Q: What has been the impact of tech on those affected by ongoing war in Syria? Are people better off or worse off as a result of tech?. O'Brien: There's no question people are better off having access to speedy and live-time communications. It isn't just limited to communication. It's actually the quality of the supplies for their life-saving needs. You need to have the ability to have food packs that are done in a way that can remain fresh and sealed for as long as possible in very hot temperatures, so that you preserve the food for as long as it takes you to get it to people in need.
What specific areas of tech and innovation is the UN looking at to possibly help with crises around the world?, The technology of being able to make sure that as people get in they can, despite the violence, make frida floral iphone case an assessment very quickly, They can get to the few remaining hospitals or clinics, and they can make an assessment about where there is very serious malnourishment, They're immediately downloading all this information, This has been transmitted often through satellite technology, but also through communications technology, back to the base, Then we can start loading the trucks and get the appropriate amount of feedstock into the airplane, which airdrop [supplies.]..
This is making sure that, instead of it taking weeks, you can do it in hours. This is a massive life-saving added value. Speak to the Syrian crisis in particular. I know you tweet about it. What role has tech played there?. There's a real advocacy job to be done in transmitting what those of us who can get into these countries and [are] able to see with our own eyes -- the terrible suffering that conflict and protracted crisis is occasioning. Then we can make sure that we can get that out to the wider world.
Should outfitting phones to people affected by the crisis be a priority for agencies looking to deliver aid?, It already is, We talk about supplying food, medicine, shelter, schooling, hygiene and all the other things that you are familiar with, But the existing technologies are particularly important to make sure all that can happen, You have to go back a few years before some of this very easy frida floral iphone case mobile technology was so available, What do you think of distributing funds through mobile phones? Is it a substitute or a complement to the normal distribution of aid like food and actual physical goods?..
Sadly, the amount of humanitarian aid needed around the world today is just so eye-wateringly huge that it's big enough for every modality to be used. So yes, it is of course complementary. It's part, if you like, of our armory of all the things that we need to use to make sure that we're trying to meet the needs wherever they arise, however they arise, and whenever. That is why, yes, absolutely we should be using all the technological tools at our disposal, and every modality. But none is ever going to be the only single answer. There's no magic bullet to this.
