Big Data in the Service of �Humanitarian Operations

Linus Bengtsson, MD�linus.bengtsson@flowminder.org �linus.bengtsson@ki.se

Big Data and Real Time Analytics Virtual Workshop UNICEF/UN Global Pulse �

26 July, 2012

Methods

•  1.9 million anonymous SIM cards

•  Ratio of the SIM cards to the adult population in Port-au-Prince: 50%

Movements of SIM cards out of �Cholera Outbreak Area

Source: Bengtsson, Lu et al. PLoS Medicine

Comparison with Estimates �Used in Haiti

Source: Bengtsson, Lu et al. PLoS Medicine

Comparison with UNFPA Retrospective Household Survey

Source: Bengtsson, Lu et al. PLoS Medicine

Flowminder.org: Development and Implementation of the Method

in Dialogue with Global Pulse, other UN Agencies and Cell Phone Operators

✴  Key Vulnerable groups: - The poorest - Children <5Y and unaccompanied - Women (pregnant, lactating) - The elderly ✴  Phone charging/power failures ✴  Network damages/coverage

Representativeness, RepresentativenessRepresentativeness

The Future: Prediction

✴  Can population movements predict epidemic spread of

cholera and other diseases?

✴  Malaria elimination strategies and mobility

✴  Mobility of unvaccinated populations

Mobility and Communicable Diseases