When the war in Ukraine escalated on 24 February, the world held its breath. But one of the world’s freshest humanitarian responses also created a unique opportunity for implementing innovative digital approaches from day one of the conflict and putting technology in place to protect civilians.
From civic journalism and keeping updates from the ground flowing in real time via messaging apps and other social media, through early warning systems and digital aid distribution, the footprint of ICT4D is visible throughout the response.
When I worked in Poland for the first two months of the full-scale war in Ukraine, thousands of people got to registered online for cash support, which was then granted to them electronically. One of the NGOs in Ukraine run the registration fully through popular social apps, Facebook and WhatsApp, hitting the record numbers over just one week. The system did not go without flaws, as some beneficiaries struggled to access the assistance due to typos introduced in the process and a lack of manual supervision of the registration process.
Seven months on, one of the first apps I downloaded when crossing the border into Ukraine was Triboga!, an early alert system which tells people when to head to the shelters in case of missile attacks, sounding alarm the moment the government issues a warning, which has led us to the bomb shelters on numerous occasions. Telegram and liveuamap remain the Ukrainian citizens’ most trusted sources of information and NGO tweets still feed international media coverage. NGOs coordinate their work and account for their staff using WhatsApp.
As I travel Ukraine seeking human impact stories, I uncover new angles of how technology has become an integral part of humanitarian work today. And you? In what other contexts have you experienced the technology taking over the traditional programming on a similar scale – and pace?