Information and Communication Technologies for Humanitarian Services

Humanitarian services seek to promote welfare to save lives, maintain human dignity, alleviate suffering, strengthen preparedness, and provide material and logistical assistance in response to humanitarian crises. They are thus different from development aids that address underlying socioeconomic factors and provides support for the social, economic and political developments of developing nations.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are becoming the backbone technologies for providing quality and efficient services and are playing an increasingly important and sophisticated role in humanitarian-service activities. Many ICT-based solutions exist such as tools to support the work of humanitarian organizations, mobile applications and solutions to provide health services, open source web portals for disaster management systems, and mobile and autonomous devices to provide assistance. This edited book covers new developments, innovations, and research outcomes for the creation and deployment of effective ICT technologies and solutions to support humanitarian services. Coverage includes theories as well as information, mobile and networking applications that foster information exchange and cooperation in the humanitarian and emergency management fields. Aimed at ICT and computer engineers, professionals, and researchers working on practical and lasting ICT solutions to support humanitarian services, this will also be a useful reference for advanced students and lecturers in the field, entrepreneurs and researchers from government, non-government and industry organizations, as well as professionals in NGO organizations, ethics committees, and policymakers.