For nongovernmental organizations responding to humanitarian disasters, big data and open data are more than just buzzwords — they are fast becoming a necessity in saving lives.
In World Vision International’s case, the availability to pull and share data helped save lives when Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu in March this year. Working in the country since the early 1980s, World Vision has made data gathering a critical part of project planning and reporting. This includes gathering, collecting and creating demographic, infrastructure and environmental data.
Data has been critical not only to analyze the impact of programs, but also to evaluate the resources that will be required following an emergency.