The Centre for Humanitarian Data is focused on increasing
the use and impact of data in the humanitarian sector. It is managed by the
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and
is based in The Hague, the Netherlands. The Centre’s services are available to
humanitarian partners and OCHA staff in the field and at Headquarters free of
charge.
The Centre focuses on four areas: data services, data
responsibility, data literacy, and predictive analytics. The data services
workstream focuses the management of the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) platform, the development and use of the Humanitarian Exchange Language (HXL)
data standard, and support to the International Aid Transparency Initiative.
The data responsibility worksteam focuses on the development and adoption of
data responsibility guidelines and different techniques for the secure
management of data, both within OCHA and the broader humanitarian system. The
data literacy workstream focuses on improving the data skills of technical and
non-technical humanitarians through the delivery of training programmes and
development of capacity-building material. The predictive analytics workstream
focuses on model development, including threshold and trigger design, and
quality assurance of partner models through validation and a peer review
process.
The Centre’s Data Fellows programme began in 2018 and
supports all four workstreams. This high-profile initiative is designed to
expose the Centre team and partners to new areas of data-related expertise that
can impact humanitarian response and advance the goals of the Centre. The
structure of the programme provides Consultant/Fellows with exposure to different parts of
the humanitarian system while allowing them to focus time and energy on an
individual project that addresses a challenge related to the use and impact of
data in the sector.
The Centre will host its fourth class of Data Fellows in
June and July 2021. The 2021 Fellows will focus on three areas: Data
Journalism, Predictive Analytics, and Strategic Communications. Due to the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 programme will be conducted remotely, with
Fellows working from home under the direction of the Coordinator for the Data
Fellows Programme.
Predictive Analytics
in Humanitarian Action
Although predictive analytics is not a new field, its
application in humanitarian response has only just begun. The increasing
availability of data from a variety of sources, together with advancements in
statistics and machine learning, is generating a growing interest in using
models to gain insight and trigger anticipatory action.
When it comes to modeling for humanitarian operations, the
goal is to analyze current and historical data to predict an event or some
characteristic of an event (the probability, severity, magnitude, or duration).
Predicting an event involves anticipating a new shock such as a disaster,
disease outbreak, or conflict outbreak. Predicting the characteristics of an
event could include population movements, worsening food insecurity, or
precursors to drought. By creating an early signal of need that is tied to
pre-agreed financing and actions, the response has the potential to be faster,
cheaper and better, with more lives saved and protected. The Centre requires a
Predictive Analytics Fellow to explore additional areas of potential relevance
for predictive analytics in humanitarian action.
We are looking for a candidate who is self-motivated and can
thrive in an international, multidisciplinary team. The right candidate has the
skills and abilities that together comprise the right levels of expertise to
assess predictive models and think strategically about how to use data to
create value and insight for humanitarian response.