How open data could save lives during a natural disaster

In a new article published in The Conversation, the GovLab’s Stefaan Verhulst breaks down data responsibility, and how — when properly used — data can save lives in crisis situations.
Verhulst takes us to the 2015 earthquake in Nepal for an example. In the earthquake, which killed nearly 9,000 people, Nepal’s largest mobile network carrier, Ncell, shared its data with the Swedish nonprofit Flowminder. Flowminder was able to (anonymously) track the location of Ncell’s users throughout the country, and sharing that information with the Nepalese government and human rights organizations, aid was more effectively apportioned throughout the country.
“Data responsibility — and corporate data sharing — is an emerging concept, still in development,” Verhulst writes. “But it is becoming increasingly apparent that it can play a central role in fostering a variety of public ends, including in the way we respond to natural and other disasters.”
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