Schools across Bangladesh are highly vulnerable to floods, cyclones, and earthquakes. How can the country mitigate and respond to the risks of these natural hazards? By using the GeoDASH platform – a geospatial data sharing platform – the Directorate of Primary Education of Bangladesh has assessed 35,000 schools with respect to the type of infrastructure, water… Read more »
Launch of the Design for Impact Framework: Integrating Open Data and Risk Communication for Decision-Making
The framework and publication provide a new organizational resource for project designers working to ensure risk data and information is developed, maintained, and communicated in ways that tangibly build resilience to natural hazards and the impacts of climate change.
A Drone’s Eye View: UAV applications for a resilient Seychelles
In the Seychelles, life straddles the coastline. The 94,000 residents depend upon the sea for sustenance. The country relies on a mere 400 hectares of agricultural land, increasingly at risk of climate-related events. Inspired by the experience of Zanzibar, a neighboring island state with similar challenges, the Seychelles is now embracing drones as a tool to collect low-cost, highly accurate aerial imagery for resilient development.
Views from the 2018 GeoNode Summit
The 2018 GeoNode Summit welcomed many new and regular contributors to Torino, Italy from March 26-28. The Summit, hosted by ITHACA, was a chance for the community to share knowledge, ideas, and use cases for GeoNode – a free and open source software for creating websites that manage and share geospatial data. Find out how you can get involved in the future of GeoNode.
How Afghanistan uses GeoNode to build resilience
Very little information on hazards and risk was available in Afghanistan a few years ago. A team set out to produce information essential to disaster risk management. They developed innovations on top of a standard GeoNode for visualization & cost-benefit analysis, enabling Afghanistan’s planning to incorporate disaster considerations.
MapMoz takes first steps community mapping Mozambique’s vulnerable urban areas
By Remígio Chilaule, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane; Abneusa Stefania, MozDevs; & Bontje Zangerling, The World Bank Like many sub-Saharan African capital cities, Mozambique’s capital Maputo has all the marks of a city whose rate of growth surpasses the ability of its urban systems to cope and respond. The tell-tale symptoms include: ever-expanding suburbs of mostly residential and micro-scale commercial… Read more »
‘Malawi Mappers’ Mobilize to Improve Open Geospatial Data
Author: Christine Mhone is the GIS Projects Leader at mHub, Malawi’s first technology and innovation hub. She was nominated by mHub to represent Malawi at the first State of the Map Africa conference in Kampala, Uganda in 2017. Christine has continued to lead the Malawi Mappers community in adding data to OpenStreetMap. Christine can be… Read more »
Addressing Flood Vulnerability in Niamey, Niger, West Africa
Authors: Dr. Ousmane Seidou is an associate professor of water resources engineering at the University of Ottawa, and an adjunct professor at the United Nations University, Centre for Water, Environmental and Health (UNU-INWEH). He is involved in research, teaching and capacity development activities related to water resources management, hydrological risk and adaptation to climate variability… Read more »
InaSAFE and OpenDRI at State of the Map Africa
In July 2017, the InaSAFE team had the opportunity to present another training course to DRR practitioners. The training integrates various disciplines, such as the creation and use of open data sets (in particular OpenStreetMap), fundamental GIS skills (through the use of QGIS) and skills in using InaSAFE. The course was presented in English and French at Makerere University in Kampala and was attended by thirty DRR practitioners from government agencies and universities in Niger, Madagascar, Comoros, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi and Uganda.
OpenDRI is Hiring!
We’re looking for someone to help manage our growing portfolio of projects, engage with our partners to develop new lines of work, and help us strategize how we continue to develop the scale and impact of OpenDRI activities.
High Resolution Digital Surface Models Using Drones for Coastal Communities in São Tomé and Príncipe
To help reduce disaster vulnerability in São Tomé and Príncipe, the OpenDRI team is supporting the Government in coastline exposure projections and drone mapping activities.
Promoting Awareness of OpenStreetMap in Sri Lanka
To date, OpenDRI has engaged effectively with the public sector pushing for adoption of OSM. However, there is still a major gap in engagement with local businesses and tech start-ups that would expand and deepen OSM use and knowledge.
Mahatsangy: the start of a resilient open data movement in Madagascar
The OpenDRI project has catapulted discussions around data sharing in Madagascar, and productively problematized the lack thereof. It has engaged stakeholders to talk about best practices in geospatial data production and has reminded the country of the value of statistical and geospatial data in policy and investment decisions.
Consulting Opportunity: New Research Project on Innovations in Risk Information Launched at SRA 2016
We’re now looking to bring on board a partner to help us conduct research. We have posted the project on the World Bank’s eConsult website. Further details can be found under selection #1235109.
Mapping the Comoros Archipelago
The objective of the OpenDRI project in the Comoros is twofold: first, fill data gaps by building assets using OpenStreetMap (OSM) tools; and second, develop an online data-sharing platform to centralize and share risk data in the country.
What can you do with a high-resolution population map?
Population density is one of the most important statistics for development efforts across many sectors, and since early 2016 the World Bank has been collaborating with Facebook on evaluating a new source of high-resolution population data that sheds light on previously unmapped populations.
InaSAFE Training in Salima, Malawi
To meet the needs of the Government of Malawi, GFDRR asked Kartoza to conduct a three-day training on InaSAFE in Salima. With a total of 14 participants in attendance, there were staff from different government departments including the Department of Disaster Affairs, Surveys department, UNIMA-Polytechnic, Physical planning, and Department of Land Resources.
OpenDRI Partners with JICA on Training for Flood Mapping in Colombia
In October 2016 OpenDRI hosted a day-long event during JICA’s flood mapping workshop for the National Unit of Disaster Risk Management in Colombia. Technical experts attended the workshop to learn about how open data and open source tools can be used for decision making during a natural disaster event.
RASOR project support to flood risk analysis in Malawi: Workshop Debrief
OpenDRI and RASOR are working together to develop multi-hazard risk assessments for Malawi’s lakeshore region. A workshop was held in July 2016 to deliver the consolidated results of flood risk analyses conducted over the past year and to outline the RASOR platform process and procedure.
Drone Applications for Community Mapping: Tanzania Case Study
This case study provides a brief overview of the ongoing collaborative engagements between the World Bank, Tanzanian Government, the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, and Swiss based non-profit organization, Drone Adventures.
The new OpenDRI website is officially launched!
This week, the editors of the World Bank blog entitled “Voices” featured a blog post called Opening up a world of data for resilience: A global effort to help access and use countries’ disaster risk information by the Open Data for Resilience Initiative’s very own Vivien Deparday.
The Global Impact of Data: Key Findings from Detailed Case Studies Around the World
The Global Impact of Data, for which OpenDRI’s very own Vivien Deparday was interviewed, by GovLab seeks to explore what we know little about how open data actually works and what forms of impact it is really having.
Open Data for Resilience Initiative will see you at Understanding Risk 2016!
The OpenDRI team is super excited about UR2016 in Venice! The themes of open data, community participation in risk assessment, and improving risk communications are all hot topics at this event.
Participatory Mapping for Historical Flood Inundation Extents
As the neighbourhoods of Ramani Huria have been mapped, it is now possible to start building upon these maps. This can take many forms, but the community is at the heart of how these maps are being used.
How are Ramani Huria maps being used in the wards?
Six Masters students from Columbia University evaluated Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team’s work in Tanzania and that of Dar Ramani Huria, whose efforts allow significant efficiency gains in government planning.
How Do You Start Mapping Unmapped Streets?
Nadia Whitehead of National Public Radio (NPR) highlights the value of thework the World Bank conducts in Tanzania through the Open Data for Resilience Initiative.
Surveying Sri Lanka’s Gampaha District
The Gampaha District is an urban and agricultural district located on the Western coast of Sri Lanka just north of Colombo in the Attanagalu Oya River basin. This area is very prone to flooding with important human, material, and financial damages.
Upcoming Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre Fellowship and RiskInfo Launch
In partnership with the Open Data for Resilience Initiative, Code for Resilience awards qualified local applicants three month fellowships to work together on code-based projects that can benefit disaster management in Sri Lanka.
Project Highlights: Building Resilient Communities in Vietnam
This Project Highlights brief introduces the challenges, approach, results, lessons learned, and next steps of the work to build resilient communities in Vietnam supported by GFDRR.
Battling Ebola in Sierra Leone: Data Sharing to Improve Crisis Response
In 2014, the largest Ebola outbreak in history occurred in West Africa. A number of data-driven initiatives sought to improve the quality of information available to humanitarians working to address the crisis, including the Ebola GeoNode that OpenDRI worked on deploying.
Open Cities Sri Lanka Expands From Batticaloa City to Attanagalu Oya River Basin
By Robert Banick In years past, OpenDRI in Sri Lanka focused primarily on the Open Cities project, introducing government, students and local communities in the eastern city of Batticaloa to free and open source mapping tools. We did this so they could both map their own communities and help government disaster managers to capture risk… Read more »
Disaster Risk Management in Armenia
The Government of Armenia has recently received US$1.75 million for 2.5 years to improve disaster risk information, enhance disaster risk reduction, strengthen disaster preparedness, and improve understanding of fiscal disaster risks and risk financing options.
The Digital Divide: a challenge to overcome in tackling climate change
Try to imagine a world without the Internet.
Impossible, isn’t it?
Over the past 25 years, the Internet has become the nervous system of our society, interconnecting all the different parts of our everyday lives. Our social interactions, ways of doing business, traveling and countless other activities are supported and governed by this technology.
At this very moment, just over three billion people are connected to the Internet, 105 billion emails are being sent, two million blog posts have just been written (including this one) and YouTube has collected four billion views. These numbers give you a glimpse of the extent to which humanity is intimately and deeply dependent on this technology.
The digital revolution has changed the daily lives of billions of people. But what about the billions who have been left out of this technological revolution?
ODI and GODAN ask for help finding valuable data for agriculture
Contribute to their crowd sourced list of different types, sources and examples of data related to agriculture to help develop a better understanding of data in the sector.
Project NOAH launches New DRRM Online Platform
Project NOAH officially launched its new disaster risk reduction and management online platform on 11 December 2015. New innovations and features were added to the platform to enhance the existing disaster information and management system. The information and improved tools included in the platform can be used in terms of planning against and preparing for disasters…
We Need Open Data to Fight Climate Change
“We’re going to need more and better data to measure and track progress against global climate change targets, including information on temperature changes, mapping deforestation and biodiversity in real time and cataloguing changes to flood plains as oceans rise. Making this data open by design could be the secret ingredient that accelerates progress.”
Leading science groups urge global accord on Open Data in a Big Data World
A group of four major international science organisations – including ISSC – have today called for global endorsement of an accord to help assure open access to volumes of “big data” that increasingly are the basis of research and policy-making.
The losing battle against corruption: why open data is important for Africa
In this article Irene Ikomu discusses how transparency through open data has the potential to eradicate corruption in Africa, but in order for that to happen the whole continent has to buy in.
The experience of Mexico’s Fonden in catastrophe bonds, lessons for Asia
New Asian Development Bank blogpost discusses how disaster related data is a vital part of risk management and shares what lessons countries in Asia can learn from Mexico’s experience with Fonden.
What are the impacts of non-open licenses?
The ODI explains why the decision about which license to use is one of the most important steps in publishing a dataset.
Rapid, Climate-Informed Development Needed to Keep Climate Change from Pushing More than 100 Million People into Poverty by 2030
“A new World Bank report shows that climate change is an acute threat to poorer people across the world, with the power to push more than 100 million people back into poverty over the next fifteen years. And the poorest regions of the world – Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia – will be hit the hardest.”
The economic impact of open data: what do we already know?
“Open data fuels economic growth. Many believe in the theory and ask for the proof. A new report by Nesta and the ODI adds to the evidence of the impact of open data. The report’s analysis, undertaken by PwC, examines the effects of the Open Data Challenge Series (ODCS) and predicts the programme will result in a potential 10x return (£10 for every £1 invested over three years), generating up to £10.8m for the UK economy.”
More voices mean smarter cities
Creating mechanisms for participation in urban planning can be as traditional as institutionalizing town meetings on zoning issues or as innovative as deploying digital platforms for community mapping. For instance, a number of initiatives, such as the Open Cities Project, illustrate the ways in which citizens can help contribute information to the policymaking process.
Open Cities draws on inputs from a range of groups to “create usable information through community mapping techniques, to build applications and tools that inform decision making, and to develop the networks of trust and social capital necessary for these efforts to become sustainable.” The project informs World Bank investment planning on addressing urban challenges and disaster risk in pilot cities in South Asia.
Mapping infrastructure in a vulnerable city in support of USAID/OFDA programming
During OSMGeoWeek, teams were supported by USAID/OFDA for mapping infrastructure vulnerable to the floods in Ambon, Indonesia as part of an ongoing effort to fill data gaps.
Harnessing the Power of the Crowd – Reflections Six Months after the Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal
Through the Open Data for Resilience project, The World Bank, GFDRR, and other partners are supporting efforts to map areas at risk before a disaster strikes.
•In the six months following the April 2015 earthquake, OpenStreetMap data for Nepal was accessed by more than 3,300 users using a GFDRR platform that tailored the data for response and recovery.
•Urban areas around the world, including cities in Indonesia, Philippines, Malawi and Bangladesh, are a major focus of mapping efforts.
Paying it forward in a digital age: A global community committed to a mapped world
When I first heard about OpenStreetMap (OSM) – the so called Wikipedia of maps, built by volunteers around the world – I was skeptical of its ability to scale, usability in decision making, and ultimate longevity among new ideas conceived in the digital age. Years later, having working on many disaster risk management initiatives across the globe, I can say that I am a passionate advocate for the power of this community. And I continue to be struck by the power of one small initiative like OSM that brings together people across cultures and countries to save lives. It is more than a technology or a dataset, it’s a global community of individuals committed to making a difference.
People may be surprised to find that the maps we take for granted in metropolitan areas of the developed world may be completely absent, vastly out of date, or pay-per-view in the developing world. Imagine an urban area without a transportation network, government agencies without access to the location of their assets (schools, health facilities, etc), or even a map without village names. This is the reality for many of the countries most vulnerable to disaster risk. Now, imagine this urban area facing an unprecedented crisis brought by flooding, an earthquake, a pandemic – think about the challenges of planning a response.
How to: convert XML or JSON into spreadsheets using Open Refine
One of the most useful applications of the data cleaning tool Open Refine (formerly Google Refine) is converting XML and JSON files into spreadsheets that you can interrogate in Excel…
InaSAFE 3.2.1 now released
An InaSAFE bug fix release was launched. It which provides improvements to the presentation of impact summaries and can be downloaded from the QGIS plugin manager.
Sustainable Development Goals and Open Data
The United Nations (UN) has developed a set of action-oriented goals to achieve global sustainable development by 2030 and has included the importance of open data in the context of improving resilience to disasters.
Want a ‘Data Revolution’? Then listen to what citizens really want
“Why are the #OpenData and #CivicTech movements repeating all the old mistakes about top-down development? That was the major question tackled at a community skills day during the African Open Data Conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, between September 2-5…”
World Bank Using UAVs for Disaster Risk Reduction in Tanzania
An innovative World Bank team in Tanzania is exploring the use of UAVs for disaster risk reduction efforts. Spearheaded by colleague Edward Anderson, the team recently partnered with friends at Drone Adventures to capture very high-resolution images of flood-prone areas in the country’s capital. This imagery is now being used to generate Digital Terrain Models to develop more reliable flood-inundation models at… Read more »
The Kick Off Workshop-Community Mapping For Flood Resilience (#DarRamaniHuria)
Dar Ramani Huria is a Swahili phrase that means “The Open Map of Dar es Salaam” and getting more than 100 people from different Government and Non Government Institutions was the perfect opportunity to talk about Community Mapping and how it can be used for Flood Resilience. 26th March, 2015 was the Kick Off Workshop… Read more »
What does a world champion boxer have to do with saving lives in a disaster?
In this article Yann Kerblat shares how Project NOAH is making risk communication more comprehensible by incorporating Filipino icon and boxer, Manny Pacquiao.
Community Mapping For Flood Resilience Kick Off Workshop
The kick-off workshop was held on March 26th at the Buni Innovation Hub, at the Commission for Science and Technology. Panel: Innovating Urban Flooding Primer: Addressing the Urban Flood Challenge—Innovations and Opportunities Rekha Menon, Program Leader, World Bank Prof. Robert Kiunsi, Dean of the School of Real Estate Studies (SRES), Ardhi University Julia Letara, Town… Read more »
Community Mapping for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management: Harnessing Local Knowledge to Build Resilience in the Philippines
In May 2013, the World Bank, the Department of Interior and Local Government, and the Institute of Environmental Science for Social Change launched a project on Community Mapping and LGU Decision Support Tools for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management.
In Malawi, Citizens Get Involved as Innovative Technologies Help Them Better Understand and Manage Disaster Risks
Citizens recently participated in a mapping exercise to provide data for early flood preparation in Malawi’s vulnerable districts. Mapping is the next step in the launch of the open source geospatial data platform in Malawi, providing vital information on natural disasters to district departments. More community engagement results in a clearer understanding of risks and disaster preparedness.
MAPA-HANDA: Customizing InaSAFE for Philippine Context
Understanding the importance of decentralizing DRRM for a more relevant DRRM planning, Philippine’s National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), the NationaI Youth Commission (NYC), and the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) initiated MAPA-HANDA, a joint effort to develop online modules on mapping for local DRRM planning.
Can Mapping Help Increase Disaster Resilience?
According to Marc Forni of The World Bank, they can. Find out how the Open Cities project became a key platform for building resilience in this blog post from November 2014.
4 Years On, Looking Back at OpenStreetMap Response to the Haiti Earthquake
In 2014, Robert Soden reflected on the progress The World Bank and GFDRR made by becoming involved in the world of crowd sourced mapping. Now with a fully fledged program that leads dozens of projects worldwide and a host of strong partnerships, it is powerful to step back into his article and see where we’ve been and where OpenDRI has the potential to go.
Tackling Trouble in Paradise: Indian Ocean Island States to Build Financial Resilience to Natural Disasters
A pristine beach and warm paradise come to mind when there is mention of tropical islands such as the Seychelles or Mauritius, located in the southwest Indian Ocean. However, trouble can occur rapidly due to the region’s extreme vulnerability to cyclones, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis. In 2013, the impact of 15 tropical disturbances caused more… Read more »
IT community competes in Disaster Management software development
Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, is prone to natural disasters such as floods and fires. The World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction & Recovery and the Jakarta Disaster Management Agency held a competition to gather ideas on how information technology can be used in disaster situations.
To Save Lives and Livelihoods, Start By Understanding Disaster Risk
In 1999, the state of Odisha, India, was hit by the most powerful tropical cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean, causing nearly 10,000 fatalities and US$5 billion in damages. For the next decade, the government of Odisha and partners worked to identify and mitigate cyclone risk. When the similarly intense Cyclone Phailin struck Odisha in October 2013, the region counted 99.6% fewer deaths.
We cannot prevent a monsoon or cyclone from striking – and as population growth, urbanization, and climate change are on the rise, the frequency and impact of natural disasters will increase. But with innovation, collaboration and a better understanding of risk, we can build communities that are more resilient to natural hazards.
Open Cities in Kathmandu: Health Centers Critical Health Sector Infrastructure
As detailed in the context of Kathmandu, one aspect of the the Open Cities Project engagement is the collection of asset and exposure data in urban areas in order to create a robust asset inventory. The Open Cities Project collects data through open and participatory methods in partnership with local government agencies, universities, technical communities, and the private sector. Open Cities Kathmandu has to date mapped over 100,000 buildings and collected exposure data for 2256 educational and 350 health facilities within Kathmandu Valley.
Open Cities in Kathmandu: Educational Facilities Critical Educational Sector Infrastructure
As detailed in the context of Kathmandu, one aspect of the the Open Cities Project engagement is the collection of asset and exposure data in urban areas in order to create a robust asset inventory. The Open Cities Project collects data through open and participatory methods in partnership with local government agencies, universities, technical communities, and the private sector. Open Cities Kathmandu has to date mapped over 100,000 buildings and collected exposure data for 2256 educational and 350 health facilities within Kathmandu Valley.
Computer Programmers Join the “Code for Resilience” Hackathon to Enhance Vietnam’s Resilience to Natural Disasters
“The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the World Bank, in collaboration with HATCH! PROGRAM, a leading entrepreneur community and social incubator in Vietnam, will host the global event: “Hackathon Code For Resilience” in Vietnam, with support from the Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.”
Helping Build Resilient Communities
Following the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 2004, the Government of Indonesia began compiling a comprehensive approach to disaster risk management (DRM). The World Bank has helped through several small interventions, such as preparing the software program InaSafe and supporting the building of ‘safe’ schools, which have had wide-ranging impact and incorporate disaster risk management in overall development planning.
New disaster management software released worldwide: InaSAFE 2.0
A new version of software that can predict the social and human impact of natural disasters was released in Indonesia on 7 April 2014.
TechRepublic highlights OpenDRI’s “excellent new field guide”
In a TechRepublic article, Alex Howard gives the Open Data for Resilience Initiative Field Guide a shout out while discussing how releasing open data supports the United States federal government’s goal of improving community resilience against climate change and primes the pump for meaningful reuse by tech giants.
Webinar: Data for Post-Disaster Decision-Making in Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines
We are kicking off our Caribbean Open Data for Resilience (OpenDRI) Webinar Series on Wednesday, March 26 at 2:30 pm ET! This webinar, Data for Post-Disaster Decision-Making in Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, will focus on the Rapid Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA) conducted in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the rapid disaster impact needs assessment conducted in Saint Lucia following the heavy rains that occurred on December 25, 2013.
New Field Guide Explores Open Data Innovations in Disaster Risk and Resilience
From Indonesia to Nepal, Haiti to Malawai, community members armed with smartphones and GPS systems are contributing to some of the most extensive and versatile maps ever created, helping inform policy and better prepare their communities for disaster risk.
New World Bank Tool Enhances Access and Communication of Climate and Disaster Risk Data
With an increasingly unpredictable climate and rising numbers of natural disasters, the need for accurate and actionable data for the project of building resilience is growing. In response, the World Bank has launched the Open Data for Resilience Initiative (OpenDRI) Field Guide, a practical manual for governments and other organizations aimed at setting foundational standards for the open source creation and communication of disaster and climate change information.
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Insights in DRM – A Case for Open Data
Here is the debut publication of “Insights in DRM – A Practitioner’s Perspective on Disaster Risk Management in Latin America and the Caribbean”. The first issue, Open Data for Resilience (OpenDRI) in the Caribbean, focuses on the use of spatial data in decision making to reduce disaster risk.
Building Urban Resilience in East Asia: Principles, Tools, and Practice
This handbook is a resource for enhancing disaster resilience in urban areas. It summarizes the guiding principles, tools, and practices in key economic sectors that can facilitate incorporation of resilience concepts into the decisions about infrastructure investments and general urban management that are integral to reducing disaster and climate risks.
Open Data and Mapping for Disasters and Development
This post is a summary of one that appeared on the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery Site and was originally authored by Christina Irene.
The Little Data Book on Climate Change
When President Robert Zoellick launched the World Bank’s Open Data Initiative in April 2010, he said its purpose was to “open the treasure chest of the World Bank’s data and knowledge to every village, to everyone everywhere.” This small book and the much bigger open database behind it are part of this same goal.
Bank Climate Change Portal Helps Visualize World Climate, Expands Access to Data
How much will temperatures rise in 30, 40, or 50 years? How could changing weather affect rain-fed crops in the Horn of Africa, or winter flooding and summer droughts in Uzbekistan? And what should countries do to prepare for more intense droughts and storms?
These are the kinds of questions the World Bank hopes to answer with a new initiative to expand access to climate data and spark innovation in the fight against climate change around the world.