IFRC’s GO platform is a tool to help our global network prepare for, respond to and learn about disasters and crises. In this briefing we celebrated five years since the launch of GO by unveiling a new, more intuitive navigation based on the disaster management cycle; demoing the completely rebuilt site and showing some different ways GO is being used by Red Cross Red Crescent Societies across the world to support emergency response operations large and small.
This Q3 2023 briefing was the latest in the series of quarterly sessions we use to inform all our users of changes and resources available through GO. Read on for a summary, the slides and an edited recording from the two sessions we held to provide convenient options across timezones.
Five years of GO
The GO platform was launched five years ago aiming “to make all disaster information universally accessible and useful to IFRC responders for better decision making”. It was, and still is, an ambitious goal.
We have built the platform up through adaptive management of limited resources; keeping true to agile development methodologies; investing in user-centred design; using the best open source technologies; mixing internal staff and best-available insourced services; and ensuring GO’s modules and services complement or improve existing IFRC processes wherever possible.
It has been quite a journey so far, and there is still some way to go.
How user-centred design informs our approach
When designing any service, it makes sense to consult your current and potential users. In web design, there are certain data-driven tools and techniques we can use to inform our digital platforms, grouped under the rubric of user-centred design (UCD). Maryam Astyran, from our longstanding UCD partner Yellow Umbrella, explained how we consulted our users on the best way to navigate and find information on GO.
First, we conducted a survey and consultation last year, explained in more detail here. We distilled the results into three key elements, which are to a) Focus on National Societies , b) Be Operationally Useful, and to c) Harmonise, Integrate and Leverage IFRC data. The GO Study gives us a framework that helps us prioritise updates and upgrades to the site.
Next, we interviewed our users. There’s nothing quite like talking with people to get a better sense of their preferences and frustrations. As we started to see that users wished to bring country pages closer to the home page, we also started to think about the general navigation of the site. We used a card sorting exercise to gather and analyse user preferences. And then we developed designs and workflows for consultation.
The result is a significant logical change to the organisation of the site — prioritising country / National Society pages as well as the key disaster management steps to prepare, respond, and learn.
Prepare
GO has been collecting and displaying National Societies’ preparedness information for some years. Now, we have made this an end-to-end system, supporting all 5 phases of the Preparedness for Effective Response (PER) (see below), from Orientation to Assessment to Prioritisation and Analysis to Work Plan to Action.
Part of this development has been to respect the National Societies desire to have a different level of access to the data between public and their own staff and volunteers. Therefore there are different displays for those logged in with permissions to view this data.
We’ve already inputted data from over 90 National Societies from 2014 to now, which means the PER module on GO is ready to be used to help our network better prepare. Indeed, we also believe this data could be used to direct the support provided by sister NS across the world, essentially showing the demand for capacity support, whether that is in Information Management, Emergency Operations Centre SOPs, etc.
As explained by Stephanie Guadron, IM Officer from the IFRC Americas Regional Office and Belen Zazu from the Reference Centre for Institutional Disaster Preparedness (CREPD), there is still much more to come. We plan in the coming months to fully integrate the PER analysis dashboard, integrate this data into other workflows where appropriate as well as other refinements.
Respond
One of the core services GO inherited from its predecessor system is the Field Report — a first assessment of an emergency shared with the network by the National Society on the ground. It is a key process which helps to mobilise our network.
As it is one of our consistent data sources, we decided to show the numbers of these Field Reports being submitted to GO by different NS over the past 5 years. What this showed is that these Field Reports are shared by National Societies from each of IFRC’s regions, and we invite you to watch the briefing to find out who has shared the most.
The IFRC represents local action, but with global reach. First responders are often volunteers, associated with a local branch of the Red Cross Red Crescent. These branches, or local units, are the physical manifestation of our global network. Knowing which is closest, or best able, to meet the needs, is key to enable rapid and effective response.
The GO team have been pulling together this geographic data for a couple of years. Following a detailed consultation process, particularly with 16 RCRC Societies in the past six months, we are now ready to make this mapping service available through GO.
We’re also working on unifying and simplifying reporting for all IFRC supported emergencies, including federation-wide and emergency appeal reporting. This is based on the successful digitisation of the DREF, which has to date collected 165 DREF applications, 85 Operational Updates & 45 Final Reports (Sept 2022-Oct 2023).
A first consultation with the GO Advisory Group was conducted and we’ve identified the critical path to achieve this milestone in 2024, including simplifying and finalising definitions for sectors, introducing an indicator bank and digitising operational strategy process.
Learn
We explained the progress we’ve made to improve the collection, synthesis and feedback of operational learning. Here’s more information on the current and proposed future system.
The team described the sprint and latest plans to improve the way we recycle and use learning, with the help of generative AI. Working with our IFRC data scientists, we are building the capability to deliver these learnings across the site and to those who need them when they need them most.
Site rebuild complete
We spent the summer and early autumn rebuilding GO from scratch. Our team of developers, drawn from IFRC, Development Seed, and Data Friendly Space / Toggle Corp have built the platform using the most up-to-date open source technologies. The heavy lifting for the rebuild was completed by a team of developers based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The team formed following the earthquake in 2015, proving that, sometimes, crises can bring new hope.
The result is for GO to have improved a) User Interface consistency, b) System Privacy, c) Loading Performance, d) Mobile friendliness, e) Speed of development, and e) Use of best open source tech and libraries.
Finally, we provided a brief overview of the GO workplan, which provides timeframes for the deliverables we have committed to for the platform in in the next 12 months. Please get in touch if you are keen to contribute or collaborate on any of these features.
We’d like to thank all of those who’ve travelled along the road with us over the past five years and more. From the first demo created in 2017 by skilled Information Management experts from British, American and Netherlands RC, the GO platform has grown into a critical service for the IFRC network.
90% of GO development is funded directly by our National Societies, and we depend on their continued support to deliver on these plans. If you would like to hear more about our work, or offer financial or material support, please contact im@ifrc.org
