Today it’s our pleasure to introduce you to Susanna Acland, Research and Policy Manager at Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation, GSMA. GSMA’s Mobile for Humanitarian (M4H) Innovation programme brings together mobile operators and humanitarian partners to accelerate the delivery and impact of digital humanitarian assistance – and through its innovation fund, GSMA invests in innovative solutions that harness mobile technology.
Susanna works to tackle policy barriers through advocacy, and deliver thought leadership and evidence to inform the future of digital humanitarian response through the work of the research team. To date, GSMA has reached over 11 million people with improved access to and use of life-enhancing mobile-enabled services during humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery.
1. Tell us about how the innovation fund came about, and why it is so important.
The GSMA’s mobile for humanitarian innovation funds support innovative digital solutions which aid crises responses and build resilience against humanitarian challenges. Priorities for the fund include supporting our contracted grantees through their project, assisting with technical support, making connections with mobile operators and appropriate partners, offering marketing and exposure opportunities, and supporting them with scaling and replication once their funds have been spent. As the humanitarian sector continues to shift towards anticipatory action, we felt it was both logical and timely for the Innovation Fund to invest in innovative solutions that utilise digital and mobile, to help drive this shift, deliver anticipatory action and generate learning and evidence. Our most recent fund “Innovation Fund for Anticipatory Humanitarian Action” provides support to 8 grantees with innovative solutions that leverage mobile digital technology to help anticipate potential humanitarian impacts and enable effective early response. By focusing on the important theme of anticipatory action the Fund will contribute towards the minimisation of humanitarian impacts and the improvement of preparedness in the face of sudden-onset crises.
2. What additional early warning/early action initiatives are you working on?
We’re working in multiple areas of early warnings and early action, including research, policy and supporting stakeholder partnerships and implementation.
EW4All Engagement
The GSMA has championed the incorporation of mobile technology into early warning systems for over a decade and strongly welcomed the UN’s announcement of the Early Warnings for All initiative (EW4All). Our organisation is involved in both the strategic and operational aspects of EW4All including participation in the high-level advisory board and the Pillar 3 working group (warning dissemination and communication), ensuring the mobile industry’s perspective is represented. At the country level, the GSMA seeks to ensure the local mobile network operators (MNOs) are actively involved in EW4All design and implementation of EW4All activities.
Humanitarian Connectivity Charter
Mobile networks provide a vital lifeline in emergencies, and can deliver early warning messages to support effective preparedness, early action and response. Recognising this, the GSMA launched the Humanitarian Connectivity Charter (HCC) in 2015. The HCC has a clear set of guidelines and best practices that support MNOs to prepare for, respond to, and recover from an emergency. The HCC is a tool to galvanise the mobile industry's participation in disaster resilience, and actively engaging these stakeholders in strategies and initiatives related to DRR is essential as they form a key industry for enabling disaster resilience. The Charter has strong support from the mobile industry around the world and the GSMA engages its members through convenings and bespoke technical assistance, including specifically on early action and early warning system. For example, building on past experience in Sri Lanka working on Dialog's Disaster and Emergency Warning Network (DEWN), we are currently supporting Digicel in Haiti to operationalise a mobile-enabled early warning system.
NET Plans
M4H works with government regulators and mobile operators, in coordination with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), to support the development of National Emergency Telecommunications plans (NET plans) which often contain early warning systems development or strengthening. For instance, we have supported the development of the Model NET Plan (NET Plan Guidelines) for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and are currently collaborating with the ITU to ensure it is localised for various countries. This involves offering direct policy assistance to SADC member states to implement the Model NET Plan effectively. Similarly, we are working with Somalia in supporting the telecommunications regulator to ensure that they have an implementation matrix for their recently ratified NET Plan (which we also supported in developing), and are also supporting Somaliland’s ICT Ministry in developing their NET Plan.
Cell broadcast research
M4H recently published Cell Broadcast for Early Warning Systems: A review of the technology and how to implement it in November 2023. The report focuses on the potential of cell broadcast technology as a channel for facilitating and disseminating early warnings, in close coordination with ITU. Developed in 1988 and first used for the distribution of early warning messages in 2005, the technology has been celebrated for attributes that lend it so well to this purpose. While it has limitations, continued development and innovation have expanded its potential. This report outlines the current state of play for cell broadcast-enabled early warning systems, providing a follow-up to a GSMA report on the topic published in 2013.
Inclusive risk communication research
In partnership with the South African Red Cross (SARCS), using participatory and design research methods, we spoke to marginalised communities in three locations in South Africa to assess the inclusivity of risk communications and explore how to make them more inclusive and actionable. The research aims to produce recommendations for SARCS, to strengthen its role in the disaster response ecosystem, as well as broader lessons for the global early warning system community on how to become more inclusive of marginalised groups.
Tanzania
M4H is working in partnership with the Prime Minister’s Office (responsible for disaster management in Tanzania) and the Tanzania Red Cross Society, with the ambition to refine a national early warning system strategy with collaboration across all involved stakeholders. To initiate this, a National Convening on Early Warning Systems and the Role of Mobile Technology took place with participation from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Meteorological Agency, and other various ministries as well as Mobile Network Operators, Regulatory Authorities, and technical experts. A technical steering committee is being established and the GSMA is conducting participatory research to understand user preferences, inclusive of marginalised communities, for receiving early warnings and risk communications. This research will inform an early warning systems pilot.
3. How has being a REAP Partner helped you in your work?
Becoming a partner of REAP has been a hugely beneficial for the M4H programme at the GSMA. Through REAPs extensive network we have met and established valuable relationships with multiple partners, leading to several collaborations. Knowledge sharing has helped to guide the direction for some of our research and enabled us to align our work with other efforts in the sector. In initiating our risk communications research, we spoke to numerous REAP members and joined in discussions to help guide the design of the research and incorporate existing knowledge. There is a real sense that REAP has cultivated a supportive environment, in which partners are working towards common goals rather than in competition or on a transactional basis. The REAP platform has also been great for showcasing our grantees and linking them up with relevant insights and stakeholders.
4. What do you see as the next 1-2 priorities to tackle so that we can take early action to scale?
Early action is enabled by effective early warning systems, and in order for them to effectively scale at a country by country level, securing government buy-in and fostering collaboration among stakeholders is crucial for maximizing impact. This entails facilitating partnerships among government agencies, NGOs, private sector, academia, and local communities to streamline efforts and avoid duplication, and ensuring a cohesive approach to scaling.
Secondly, incorporating people-centred approaches into early warning and early action initiatives is essential. Empowering local communities in decision-making, integrating indigenous knowledge, and tailoring warnings to cultural contexts is crucial for enhancing effectiveness and sustainability, as well as ensuring that initiatives are inclusive of, and relevant, for the most marginalised communities.