ICCM 2013: Kim Scriven, Humanitarian Innovation Fund: Capturing the Humanitarian Imagination
Channel: CrisisMappersNet
Date: 2014-02-24

Kim Scriven from the Humanitarian Innovation Fund speaks about Capturing the Humanitarian Imagination."The humanitarian system constitutes a multi-billion dollar industry, comprising interconnected but autonomous actors operating in crisis settings across the globe. Having experienced continued growth in recent decades, humanitarian agencies provide life-saving assistance to millions of people affected by disasters and conflict, but at the same time these agencies are often characterised as politicised, bureaucratic, and dominated by western actors. As such the system can seem impenetrable to outsiders and dismissive of 'new-comers' attempting to assist crisis affected populations and realise humanitarian goals. As they seek to change and adapt, actors within the system have pursued a range of strategies to learn and improve their performance, with mixed success. This process has also led to an interest in innovation and news forms of collaborative partnerships. This provides an opportunity for technologist and innovators to engage with and influence the system, and positively impact on the lives of affected communities. But these new relationships are neither simple nor inevitable, and require understanding and humility on both sides. This talk will discuss these issues and explore new ways in which the HIF is working with a range of actors to support collaborative endeavours to leverage technological innovation in the humanitarian space.  " @kimscriven