As part of the ongoing close collaboration between OCHA and QCRI, regular conversations on how to improve crisis computing have taken place over the past few years. In May 2014, members of OCHA and QCRI met in Doha to discuss our ongoing efforts and recognized that it is clear that innovations in policy were equally important as innovations in humanitarian technology. Standardization of social media (and data) hashtags and the encouragement of enabling GPS during crisis were recognized as a policy piece that could have major impact on integrating big-crisis data into emergency response going forward. This think brief is the culmination of the research.

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 2014