The Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN) is a network of organizations that provide information-based response and relief services to communities affected by disaster events and formal response actors directly servicing these populations. Since it was founded in 2012, the DHN has provided crisis informatics, visualization, mapping and technical development to a range of formal actors.

Our member organizations have provided services to agencies such as the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), and ACAPS. The rise in technical and human resource capacity of online volunteer and technical communities and digital service organizations can be a point of confusion for formal actors who have traditionally responded with relief services as autonomous organizations on the ground. Building on the early lessons learned by digital response agencies the DHN was created as a mechanism for coordination and activation of a skilled technical team able to provide formal response organizations with critical information products and visualization under strict timelines.

The disaster context often limits significantly the ability of ground responders to get online and access information. This is where the Digital Humanitarian Network provides a critical function in the overall relief efforts. Our membership is diverse comprising 22 member organizations with a diverse range of skills in cartography, social media monitoring, technology development, and data analytics.

Given the diversity in technical skill and capacity of our network and a need to provide the wider disaster response community with a clear picture of the capabilities of DHN members; Ariel Sim, an intern with OCHA, developed a catalogue overview of how the DHN responds and what type of services we provide. This brochure serves as an introductory guide to individuals and agencies interested in activating our network or simply learning more about how we conduct our work.

The catalogue is available for viewing or download here:

 

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