Disaster and Technology

Dave Winer has issued a call to action to bring IT to disaster relief, and there are already some folks applying their minds to the problem and are creating XML solutions.

Suggestion: Don’t write one line of code, not one XML spec, until you’ve worked a week in a Red Cross call center on family reunification tasks.

You’ll come away with a much better appreciation for the requirements and the scope of the task. What’s more you’ll understand that the user groups involved – victims; separated family; anxious friends; employers; disaster relief volunteers and professionals – all have different needs and abilities to contribute to the task of reunification.

You’ll also understand that a wholly electronic system can’t be envisioned, at least not for all of the various stages of a disaster.

Any solution crafted without direct experience in the thick of things will fall short; that’s not to say such a solution might not be useful and fill holes or create opportunity where today there is none – not at all.

Volunteering with the Red Cross in a call center will open eyes and stimulate thinking. What’s more – and forget all the technology stuff – just volunteering with the Red Cross will leave you with a warm feeling inside.