Practical Insights on Catholic Relief Services

Data is Now Cheap, But Information is Still Very Expensive

Data is Now Cheap, But Information is Still Very Expensive

Published on: Feb 28 2018 by Catholic Relief Services - 5 Comments
We live in the era of Big Data. That’s not a new statement, it’s not even an exciting one. But there’s an implicit finger wag in there as the statement relates...
What is Your ICT4D Strategy in International Development?

What is Your ICT4D Strategy in International Development?

Published on: Dec 06 2017 by Catholic Relief Services - Comments Off on What is Your ICT4D Strategy in International Development?
In a mobile-first and cloud-first world, where information comes in torrents and connectivity gets ever-closer to ubiquitous it can be tempting to assume that the...
How Do You Mitigate Large Scale Distribution Risk For 3 Million Constituents?

How Do You Mitigate Large Scale Distribution Risk For 3 Million Constituents?

Published on: Oct 25 2017 by Catholic Relief Services - Comments Off on How Do You Mitigate Large Scale Distribution Risk For 3 Million Constituents?
Food distribution is a huge part of foreign aid in times of food insecurity. For Ethiopia, around 1.5 million acute food insecure households have received food...
You Need to Use UAVs in Emergencies

You Need to Use UAVs in Emergencies

Published on: Sep 14 2017 by Catholic Relief Services - 3 Comments
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or drones, really excel in emergencies as they satisfy the first need in an emergency: provide quick, cheap, and highly local damage estimates....
How Do You Know When You Are Done?

How Do You Know When You Are Done?

Published on: Jul 31 2017 by Catholic Relief Services - Comments Off on How Do You Know When You Are Done?
Here is one of the basic questions for a mass Long Lasting Insecticidal Net distribution campaign, “How do you know when you are done?” Population data...
Please Use Spatial Analysis And Stop Asking People to Walk All Day

Please Use Spatial Analysis And Stop Asking People to Walk All Day

Published on: Jun 28 2017 by Catholic Relief Services - 2 Comments
The poor walk a lot. They walk every day to and from work, childcare, clinics, wells and anywhere else they need to go. They have limited time and may be tired...
11 Cost-Effective Uses of Drones in ICT for Agriculture

11 Cost-Effective Uses of Drones in ICT for Agriculture

Published on: Jun 07 2017 by Catholic Relief Services - 1 Comment
In February CRS, in collaboration with NetHope, flew a drone, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), over cashew farms in central Benin. Just from a first look at the...
How to Develop and Implement Responsible Data Policies

How to Develop and Implement Responsible Data Policies

Published on: Nov 21 2016 by Linda Raftree - Comments Off on How to Develop and Implement Responsible Data Policies
A friend reminded me at the MERL Tech Conference that a few years ago when we brought up the need for greater attention to privacy, security and ethics when using...
How to Implement an ICT4D Strategy in an International Development Organization

How to Implement an ICT4D Strategy in an International Development Organization

Published on: May 27 2015 by Guest Writer - Comments Off on How to Implement an ICT4D Strategy in an International Development Organization
The growing access to information and communication technologies in developing communities is having a transformative effect on the way in which international relief...
Please RSVP Now for  Build for Sustainability: ICT4D Principle 4

Please RSVP Now for Build for Sustainability: ICT4D Principle 4

Published on: Nov 13 2014 by Wayan Vota - Comments Off on Please RSVP Now for Build for Sustainability: ICT4D Principle 4
The Greentree Consensus represents a concerted effort by donors to capture the most important lessons learned by the development community in the implementation...