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Update #1 on Ecuador Earthquake - SBTF Update #1 for the Ecuador Earthquake Ecuador is now on its third day since the 7.8 earthquake, one of the most destructive in their history, struck the country Saturday. The death toll has reached 413 with thousands injured or without homes. Some international aid organizations have already reached the area but most are still …

Who is doing what, where to help refugees in Europe - Just before Christmas, we built a picture of what services are available for refugees traveling to and across Europe. This was a spin-off from the deployment we were working for NetHope which involved building data about what was happening in targeted locations. It was hard work, but, in typical SBTF fashion, a huge dataset was built. …

Online volunteers are working online to help connect people travelling to and through Europe as refugees - Volunteers from across the world are sorting through news articles, social media posts and other online sources of information to build a picture of where refugees are and what some of their needs are. The volunteers are from the Standby Task Force which for the past five years has been working online to support humanitarian …

The Standby Task Force has been activated to support NetHope’s work to support refugees in Europe - We have been activated The deployment starts 1200 UTC Sunday December 6 2015 and will run until 1200 UTC Sunday December 20 2015. NetHope teams are installing WiFi Internet services for refugees. They need information about where refugees are gathering so they know where to install their services. Our task is to provide them with …

Afghanistan – Pakistan earthquake: we are preparing in case of activation - UPDATE: 1400 UTC Tuesday 27 October Stand down for Afghanistan – Pakistan earthquake October 2015 It is unlikely that SBTF will be activated to support the response to the Badakshan earthquake. The Pakistan government has indicated that it does not require international assistance to cope with this situation. Along with our partners in the Digital …

Update on SBTF in relation to Hurricane Patricia - Here is a quick update on where the core team thinks we are at 1400 UTC. initial reports are positive with less damage and lower loss of life than feared there is still a risk of flooding and landslip we are in contact with agencies on the ground we think that we may not be activated …

Standby work for Hurricane Patricia - Hurricane Patricia Hurricane Patricia is a very significant system currently heading for Mexico. http://www.gdacs.org/report.aspx?eventtype=TC&eventid=1000231&episodeid=13 http://www.weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/hurricane-patricia-mexico-coast It is expected to make landfall later this evening local time (0000 UTC) Getting ready, just in case We are making preparations in case we are activated. For example we are compiling sources of information and starting to set up …

End of our Refugees in the Balkans deployment - Our work to support Internews in investigating services and information flows for refugees traveling along the Turkey – Balkans – Germany route is now at an end. Helena, the whole Core Team and I would like to thank every single one of the volunteers who worked on this project. The amount of information that you …

Update #6 on Refugees in the Balkans deployment - This is the sixth update on the deployment for refugees on the Balkan route. I will keep it short, I promise. Our deployment ends 18:00 UTC, September 23rd, 2015. This means that we are in the final stretch now. It’s time to focus on searching for more information, to add a few more lines into …

Update #5 on Refugees in the Balkans deployment - This is the fifth update on the deployment for refugees on the Balkan route. Have you met Helena? She’s one of the Leads of this deployment, and she’s our contact with Internews. She is also one of the very first Standby Task Force volunteers, and she now sits on our Board of Directors. Yesterday she …

Update #4 on Refugees in the Balkans deployment – IMPORTANT - This is the fourth update on the deployment for refugees on the Balkan route. Standby Task force has agreed to support Internews in investigating services and information flows for refugees traveling along the Turkey – Balkans – Germany route. Internews will use the data that you are collecting to inform refugees arriving in Europe of …

Update #3 on Refugees in the Balkans deployment – IMPORTANT - This is the third update on the deployment for refugees on the Balkan route. As you may have read, the current “migrant crisis” is something that will be remembered in the history books. To give you an idea of the situation, the last time Europe had so many migrants was at the end of World …

Update #2 on Refugees in the Balkans deployment - This is the second update on the deployment for refugees on the Balkan route. As many of you already know, a powerful 8.3-magnitude earthquake struck Chile on Wednesday. The Core Team is currently monitoring the situation, and we will keep you updated on whether any action will be taken. Meanwhile, our deployment to support Internews …

Update #1 on Refugees in the Balkans deployment - This is the first update on the deployment for refugees on the Balkan route. You may have noticed that this update doesn’t come from Ben. As he won’t have reliable internet connection for the next days, I will update you on the development of our deployment for refugees on the Balkan route. A short introduction: …

Refugees in the Balkans. Activation starts 16 September 2015 - Large numbers of people are travelling from the Middle East into and across Europe. Internews is investigating services and information flows for refugees traveling along the Turkey – Balkans – Germany route. Internews has two staff traveling along the route, making contact with local organizations and researching information on the ground. They also want to …

Rappler teams up with Standby Task Force for Project Agos - MANILA, Philippines – Volunteers from all over the world are once again stepping up to help Filipinos affected by Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit), and many of them are doing it without even stepping foot in the country. Online volunteers from the Standby Task Force (SBTF) mobilized as early as Friday, December 5, to help crowdsource information …

Virtual Volunteers Use Twitter And Facebook To Make Maps Of Nepal - Soon after the earthquake struck on April 25, volunteers began monitoring Twitter, Facebook and other social media for reports from Nepal. Some worked to translate them; others posted to maps and Google docs to help guide responders in the stricken country. Far-flung volunteers are also creating and improving maps of Nepal by studying satellite and …

How The Candy Crush Of Data Is Saving Lives In Nepal - When Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines, it killed more than 10,000 people in a matter of hours. Dale Kunce, a senior geospatial engineer for the American Red Cross, was scrambling stateside to map the tragedy for first responders. The Philippine government had sent 40 pages of hastily scanned Excel tables. “It wasn’t even scanned by …

We’re in the UN Volunteering newsletter - During our Nepal deployment, a group of 14 UN Online Volunteers joined us. The experiences of two of them have just been published in the UN Volunteering newsletter. It’s a great article. Thanks to all the UN Volunteers who helped out.

End of our deployment for Federated States of Micronesia - Our work to support Young Pioneer Disaster Response in their deployment to the Federated States of Micronesia is at an end. We started with a focus on Information Management and we moved on to produce some rather excellent maps. Both of these sets of resources will really help YPDR be more efficient and effective on …

Update #3 on FSM/TC Maysak and call for volunteers - We’re in the final stretch now. Our deployment ends 22:00 UTC today, June 26 2015. 56 volunteers have signed up and, in that distinctive SBTF way, we have got to know the Federated States of Micronesia from a distance. We know the different names for the same islands, the area telephone codes for Chuuk and …

Update #2 on FSM/TC Maysak and call for volunteers - When you have been away from the deployment for a while (because you have been asleep for example) you read back through the Skype chat window to see what was happening while you were out. This is a great thing to do because there is a regular list of new people joining the deployment, people …

Update #1 on FSM/Typhoon Maysak and call for volunteers - Every deployment brings its own challenges and its own. In Nepal, for example, there was the incredible urgency to get information processed as quickly as possible combined with managing hundreds of volunteers within SBTF and in other groups. In FSM the challenge is tracking information down. It’s a small, very remote country. Finding even basic …

Our deployment to support humanitarian assistance to FSM has now begun - As of 09:00 June 23 2015 UTC Standby Task Force has been activated. You can read more about the background to this deployment. We are providing assistance to YPDR from the Philippines. We will be searching for maps and satellite imagery, media sources, locally based social media accounts, resources on local languages and culture, logistics companies, …

Deployment to support the Federated States of Micronesia starts 0900 UTC 23 June 2015 - Background to this deployment Between March 28 2015 and – April 1 2015 a Category Five storm: Typhoon Maysak hit two states in the FSM. The Governors of both states declared states of emergencies shortly afterwards, the president of the Federated States of Micronesia issued a Presidential emergency declaration for both locations. President Barack Obama …

After action report from Nepal published - We’ve compiled a summary of the Standby Task Force deployment to support the humanitarian response to the Nepal earthquake. View the Nepal AAR online as a Google document or download the Nepal Earthquake After Action Report.

July newsletter: for SBTF members - We’ve published an update for SBTF members. It’s the first of what we hope will be a monthly newsletter. It’s available here: July SBTF newsletter but you’ll need to be a SBTF volunteer to read it. If you aren’t a SBTF volunteer why not apply to join now.

Disaster response gets boost from AI, crowdsourced data - http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/208180-crowdsourcing-data-for-humanitarian-disaster-response

Online volunteers help prepare the ground for Nepal emergency relief - https://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/org/resources/newsletter_june_2015.html  

Final 3W report available by agency and by cluster - Our Situational Review of Aid Responders in Nepal – Final Report on 513 Organizations Responding as of May 6, 2015 The report identifies 513 responding organisations. Download the PDF 3W report listing agencies in alphabetical order. Download the XLS (speadsheet) listing agencies by cluster.

Our deployment is complete - We have produced our final 3W reports. The data has gone to many, many humanitarian organisations and will be used to assist and accelerate the coordination of humanitarian groups on the ground. We have processed an extraordinary range of data streams over the past 12 days. We have geolocated pictures and messages of needs and …

Fifth 3W report: Agencies responding to Nepal - This is the fifth edition of the 3W report. Published May 4 2015. The fifth report is available in PDF And the fifth report is also available in XLS (spreadsheet) format We also have a low bandwidth version available.  

Update #8 | Nepal earthquake deployment | Extended until May 6 - The final push As the response on the ground in Nepal builds up we have been reviewing our tasks. 3W Continues We are currently focusing our efforts on maintaining and improving the 3W data. We are issuing daily updates of our 3W information which can be found here http://blog.standbytaskforce.com/deployments/nepal-earthquake-2015/3w-reports-for-nepal/ Between now and Wednesday we will …

3W Nepal: list of responding agencies on Twitter - Our 3W report contains a field for the Twitter account for each responding organisation where we can find it. We have created a list on Twitter which contains all of those accounts. List of responding agencies on Twitter.  

Fourth 3W report: Agencies responding to Nepal - This is the fourth edition of the 3W report. Published May 3 2015. We also have a low bandwidth version available.  

Update #7 Nepal earthquake deployment - One week on One week ago, at about 09:00 UTC an old friend was at my house having a cup tea when my phone started to go crazy. An earthquake had hit Nepal and, given the magnitude and the location the humanitarian impact was likely to be significant. It is one week on and we …

Third 3W report: Agencies responding to Nepal - This is the third edition of the 3W report. Published May 2 2015. We also have a low bandwidth version available.  

Second 3W report: Agencies responding to Nepal - This is the second edition of the 3W report. Published May 2 2015. We also have a low bandwidth version available. Please contact justine@standbytaskforce.com skype:fidget01 to request access.    

Update #6 on our deployment for Nepal - A message we received from a friend   You are living abroad and when natural disaster such as earthquake hits your home, how do you feel? Helpless. That’s right! Helpless, more like you’re hands are tight and unable to help the affected people.   It was a Saturday morning here in US when I first …

Can you or, someone you know, help us verify reports from Nepal? - We are receiving a potentially overwhelming number of urgent requests. While in Nepal  responders have difficulty moving around. There have been occasions where a team has taken a full day to reach an area only to find other responders are already there. This takes up time that they could be helping another village where no …

Update #5 | Nepal earthquake deployment | Extended until May 6 - A short, sharp update We have received 424 applications to join the Standby Task Force since the earthquake hit. We (Joyce in fact) have been processing these as quickly as possible. It’s a really incredible number. Thank you so much. The MicroMappers platform is still (at time of writing) running well and feeding data to …

First 3W report: Agencies responding to Nepal - This is the first edition of the 3W report. Published May 2 2015. We also have a low bandwidth version available.

Update #4 to Nepal earthquake deployment | Extended until May 6 - Here are some of the key stats for our work to support Nepal Over 400  people are currently working on the deployment. Round the world. Round the clock. We’ve divided into separate teams working on Urgent Needs, Photo & Image collection, Affected Areas, Camp info, Offers of Assistance and 3W (Who, what, where). There are …

We deploy online. Join us. - We’ve been receiving messages from people wanting to find out how they can get to Nepal and provide practical help with the search and rescue tasks. Though we totally understand the urge to help, the very clear official advice is that unregistered people should not self-deploy to Nepal for search and rescue or for any …

Online Fact-Checking Tool Gets a Big Test with Nepal Earthquake - Shortly after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on Saturday, social media services lit up with unverified reports of people trapped and buildings damaged. But how could humanitarian organizations know where to respond first? How could they know which accounts were actually true? To weed out false rumors that can waste precious time, Justine Mackinnon …

Small successes in Nepal - Much of the work of the Standby Task Force is, rightly, in the background supporting the overall response. We collate data and produce maps. We do also get involved in more specific human stories though. Locating trapped children Last night we asked a few of our volunteers to find the geo location of some trapped children. …

Update #3 on Nepal earthquake deployment - This is a bit more of a personal update than we normally send out. For much of today I couldn’t play an active role in the deployment. I was travelling across the UK and though I tried to keep in touch with what was happening via Skype I really couldn’t. So when I dropped back …

Can I Volunteer For The Nepal Earthquake? There Are Lots Of Ways To Help & You Can Even Work From Home - Aid workers in Nepal deserve to be commended for being on the front lines of the country’s worst earthquake disaster in 80 years. For most people though, getting on a plane to Nepal is less of an option. But don’t worry: there are plenty of ways you can volunteer and help from home. http://www.bustle.com/articles/79109-can-i-volunteer-for-the-nepal-earthquake-there-are-lots-of-ways-to-help-you

Update #2 on Nepal earthquake deployment - This is an update on the deployment for Nepal and a brief summary of the situation as we understand it on the ground. The situation in Nepal at 1900 UTC April 25 2015 Nepal was hit by the worst earthquake in 80 years according to UN-OCHA. The government of Nepal reports 30 out of 75 …

Update #1 on Nepal earthquake deployment - This is an update on the deployment for Nepal and a brief summary of the situation as we understand it on the ground. The situation in Nepal at 2000 UTC April 25 2015 At 0611 UTC on April 25 a very large magnitude earthquake (reports differ on its precise measure) affected much of Nepal. Given …

News release: Global volunteers prepare the way for international assistance to Nepal - Issued by Standby Task Force 2015 UTC April 25 2015. For immediate use. Just hours after a devastating earthquake hit Nepal, a network of humanitarians are working together to support the international response. With significant property damage and hundreds of people feared dead, rescue and relief organisations are preparing to send staff, supplies and other …

Immediate activation. Earthquake affecting Nepal - A substantial earthquake struck Nepal at 06:11 UTC today (25 April 2015). We are activating as part of the global humanitarian response. Activation started at 1200 UTC 25 April 2015. We have two tasks: task one is to create a map with relevant text and images from public data sources and place this on a …

Earthquake affecting Nepal - As many of you will be aware a substantial earthquake struck Nepal at 06:11 UTC today 25 April 2015. This earthquake is expected to have a high humanitarian impact based on the magnitude and the affected population and their vulnerability. Likelihood of activation We are highly likely to be activated very soon Please keep an …

One month supporting humanitarian agencies in Vanuatu - Well over 100 volunteers from across the globe dedicated their time and skills online over the past month to support the humanitarian response in Vanuatu. One month ago a category 5 storm swept across many of the islands that make up Vanuatu affecting 166,600 people. Activation one The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian …

Update #5 on Vanuatu (second deployment) - The situation at 1500 UTC April 11 2015 What a weekend. On the one hand loads of volunteers are taking part in our “polygon-a-thon” (that’s what Joyce calls it) to help the government of Vanuatu and the World Bank get a handle on housing damage across the islands. You can see the results of all …

Update #4 final push for micromappers for Vanuatu (second deployment) - This is an update on our current activation to undertake housing damage assessments in Vanuatu. The situation at 1700 UTC 10 April 2015 One final push now. Thank you so much for all your hard work so far. You can see the results of all your efforts on this map. Take a good look at …

Update #3 on Vanuatu (second deployment) - This is an update on our current activation to undertake housing damage assessments in Vanuatu. The situation at 1400 UTC 9 April 2015 We have more images! After a rather frustrating wait for new images to be uploaded (not complaining, this is brand new stuff) a new batch was uploaded at 1400 UTC yesterday. Plenty …

Update #2 on Vanuatu (second deployment) - This is an update on our current activation to undertake housing damage assessments in Vanuatu. The situation at 0700 UTC 8 April 2015 The situation hasn’t changed much since the last update. It’s a challenge to get the images out of Vanuatu and converted into the appropriate format. We’re still waiting for the next batch. …

Update #1 on Vanuatu (second deployment) and call for volunteers - This is an update on our current activation to undertake housing damage assessments in Vanuatu. The situation at 1900 UTC 6 April 2015 We were activated yesterday 5 April 2015 at the request of the World Bank and the government of Vanuatu. Our task is to use the MicroMappers platform to analyse images taken from …

SBTF & MicroMappers Activation for Vanuatu - Activation for Vanuatu starts immediately We have received an activation request from the Government of Vanuatu (via the World Bank). The Core Team believes this meets our activation criteria so we are activating the Standby Task Force immediately. We really need your help now. Our deployment We have been asked to support the activation via …

Request for volunteers: monitoring Nigerian elections - This is not an activation of the Standby Task Force Request for assistance Elections in Nigeria are coming up, and CODE has asked us for support with geolocation and categorization of observer- and citizen reports to their Ushahidi instance. The elections will take place on Saturday, March 28 (Presidential and National House of Assembly) and …

Update #9 on Vanuatu and confirmation that we have stood down - +++ Stand down for Vanuatu deployment as of 2300 UTC 22 March 2015 +++ It’s been a very full week (and then some) When it became clear that TC Pam had hit Vanuatu on Friday 13 March 2015, members of the core team started making preparations for an activation. One of our activation criteria is …

Update #8 on Vanuatu and on our deployment there - Status of our deployment Our deployment has been extended until 2300 UTC Sunday. Our MicroMapping work has ended but volunteers are still mapping data where this will be useful to responders. Like this map of hotels and their status (open/damaged/closed etc) across the country http://arcg.is/1Fk0fw All our efforts are now focused on building the best …

Update #7 on Vanuatu and on our deployment there - Status of our deployment We thought it was time to give you a flavour of the difference you volunteers are making on the ground: Our relevant information has been uploaded to humanitarianresponse.info (the UN-OCHA online repository)  All responders now to have access to this data. One of the most powerful lists we have created is …

On the trail of a killer - http://issuu.com/ricsmodus/docs/modus_global_march_2015/37?e=13758237/11568683

Online volunteers extend their work to support response in Vanuatu - Volunteer network Standby Task Force will extend its deployment in support of Vanuatu until Sunday 22 March 2015. The deployment has originally been expected to end on Friday 20 March 2015. The Standby Task Force, a network of volunteer “crisis-mappers” is working at the request of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs …

Update #6 on Vanuatu and on our extended deployment there - +++ Activation EXTENDED until 2300 UTC SUNDAY 22 March 2015 +++ We know this is a big ask when so many of you have already worked so hard. We thought long and hard about this. We know this is the right thing to do. Because of Vanuatu’s location and infrastructure, we have seen a delay …

Update #5 on Vanuatu and on our deployment there - Thank you! So many of you have responded to the activation. It is simply amazing to see what you are achieving. There are over 70 images on the Standby Task Force story map http://standbytaskforce.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapTour/index.html?appid=29e418594c59429cbd66ed1bce1f67ee There are over 600 images on the MicroMapper map https://micromappers.wordpress.com/maps/ Over 600 lines of data have been added to the information …

Update #4 on Vanuatu and on our deployment there - This is an update on the situation as we understand it with regards to Vanuatu. We still have an urgent need for volunteers We have an urgent need for more volunteers across all teams. We’ll be running the deployment for several more days and we expect the volume of work to grow. Please sign up …

Update #3 on Vanuatu and on our deployment there - This is an update on the situation as we understand it with regards to Vanuatu The situation at 1900 UTC 16 March 2015 Agencies are still making assessments of damage and needs across the many islands of Vanuatu. “There are more than 100,000 people likely homeless, every school destroyed, full evacuation centres, damage to health …

Online volunteers logon to support humanitarian effort in Vanuatu - Volunteers from across the globe are working online to support the humanitarian response in Vanuatu. Vanuatu was hit by the category 5 storm Pam on Friday 13 March. The Standby Task Force, a network of volunteer “crisis-mappers” has started work at the request of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA). …

Standby Task Force Activation announced for Vanuatu / Pam - Activation for Vanuatu starts immediately We have received an activation request from UN-OCHA via the Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN). The Core Team believes this meets our activation criteria so we are activating the Standby Task Force immediately. We really need your help now. Please sign up for this deployment now (only Task Force members can …

Update #2 on Vanuatu for SBTF members and call for volunteers - This is an update on the situation as we understand it with regards to Vanuatu, an assessment of the likelihood of an activation, and a call for volunteers to help with planning and preparation. The situation at 1900 UTC 15 March 2015 Vanuatu (population 264,700) was hit by a Cat 5 storm (Pam) on 13 …

Update #1 on Vanuatu for Standby Task Force members - This is an update on the situation as we understand it with regards to Vanuatu and an assessment of the likelihood of an activation. We issued an alert to members about the situation in Vanuatu yesterday (13 March 2015). The situation at 1500 UTC 14 March 2015 Vanuatu (population 264,700) was hit by a Cat …

Alert for task force members: Potential Standby Task Force deployment for Vanuatu - Hi SBTF members This is a note to alert you to the situation in the South Pacific. #TCPam Tropical Cyclone Pam, a category 5 storm, has hit Vanuatu and expected to cause significant damage. News reports on CNN (http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/13/asia/cyclone-pam-vanuatu/)  and ABC (http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/13/asia/cyclone-pam-vanuatu/) provide some more information. There was good warning of the storm’s approach and …

Over eighty countries represented as citizens mobilise to help in disaster situations - Volunteers from 85 countries collaborated online to assist humanitarian organisations in 2014 according to the Standby Task Force annual report (available as a PDF). The Task Force is a network of over 1300 people who give up their time to help the UN and other agencies understand what is happening in disaster zones. In 2014 …

over-eighty-countries-represented-as-citizens-mobilise-to-help-in-disaster-situations - That page is over here

SBTF – NERP Activation – Phase 2 - SBTF – NERP Activation – Phase 2 February 23rd  2015 Standby Task Force is officially deploying in response to a request from NetHope to assist with media monitoring, data mining and verification for the Ebola response in Liberia. Deployment timeframe: 9:00 UTC, Thursday, February 26th – 9:00 UTC, Monday, March 2nd. Background NERP stands for …

Free GIS and Mapping Course - Hello, One of our goals in the Standby Task Force is to help our members develop skills for collecting and mapping data. For those of you who wish to learn how to create maps in ArcGIS, here is a free 4-week online course! This free course was available last year and is being offered again. You …

The UN Dispatch highlights the Standby Task Force - The UN Dispatch is blog from the United Nations Foundation. Their posts inform readers worldwide of global initiatives, important topics and the latest news in the humanitarian field. Their latest post features the Standby Task Force! This January 2015 issue, titled “10 Stories That Will Drive the Global Agenda in 2015” spotlights the effectiveness of …

10 Stories that will drive the Global Agenda in 2015 - http://www.undispatch.com/10-stories-will-drive-global-agenda-2015/

Impact Platform Standby Task Force (video) - https://vimeo.com/113221111

SBTF Nominated for UK Women in IT Awards 2015 – Corrected - The Standby Task Force has been shortlisted for the United Kingdom Women in IT Awards 2015, an award that recognizes the outstanding innovation achieved by women in the IT industry. SBTF has been nominated under the category Advocate of the Year. The Advocate of the Year award is given to a technology company that has …

MicroMappers: Towards Next Generation Humanitarian Technology - Originally posted on iRevolutions:
The MicroMappers platform has come a long way and still has a ways to go. Our vision for MicroMappers is simple: combine human computing (smart crowd-sourcing) with machine computing (artificial intelligence) to filter, fuse and map a variety of different data types such as text, photo, video and satellite/aerial imagery. To do this, we…

Activation for Typhoon Hagupit (Ruby) Completed - The Standby Task Force has officially completed our Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN) activation for Typhoon Hagupit/Ruby as of 10:30 UTC Wednesday December 10th, 2014. We would like to convey our thanks to all our volunteers, partner organizations and the agencies that joined us in the collaborative Skype window. Every activation on which we engage provides …

Activation for Typhoon Hagupit (Ruby) -Update - Nearly 13,000 houses were crushed and more than 22,000 damaged on the eastern island of Samar, where Typhoon Hagupit made landfall on Saturday, December 6, 2014 (http://goo.gl/i1Da6C). Monitoring of Typhoon Hagupit and preparing AIDR to collect tweets using defined hashtags began on Tuesday, December 2, 2014. The activation in response to Typhoon Hagupit began for …

SBTF Calls for Filipino Diaspora support on Typhoon Hagupit | Ruby - Are you in the Philippines or part of the Filipino Diaspora? The Standby Task Force needs your help to identify, report and locate critical issues for rescuers and relief workers. We are looking for are short and actionable bits of information that can point government agencies, humanitarian organization and volunteers to individuals and communities in …

You Can Help the Victims of Super Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit) - Super Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit) made landfall in the Philippines. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Manila has activated the Digital Humanitarian Network. Standby Task Force have deployed and are responding. We are using MicroMappers Clickers to augment their important damage and needs assessments on the ground. Our mission is …

SBTF Activated through DHN for Typhoon Hagupit/Ruby - SBTF – Rappler Typhoon Hagupit Activation December 5th 2014 The Standby Task Force is officially deploying in response to a Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN) request from UN OCHA to assist with media monitoring and mapping for Typhoon Hagupit (Ruby), a super typhoon due to make landfall in the Philippines at 18:00 UTC on Saturday, December …

SBTF collaborates with Rappler on Hagpuit/Ruby deployment - The Standby Task Force is officially deploying in response to a Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN) request from UNOCHA to assist with media monitoring and mapping for Typhoon Hagpuit (Ruby). The typhoon is due to make landfall in the Philippines at 18:00 UTC on Saturday, December 6th. We will use the Micromappers and Verily technologies provided …

Help the Philippines Go Coconuts!!! - Micromappers will be having a deployment this weekend to identify areas of coconut palm deforestation in the Philippines. Globally, the Philippines is one of the world’s largest producers of coconut products, however Typhoon Haiyan resulted in devastating biodiversity and tree cover loss. It has been estimated that it could take some regions nearly a decade …

Leveraging Digital Networks for Humanitarian Response Lighthouse Case Study - http://gsnetworks.org/wp-content/uploads/Digital-Humanitarian-Network.pdf

SBTF deliveries from phase 2 of Ebola activation - What have we done. Built a single source of health facility information to provide the fundamental operational dataset for health facilities Members of DHN (including SBTF) also established the Ebola IM/GIS skype group and its associated Coordination Spreadsheet which has hundreds of members and is actively in use both in the field and remotely. The …

Preparing to stand down on the Ebola phase 2 activation -   “This extensive data source only exists because of all the time and skill brought to bear by the SBTF team.” “I think the SBTF has shown the whole GIS/IM community how a distributed online community can really work effectively” Dear All, The above are a few of the quotes from the many thanks we …

Ebola Activation Update 18th October 2014 - Firstly I want to convey our thanks to each and everyone of you.   Your input to the activation has meant that SBTF have the most comprehensive dataset of health care facilities in the affected countries. The agencies that are using our information so far are UNMEER, World Health Organisation, NetHope, Medicine Sans Frontieres, British …

Ebola Activation Update 8th October 2014 - SBTF are so fortunate to have amazing volunteers. Within 1 hour  of announcing the activation we had approx 60 members offer their time, as of now we have 131. Thank you each and every one. If you have not signed up yet here is the link to do so . If you are not a …

Ebola Activation Phase 2. - Médecins Sans Frontières UK and The British Red Cross (BRC) have activated the Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN), with Standby Task Force (SBTF) as the coordinating body, to support information management during the ongoing Ebola crisis. The request was made through the Digital Humanitarian Network to engage their member-organisations in this work. Several of these organisations …

SBTF shortlisted for an award. - Today I received this email. Dear Justine, I am delighted to announce that Standby Task Force has successfully reached the shortlist for “Advocate of the Year” at the Women in IT Awards 2015! Our select group of judges will be meeting at the beginning of January to decide the winners, which will be announced at a …

The Dilemma of Response in a Time of Crisis - The Standby Task Force (SBTF) has developed clear guidelines for the kinds of disaster situations we activate for, whether natural or man-made.  The SBTF has provided crisis informatics and mapping support to “boots-on-the-ground” humanitarian relief organizations.  As highlighted by world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly currently taking place in New York City, the …

SBTF Stands Down from Phase I of Ebola Activation - The Standby Task Force activated on August 20th, 2014 for a deployment with NetHope providing baseline data collection and communication coordination support to responding organizations on the ground and officially stepped down from engagement on Phase I of this activation as of Wednesday September 10th, 2014. Though the response to the Ebola outbreak is by no …