Abstract
The expanding use of IT has brought an increase in productivity to the world of business, industry and commerce. However, this is not mirrored by an equivalent growth in the use of IT by aid agencies in post-disaster situations. We report a pioneering two-stage study which tested the appetite for the increased use of computational IT tools in this sector, assessed their level of usefulness and whether they can be practically implemented. Thirty aid workers across nineteen countries were surveyed on their use of IT and computational tools in shelter design and provision. The key finding was that none of the participants used any building simulation tools or software packages in any of the design stages of shelter construction. Using this result, two example tools were created—one assessing daylighting and the other environmental impact. A second survey involving 48 aid workers was then carried out to record their experience of using the new tools and 97% of the participants identified a need for such shelter design tools. The majority felt that the new tools were useful and that they would like to use similar tools in their work, most of them preferring tools in the form of web applications. It is concluded that humanitarian workers in the shelter sector are very willing to adopt IT-based computational tools in their work and would appreciate doing so, but only if they have access to suitably simple tools which are quick to use and easy to learn.
Highlights
The number of people fleeing war, persecution and conflict exceeded 70 million in 2018, which is the highest level of displacement for 70 years (UNHCR, 2018; UNOCHA, 2018)
We study the use of IT in a post-disaster context, with a focus on shelter design
The remaining seven (23%) participants had used a manual calculation method. This was probably due to limited knowledge and lack of information and knowledge amongst the aid workers regarding the subject or the unavailability of appropriate and practical resources/tools in the aid sector
Summary
The number of people fleeing war, persecution and conflict exceeded 70 million in 2018, which is the highest level of displacement for 70 years (UNHCR, 2018; UNOCHA, 2018). Laguerre (2013) examined at least four aspects of the aid sector to which IT has contributed and where its impact is most visible: cash management (mobile banking), remittance flows, tax disbursed to government funds, and employment growth in both formal and informal sectors. Aid organisations represent an important source of funding for projects involving IT in low- and middle-income countries. Limited numbers of such organisations acknowledge IT as a new and important asset in the development sector (Schware and Choudhury, 1988; Belliveau, 2016; Benrós et al, 2011; Carrasco and O’Brien, 2018; Cheng, 2018).
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