Rethinking access: how humanitarian technology governance blurs control and care

Jacobsen, Katja Lindskov; Fast, Larissa

doi:10.1111/disa.12333

Cited by 29 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Data bias can be understood as a flaw of a dataset, negatively affecting the quality of the data and potentially causing damages and losses in organizational processes (Storey et al, 2012 ). Especially in sensitive contexts, data bias has been shown to replicate and reinforce existing inequalities (Jacobsen & Fast, 2019 ; Bender et al, 2020 ). Urgency and overload combined with uncertainty are common causes for data bias in crises (Fast, 2017 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Interplay of Data and Cognitive Bias in Crisis Information Management

et al. 2022

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Humanitarian crises, such as the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic, challenge information management and thereby threaten the digital resilience of the responding organizations. Crisis information management (CIM) is characterised by the urgency to respond despite the uncertainty of the situation. Coupled with high stakes, limited resources and a high cognitive load, crises are prone to induce biases in the data and the cognitive processes of analysts and decision-makers. When biases remain undetected and untreated in CIM, they may lead to decisions based on biased information, increasing the risk of an inefficient response. Literature suggests that crisis response needs to address the initial uncertainty and possible biases by adapting to new and better information as it becomes available. However, we know little about whether adaptive approaches mitigate the interplay of data and cognitive biases. We investigated this question in an exploratory, three-stage experiment on epidemic response. Our participants were experienced practitioners in the fields of crisis decision-making and information analysis. We found that analysts fail to successfully debias data, even when biases are detected, and that this failure can be attributed to undervaluing debiasing efforts in favor of rapid results. This failure leads to the development of biased information products that are conveyed to decision-makers, who consequently make decisions based on biased information. Confirmation bias reinforces the reliance on conclusions reached with biased data, leading to a vicious cycle, in which biased assumptions remain uncorrected. We suggest mindful debiasing as a possible counter-strategy against these bias effects in CIM.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Interplay of Data and Cognitive Bias in Crisis Information Management

et al. 2022

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“…They may be included or excluded against their will or knowledge ' (2020: 443). Refugees are required to use digital cash transfers in some places, which produces a lot of data, but they cannot necessarily consent if it is the only option (Jacobsen and Fast 2019). This is not inevitable.…”

Section: Research Themesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risks, Accountability and Technology Thematic Working Paper

Faith¹,

Roberts²,

Hernandez³

2022

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Aid agencies, governments, and donors are expanding investment in digitisation of their beneficiary identification and registration systems, and remote and algorithmic control of humanitarian and social protection programmes. They are doing so in ways that may facilitate the move from humanitarian assistance to government provision, and facilitate the delivery of shock-responsive social protection. This paper looks at evidence on the role of digital technologies in the nexus between humanitarian and social assistance, assessing their benefits and risks. We conclude with an exploration of emergent research themes, recommendations for future research in this area, and links with the broader Better Assistance in Crises (BASIC) Research programme themes.

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“…Sustained by the growing importance of the private sector in humanitarianism, this trend has influenced discourses, strategies and priorities, as underlined by the attention that corporate-philanthropic actors are paying to the need to 'financially include' refugees (Tazzioli, 2019). Humanitarian organizations, international donors and NGOs are therefore spearheading a view of biometrics resting on the idea that technology is merely a means to achieve greater efficiency in aid distribution and refugee registration, with beneficial implications for humanitarian protection (Jacobsen & Fast, 2019; see also Read et al, 2016).…”

Section: Biometrics and Humanitarian Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Infrastructure of compassionate repression: making sense of biometrics in Kakuma refugee camp

Iazzolino

2020

Information Technology for Development

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My article focuses on the pilot of a Biometric Identity Management System (BIMS) for the distribution on in-kind aid in Kakuma refugee camp, in Kenya's Turkana county, to examine the perception of biometric systems of verification by refugees. It explores how Somali refugees reflect on the implications of BIMS for their relations vis-à-vis humanitarian organizations, the Kenya state and other refugees, making sense of the humanitarian rationality tasked with both managing and policing populations in need. It thus argues that biopolitical technologies such as biometrics highlight, and heighten, the tension between care and surveillance as refugees challenge the official motives behind biometric infrastructures with counter-narratives situated in a specific sociopolitical milieu. Through an intense interpretative labor, which I captured in interviews and focus group discussions in Kakuma and Eastleigh, Nairobi, refugees open a crack in the apolitical veneer of humanitarianism, revealing, and challenging, the politics of biometrics.

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Rethinking access: how humanitarian technology governance blurs control and care

Cited by 29 publications

References 45 publications

On the Interplay of Data and Cognitive Bias in Crisis Information Management

On the Interplay of Data and Cognitive Bias in Crisis Information Management

Risks, Accountability and Technology Thematic Working Paper

Infrastructure of compassionate repression: making sense of biometrics in Kakuma refugee camp

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