Mapping 100 Years of Progress: The Humanitarian IM Milestone Report
Following my recent post, Retracing Our Digital Footprints, I am excited to release the Humanitarian Information Management Historical Milestones of the Past 100 Years report. This research project traces the evolution of our discipline over the last century, starting from the establishment of the International Relief Union (IRU) under the League of Nations to the modern-day Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
When I began this journey, my goal was to identify markers that shaped our professional community. While I have documented these milestones by date, I realize that there is so much more behind most of these markers - the stories. My hope is to eventually tell several of these stories in order to provide a deeper context to our shared evolution.
The Roots of Modern Disaster Response
While the formal report focuses on the last 100 years, the foundations of the Information Management (IM) discipline stretch back to pivotal moments like the 1755 Great Lisbon Earthquake which is often cited as the world’s first "modern" disaster because it prompted a shift toward scientific, data-driven analysis rather than viewing catastrophes as divine punishment. A century later, the discipline was further advanced by John Snow’s 1854 mapping of the Broad Street Cholera Outbreak, which demonstrated how spatial analysis and structured data could identify the root cause of a crisis to direct life-saving interventions.
A Century of Innovation
The report organizes 100 years of progress into a framework for future study, providing current and future professionals with a structured way to retrace the origins of their daily tools and appreciate the century of innovation that built the humanitarian IM community.
It tracks the transition from physical tools to the digital ecosystems we rely on today.
I believe that there will be varying ways one could group or analyze the report. For example, one quickly group it into eras such as:
Early Coordination where Charles and Anne Lindbergh conducted the first aerial assessment in response to the Yangtze river floods in China (1932), helping to deliver aid to millions of affected people.
The Rise of Digital during which the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator (UNDRO) launched its first "data bank" to track disaster preparedness and donor assistance (1974).
The Internet Era where we saw a marked shift toward rapid information flow as humanitarians began exploring the potential of the web. This period was defined by high-speed project development, exemplified by the 1996 launch of ReliefWeb, which was built in just six months using shareware and freeware.
The Era of Maturation and Digital Responsibility which marks a transition from the rapid proliferation of digital projects to a focus on sustainability, security and the reality of technological lifecycles. As the sector addresses rising cybersecurity concerns, we are also seeing the planned end-of-life for several legacy initiatives such as HXL and even OCHA’s Information Management Branch.
The Myth of the Single Spark
One of the more interesting findings from my research is that innovation in our sector rarely stems from a single "eureka" moment or a lone genius. Instead, ideas often percolate within an organization or the broader sector for years, undergoing multiple attempts before they finally succeed. I discovered that practitioners who believe they are pioneering a new concept often did not realize their ideas were explored or even "attempted" several times before.
This "percolation" is evident in several of our most recognizable tools:
Humanitarian Information Centers (HICs): While the 1999 Kosovo response is widely celebrated as the birth of the HIC, the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator (UNDRO) established a Relief Co-ordination and Information Center in Chad as early as 1982. This was followed by the Relief Information and Coordination Support Unit (RICSU) in 1985 and the Rwanda information center in 1994, all serving as stepping stones toward the model we knew in the 2000s.
The 3W (Who is doing What Where): The sector frequently cites the 1999 Humanitarian Community Information Center (HCIC) as the origin of the 3W. However, the 1994 Rwanda response utilized a precursor known as the "Matrix". This tool was compiled using shifting technologies throughout the emergency, eventually ending up in a database, yet it is often overlooked simply because it had not yet adopted the modern 3W name.
Financial Tracking: We often discuss the 1992 launch of the Financial Tracking Service (FTS) as a starting point for organized funding data. In reality, UNDRO was tracking donor contributions on a computer as early as 1980.
Understanding that these milestones are the result of long-term percolation, rather than a single spark, gives us a more realistic and encouraging view of how innovation truly happens in the humanitarian field.
Why These Milestones Matter
As I noted in my previous post, looking back helps us understand the trajectory of our discipline. By examining these markers through an innovation lens, we can ask why certain tools emerged when they did and how they impacted disaster relief on the ground.
Whether it was the UNDRO staff using "Le TUBE" pneumatic systems in 1985 to move urgent messages or the birth of, what some consider, the first HIC in 1999, every milestone represents a solution to a specific problem.
I hope this research helps current and future IM professionals retrace the origins of the practices they use every day. By understanding our shared history, we can better appreciate the progress that has built our professional community.
Download the full Humanitarian IM Historical Milestones Report.
Andrej
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Licensing Information “Humanitarian Information Management Milestones of the Past 100 Years” by Andrej Verity is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International.