Humanitarian organisations are experimenting with data and emerging tech in order to adapt to increasingly complex needs and operating environments. With the help of these tools, we are creating new ways to mobilise people and resources so we can better support communities in need. At the same time, recent experiences with the uses of data and technology to automate, predict, monitor and target illustrate a host of potential harms. From the rise of the so-called digital welfare state to the rapid introduction of digital solutions in response to COVID-19, we’ve seen how such tools can expose people and communities to new forms of intrusion, insecurity and inequality.

A recent Humanitech report “Future of Vulnerability: Humanity in the Digital Age” explores these issues and more. Hosted by Ivana Jurko from Humanitech at Australian Red Cross, the expert panellists will reflect on the insights from the report and their own work and explore how we can shape a ‘humanity first’ agenda for research, development and use of data and digital technologies.

Speakers: Ivana Jurko, Evidence and Influence @ Humanitech, Distinguished Prof Julian Thomas, Director of the Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-making and Society, Amanda Robinson, Head of Humanitech and Social Innovation, Katy Southall, General Manager – Trust Alliance.

For: practitioners, researchers, decision-makers