Adjacent Fields > Tech for public challenges > Disaster response and humanitarian tech > Participatory aid - (8)

People are using information and communication technologies (like the internet) to help each other in times of crisis (natural or man-made). This trend is the evolution of a concept known as “mutual aid”, introduced by Russian polymath Peter Kropotkin in 1902 in his argument that our natural sociable inclinations towards cooperation and mutual support are underserved by capitalism’s exclusive focus on the self-interested individual. My own reaction is to the bureaucracy’s underserving of informal and public-led solutions. The practice of mutual aid has been greatly accelerated and extended by the internet’s global reach. I introduce the term “participatory aid” to describe the new reality where people all over the planet can participate in providing aid in various forms to their fellow humans. In many of these cases, that aid is mediated at least partially by technology, rather than exclusively by formal aid groups. Formal aid groups like the UN and Red Cross are facing disintermediation not entirely unlike we’ve seen in the music, travel, and news industries. Members of the public are increasingly turning towards direct sources in crises rather than large, bureaucratic intermediaries. Information is increasingly likely to originate from people on the ground in those places rather than news companies, and there is a rich and growing number of ways to help, as well.

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SocorroBot

SocorroBot

Mexico (Estados Unidos Mexicanos)

SocorroBot is an interactive guide designed to assist individuals in the process of reporting a missing person in Mexico.

https://socorrobot.org
Response Innovation Lab

Response Innovation Lab

Uganda

Designed to open humanitarian response to startups, social entrepreneurs, researchers, and other non-traditional actors capable of contributing solutions to the resopnse

https://www.responseinnovationlab.com/history
Flexport.org

Flexport.org

Flexport.org uses logistics as a positive force for social and environmental impact - enabling organizations to deliver global aid and meet their sustainability goals with greater ease and lower costs.

https://www.flexport.org/
#IhelpUkrainie

#IhelpUkrainie

Warsaw, Poland

momentum in 2022 by utilizing social media campaigns with hashtags like #GotaGoHome and

https://pomagamukrainie.gov.pl/
Ways to help Ukraine

Ways to help Ukraine

Poland (Polska)

A compendium of ways to help, in English, Ukrainian, Polish, and Russian language

https://kporembinski.notion.site/English-22ded79118bb4a9eb92b35cd5ade3cd1#556d6a8b58994093aadd0754c38d7922
Health Sites

Health Sites

Netherlands (Nederland, Holland)

Building an open data commons of health facility data with OpenStreetMap

https://healthsites.io/
IHELPYOU.app

IHELPYOU.app

Poland (Polska)

Inspired by the help that people give each other during hard times, we created an application that will allow anyone in need to find help in their daily duties.

https://app.ihelpyou.app/
Venezuela Hasta Los Tuétanos

Venezuela Hasta Los Tuétanos

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Welcome to the ORIGINAL channel of Resistencia, Venezuela Hasta los Tuétanos. It is an information room about the political, social, and economic situation that Venezuela is going through.

https://zello.com/VenezuelaHastaLosTuetanos