Relief Organizations Christina Maiers Margaret Reynolds Mark Haselkorn Department of Technical Communication Interdisciplinary Program in Humanitarian Relief University of Washington depts.washington.edu/iphr

2. Challenges to Effective Information and Communication Systems in Humanitarian Relief Organizations • Introduction • Intra-organizational Communication • Inter-organizational Communication • Conclusion

3. Introduction • Background on humanitarian relief • What we did to study ICS in humanitarian relief

4. Background • Information and communication systems (ICS) in support of humanitarian relief during complex international emergencies. • ICS supports all stages of evolving relief efforts, including preparedness and early warning, rescue, relief, and recovery. • These stages are themselves composed of complex, interconnected operations such as logistics, supply chain management, human resources, informal and formal agreements, evaluation and assessment, lessons learned, and institutional learning

5. Background • Focus here on NGOs, but communication is complicated by diverse landscape of players, including: United Nations, donor governments, military, governments of affected countries, philanthropic foundations, corporations, the giving public, and those who have suffered during the crisis. • Traditionally, NGOs focus on response and immediate human needs; less focused on preparation, coordination, long-term strategy and infrastructure.

6. Background • In the face of natural and man-made disasters, communication channels, infrastructures, strategies, agreements, education, and training should be in place. Too late after the event occurs. • Technology component usually the easiest part

7. Background Putting in the sensors is the easy part. The difficult part here would be coordination between emergency-response agencies in the region. Then,you have to deal with education, preparedness and training issues. Harley Benz, USGS National Earthquake Information Service, on putting in a South East Asia Tsunami warning system

8. What We Did • Two types of research conducted in 2004: • A headquarters level assessment of upper-level management perspectives on organizational communication issues and strategies • Open-ended survey administered face-to-face or over the phone to IT managers, directors, and operations managers of prominent Northern humanitarian relief NGOs • A field-level assessment conducted in Kenya and Ethiopia • In-depth exploratory interviews with, and participatory observation of, key NGO field personnel. Conducted in cooperation with the Fritz Institute; John Snow, Inc.; USAID and World Vision International.

9. What We Found • Both intra- and inter- organizational communication are complicated by tensions and challenges that are inherent in the humanitarian relief endeavor. • These challenges require ongoing management and investigation. • While some of these challenges are uniquely expressed in the humanitarian sector, they have analogs in organizations working in other sectors. • Many of these challenges are in areas that require technical communication expertise. Many key roles for technical communicators in the humanitarian relief sector.

10. Intra-organizational Communication • Need for User-Centered Design Strategies • Complications from a Decentralized Organizational Structure • Weak Information Management • Need for Cross-Organizational Program Development • Lack of Funding for ICT Strategic Planning and Implementation • Resistance to Technology • Complications in Developing ICT Infrastructure due to Short-Term Focus • Lack of Trained Personnel

11. Need for User-Centered Design Strategies It would be very useful to have the program people see what SCM entails and have them learn more about the logistics process on the ground. (NGO field office) One area of needed improvement is getting [local] SCM staff to better understand the financial structures and the budget process. We have had a lot of budgeting problems, because there is a lack of understanding of the financial process. (NGO HQ)

12. Need for User-Centered Design Strategies • Many HQ-driven ICS projects developed and managed without adequate consultation with local staff. • ICS projects where field workers were not “co-owners” caused friction between local staff and HQ and in some cases even reinforced asymmetrical power relations between developing world and HQ level staff teams. • ICS needs to meet the unique communication and environmental needs of the international field offices. • ICS needs to be flexible but not ad hoc.

13. Complications from a Decentralized Organizational Structure • There is a need for a central ICS organizational strategy, but mandating such a strategy from HQ (top-down) is not effective or feasible. • Field offices are highly autonomous operational units; HQ generally non-operational with little oversight. • Mandating policy from an HQ level is not compatible with the consensus-building leadership style of NGOs

14. Weak Information Management • To a great extent, the sector reinvents itself with each new catastrophe • Now trying to focus not only on doing well in the current emergency, but also doing a better job the next time • Need to develop and apply ICS to the capture and application of past experiences. • Many constraining factors: highly chaotic, resource and information poor environments; insufficient time, energy, and financial resources; workforce turnover and lack of professional standing; multiple organizational perspectives on the appropriateness and role of information infrastructures; focus on technology rather than on organizational culture; and differences as to the value and implementation of ongoing assessment and improvement strategies.

15. Need for Cross-Organizational Program Development • Cross-organizational communication a vital component of program planning and organizational success. • Proposals often written without adequate input from support departments, such as ICT and logistics. • Need for a coordinated approach and information and communication policies that support increased coordination.

16. Lack of Funding for ICT Strategic Planning and Implementation • ICS viewed as overhead rather than as a fundamental activity • Donors focus on immediate solutions for immediate situations—water and sanitation, medicine, food, and shelter in direct response to visible human suffering • Donors generally view overhead costs as detrimental to a proposed project • Most funding is project based, so there are few program resources that can be used to address longer-term, organization-wide infrastructure needs

17. Lack of Funding for ICT Strategic Planning and Implementation • Need for donor education. A child is far more compelling than ICS, but a well-designed and implemented ICS can help reduce the suffering of many children • Inadequately planned and implemented ICS negatively impacts critical activities like contingency planning and preparedness, forcing organizations into a reactionary mode where information and communication needs must be addressed “on the fly.”

18. Resistance to Technology • ICS equated with technology, and technology is often seen as a distraction from the primary mission of reducing human suffering • Field workers do not see direct benefits, in fact they generally experience IT initiatives as reducing their effectiveness

19. Complications in Developing ICT Infrastructure due to Short-Term Focus • Far easier to raise funds and focus energy on an immediate crisis than it is to find support for improving the relief sector’s ability to more effectively mitigate the next disaster • Need for “professionalization”—high turnover (up to 80% in the field), no degree, no scholarly journal, no central conference.

20. Lack of Trained Personnel The biggest challenge for me is the lack of trained personnel and human resource issues. We need people who are competent and ready when a disaster strikes. These are not easy to find or to have on hand. Academia helping train people is part of the answer. NGO administrator

21. Inter-organizational Communication • Need to Increase Coordination and Interoperability While Maintaining Autonomy • Need for Increased Security and Coordination with the Military • Need to Integrate Incomplete Information among Various Organizations • Need to Overcome Reluctance of Organizations to Share Information • Challenges of Working in Underdeveloped, Disaster-Affected Environments

22. Need to Increase Coordination and Interoperability While Maintaining Autonomy Humanitarian coordination is based on the belief that a coherent approach to emergency response will maximize its benefits and minimize its potentialpitfalls - in short, that the whole will be greater that the sum of its parts. United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

23. Need to Increase Coordination and Interoperability While Maintaining Autonomy • Humanitarian relief organizations are very diverse, with different constituents, missions, and cultures • Desire ability to act independently (“a shared warehouse might well increase our efficiency, but we could not participate if it meant sacrificing the ability to respond independently”) • View ICS interoperability not as sharing common systems, but as “creating conditions that enable separate organizations to share information toward a common end.” (Solomon and Brown, 2004)

24. Need for Increased Security and Coordination with the Military • Security a new high priority • Military used to operating independently and not likely to share information that puts their troops at risk • NGO’s mission depends in part on the appearance and fact that they remain unbiased • Not seeking military information and coordination can put relief personnel at considerable risk

25. Need to Integrate Incomplete Information among Various Organizations • At the onset of an emergency, information such as assessments, statistics, and census reports is needed immediately in order to gauge the necessary level of response • Existing information is generally outdated, hard to find, scattered among different sources, or unreliable for political or other reasons

26. Need to Overcome Reluctance of Organizations to Share Information • Competition versus cooperation. • While NGOs are non-profit entities, they still compete over limited available resources and “market share.” • Competition can “weed out” non-productive NGOs, but creates atmosphere of secrecy and seeking of competitive advantages. • Well designed ICS can support the advantages of cooperative effort.

27. Challenges of Working in Underdeveloped, Disaster-Affected Environments • Poor infrastructure in disaster areas and developing areas. • Effective ICS can alleviate constraints imposed by underdeveloped or destroyed physical infrastructure. • Rapid sharing of information (e.g. destroyed roads) and communication between isolated workers and HQ.

28. Conclusion • Technical communicators have a key role to play in the future of humanitarian relief. • Help evolve well-planned ICS that enhance organizational capacity, especially in challenging areas like coordination, strategic planning, preparedness, accountability, lessons learned, training, research, and education. • Help NGOs focus not only on direct relief, but also strategic management. • Help not only address the current disaster, but also learn from it in order to do better the next time. • Help “professionalize” the humanitarian relief sector.

29. Conclusion Humanitarian relief is a significant new area of opportunity for the technical communication field—an opportunity based on the needs of the humanitarian sector and our ability to meet those needs.

30. Conclusion Designers of information and communication systems have a key role to play in the future of humanitarian relief.