MIT efforts support humanitarian needs assessment in Haiti
It’s early May, and our team of hard-working MIT and Tufts students has been refining its analysis of data collected in Haiti and documenting lessons learned, which in the weeks ahead will be combined into a final report. They’ve spent many a day in conference rooms like the one shown here. There may be no windows, but there are plenty of electrical outlets. Most weeks, some half-dozen students would each work on a laptop, jotting notes on the whiteboard, debating the design of the analysis, and discussing locational coding and data elements. What do we call the intensive, work-until-you’re-done session? Now you know: it’s a “datapalooza.”
Later this month, we’ll share some reflections in a day-long “After Action Review” organized by MIT Lincoln Laboratory to further consolidate insights gained through the wider data collection and analysis effort in Haiti. The review is designed and run by colleagues from across Lincoln Lab and features others on the distributed team including Dr Louise Ivers of Harvard University and Partners in Health/Zanmi Lasante.
The combined MIT team aims to share materials and participate in the wider dialog about how to better manage and assess efforts in humanitarian emergencies.
More background material appears earlier in this blog, but here’s an overview of what we’ve been up to: MIT Lincoln Laboratory, the Center for Transportation and Logistics, and the Sloan School of Management have been collaborating on assessments to inform humanitarian efforts in Haiti in the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake. The project was designed to take stock of the state of food, shelter, water, health, and security for residents of Haiti [click to continue…]
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