GO Briefing // Q1 2025
This briefing focussed on new and upcoming features which further extend the GO platform’s utility, increasing visibility into preparedness and response, and rolling out tools that empower National Societies with data and decision-making resources in real time.
Across two global sessions — spanning time zones and stakeholders — participants heard updates on new capabilities, explored the use of AI-enhanced emergency data tools, and examined how the GO platform continues to be the central hub for response coordination, operational learning, and localized visibility by our IFRC network.
Find below the slides, the recording and a narrative summary of what’s new, what’s improved, and what’s on the horizon.
🔧 Platform Features Now Live
Emergency Response Unit (ERU) Module
One of the most significant updates this quarter was the complete overhaul of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) module.
Previously managed through manually updated Excel sheets, ERU readiness tracking has now been fully integrated into the GO platform. National Societies with ERU capabilities can log in directly and update the readiness of their teams and equipment with just a few clicks.
The new ERU module provides:
- Clear visual indicators of readiness, broken down by personnel, equipment, and — new this quarter — funding availability.
- Dynamic dashboards that allow users to filter by ERU type, deployment status, and holding National Society.
- Exportable data sets, making it easier to conduct surge planning analysis and share data externally.
- Updated Gantt charts that reflect deployment timelines in relation to operational start and end dates. This allows for a better understanding of how and when resources are being mobilized.
This is a fundamental shift. For the first time, the network has a consolidated, standardized, and real-time overview of global ERU readiness — available directly on GO.
Montandon — Global Crisis Data Bank (The Monty): The World’s Largest Disaster Data Set Goes Live
After more than a year of development and data aggregation, the Montandon Global Crisis Data Bank — nicknamed “The Monty” — is now accessible through the GO platform.
This enormous database brings together over two million records of natural hazard events, impact data, and response information. What makes this tool especially powerful is its comprehensiveness and transparency:
- Forecasted and observed hazard data (e.g., floods, earthquakes, cyclones) are paired with reports on resulting impacts like displacement, damage, and casualties.
- Event data is fully sourced from reliable humanitarian and scientific institutions. Every entry is traceable back to its origin, ensuring reproducibility and trust.
- Daily ingestion of data ensures the Monty remains up-to-date. It currently adds around 2,000 records each day.
- Interactive browsing tools and map-based filtering let users explore events geographically or temporally, making it easier to spot trends or prepare for upcoming seasons.
The Monty is already enhancing other tools within GO, including Risk Watch, and will soon support automated alerts and integration into funding and operational planning tools.
PER Dashboard: Preparedness Data, Visualized Like Never Before
National Societies have been participating in the Preparedness for Effective Response (PER) process for over a decade, but until now, visualizing the outcomes of that work has been a challenge. The new and improved PER dashboard helps to solve this.
This powerful tool allows users to:
- Track participation in the PER process by region, country, or phase — orientation, assessment, prioritization, and work planning.
- Filter data by the 36 PER components (such as volunteer management, logistics, information management, or epidemic readiness).
- Monitor trends over time, seeing which National Societies have completed multiple PER cycles and how their self-assessed readiness ratings have changed.
- Compare performance across regions and topics, helping IFRC teams and partners identify where support is most needed.
This dashboard transforms static PER reports into living data — usable for advocacy, planning, and performance improvement.
🧭 Emergency Pages: Innovation in data-driven operations
From its launch, GO has always focussed on being the place for the IFRC network emergency operations to be tracked. This quarter, we looked at some of the more innovative uses of these pages as the beating heart of response visibility.
Each GO emergency page is structured with key components: basic emergency information, a live overview, operational updates, and surge deployments. National Society and IFRC operations teams are able to adapt those standard elements with embedded data dashboards, media, and storytelling elements tailored to their context.
Myanmar Earthquake Response
When a major earthquake struck Myanmar in March, the IFRC Asia Pacific IM team responded by launching a GO emergency page within hours. The result is a new standard for what emergency visibility can look like.
Key features of the Myanmar page include:
- Real-time response data, detailing activities across sectors such as shelter, health, and protection.
- Dynamic dashboards that disaggregate beneficiaries by gender, location, and type of assistance.
- Financial tracking tools that show the flow of donor contributions and highlight funding gaps.
- Embedded infographics and maps created by SIMS support teams, providing visual summaries of the situation.
- Custom tabs tailored for the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS), showcasing their direct response efforts alongside federation-wide support.
Most notably, the page is set to introduce a pilot Virtual Situation Room — a generative AI-enhanced tool that scans public online data, news reports, and humanitarian sources to extract and structure insights based on IFRC’s analytical framework. This provides context, needs analysis, and risk trends in situations where verified secondary data may be scarce.
Africa Hunger Crisis
In a powerful example of how GO emergency pages can evolve beyond static updates, the Africa Hunger Crisis page represents a model for data-driven storytelling and network-wide transparency.
This regional emergency, spanning multiple countries across the Horn and East Africa, demands both visibility and nuance. The team responded by creating a richly layered emergency page that highlights not only the scale of need, but the scope of the IFRC network’s collective response.
Key features of the Africa Hunger Crisis page include:
- Contextualised narrative — weaving together quantitative data with qualitative insight, offering users an accessible overview of the drivers and impacts of food insecurity across the region. This includes climatic shocks, conflict, displacement, and market disruptions — all presented in clear, visual formats.
- Integrated IPC data — Recognizing the central role of food security analysis in crisis response, the page integrates Integrated Food Security Phase (IPC) Classifications to map and prioritize areas facing acute food insecurity.
- Federation-wide 3w — Detailing which National Societies are responding?, What sectors are covered — WASH, Health, Livelihoods?, and Where is assistance being delivered?
- Embedded multimedia — incorporating photos, infographics, and video embeds to humanise the data and allow stories from the field to be seen and heard, making the page not just a tool for coordination, but a space for storytelling and resource mobilization.
The Africa Hunger Crisis page illustrates how GO can serve as both a technical tool and a communication platform — ensuring that the complexity of regional emergencies is captured and shared with clarity, credibility, and compassion.
🚀 Looking Ahead: What’s Coming Next
Early Action Protocols (EAPs) to GO Digital
The development and submission process for Early Action Protocols for the DREF will soon be fully integrated into GO. This migration means that:
- National Societies will be able to draft, review, and submit EAPs directly on the platform.
- Data will be pulled automatically from other modules, including the Monty, risk dashboards, and operational learning.
- Structured data entry will make it easier to track, compare, and analyze protocols across contexts and hazards.
Prototype design is complete, user consultations are set to begin in June, and development is planned to follow soon after.
Local Units Mapping: From Data to Direction
The GO team has built a powerful module to help National Societies manage their own location data — including branch offices, health facilities, and other critical infrastructure. To further improve this service:
- Users will soon be able to log in and edit, validate, or add local units directly on the platform.
- The map will serve both operational and strategic needs, supporting everything from logistics planning to donor engagement.
- Built-in visual tools and potential printable outputs will help societies lacking GIS capacity to use mapping for the first time.
This initiative, supported by the Norwegian Red Cross, is a major step forward in democratizing access to humanitarian mapping.
🧱 Ready to Build — But Waiting on Funding
Several features are designed, scoped, and ready to build — but require financial support. These include:
- Simplified field reports: Streamlining the way National Societies request support and update the network on evolving situations.
- Federation-wide operational reporting: Capturing bilateral and multilateral activities in a structured and analysable way.
- Flash update improvements: Making urgent early updates from the IFRC Secretariat faster to issue and easier to consume.
- Supply chain intelligence dashboards (SPARK): Turning logistics data into strategic action through visual tools and AI-driven analysis.
- Permissions and registration upgrades: Giving National Societies more control over who can edit and publish what on GO.
- Local mapping outputs: Helping societies print and use their data even when digital infrastructure is limited.
Each of these elements is designed to strengthen coordination, empower local actors, and build a more connected network.
🧠 Supporting a Smarter Network
At its core, GO exists to support informed decision-making. With these new features and future plans, the platform is maturing into a powerful tool not just for surfacing emergency operations data, but for shaping how the Red Cross Red Crescent network anticipates, prepares for, and navigates crises.
Whether you’re managing a response operation, coordinating surge deployments, analysing past performance, or developing new protocols, GO is evolving to meet your needs.
📬 Stay Connected
The GO team welcomes your input, ideas, and partnership. Whether you’re using the platform daily or exploring it for the first time, there are always ways to get involved and shape what comes next . Your feedback drives these improvements. For support, data access, or collaboration ideas, reach out at im@ifrc.org.
Stay updated with the latest features and guides on the GO blog and Wiki.
Until next quarter — stay safe and stay connected.
