IFRC’s GO platform was launched five years ago with the aim to “make all disaster information universally accessible and useful to IFRC responders for better decision making”. In this briefing we unveiled some significant steps towards that lofty aim, including the launch of the world’s largest database of disaster events.
This briefing was the latest in the series of quarterly sessions we use to notify all our users of changes and resources newly available through GO. Read on for a summary, the slides and an edited recording from the two sessions, focussed on achievements in Q4 2023 as well as looking forward to the coming year, held to provide timezone-friendly options across the entire IFRC network.
Peaks and trends in views of the platform
When a major emergency happens, members of the IFRC look to GO for a common situational picture. GO emergency pages provide the IFRC overview of the humanitarian situation (impact, needs and humanitarian drivers) operational response (resource allocated and activities implemented) and capacity to respond (including the self-assessment of National Societies and surge deployments to support from across the network).
Naturally enough then, when looking back over 5 years of user trends, we see there are many more visitors to the site during those periods when the IFRC is providing increased strategic and operational coordination services to a National Society which is calling for international assistance. Looking at the chart and its annotated peaks feels like reviewing the journey the IFRC has been on over the last 5 years.
Over that time, GO has played a crucial role. Field Reports are essentially a mix of disaster assessment and situation report, which are shared through GO in anticipation of, or during an emergency. There have been nearly 4,000 Field Reports, essentially a mix of disaster assessment and situation report, posted in GO by our member National Societies in anticipation of, or during an emergency. Indeed, almost all (186 out of 191) of our National Societies have shared data with the IFRC through GO since its launch, and over 200 DREF supported responses have been requested through the platform in the last two years alone.
Overall, there is a clear trend toward increasing views of the platform also during periods of relative calm. We expect this trend to continue as more workflows are introduced to GO, including more tools to manage DREF-supported operations, National Society preparedness assessments and workplans, increasing operational reporting tools, as well as future use of the enhanced country pages and analytical tools on the platform.
Introducing the Monty
We were proud to announce a significant milestone in the development of the Montandon — Global Crisis Data Bank (Monty for short) during the call. The Monty is up and running, and we have a clear plan for its integration to GO.
Launching a new video which helps to explain the concept, linked below, we described what the Monty contains (including disaster event records from UNDRR, EM-DAT and IDMC), as well as uncover some of the biases we’ve observed in the available data.
We’ve explained the vision, use cases and process to involve partners in previous blogs, and will continue to keep you updated as we integrate the Monty on to the GO platform throughout 2024, so stay tuned.
Surfacing GO’s data through user-centred instructions
The front-end of GO is built around some clear use cases and to the requirements of well-defined user personas. Nevertheless, we know that there are many exploratory analyses and database connections which can be served by uncovering what’s contained in the GO databases.
Therefore, we have built out clear instructions to support our users to connect and retrieve data from GO and develop dashboards or other analytical products. We’ve also described the data we make accessible through a data dictionary. These efforts form part of our commitment to surface GO data, catering initially to ‘power users’ but, in future, aiming to allow users to generate and save queries and analyses on the platform itself.
Sneak peek at the upgraded GO Country Pages
Among the main requests from our network is for improved discoverability of IFRC data. Led by the IFRC’s National Society Development Services team, we’ve been on our own journey of discovery of the data IFRC holds for its membership — it turns out there is really a lot. But it’s hard to find, not well organised or explained, often kept confidential, and not built to connect with other related data, even at such basic levels as using common geographic data.
The enhanced Country Pages on GO will take some steps in the right direction. As revealed on the briefing, we have brought together a number of data streams around our members, such as their context and structure, activities, strategic priorities and capacity. Critically, we will put this information in the context of their status within the national disaster management system. We will also better surface the presence and role of their National Society partners.
The development of a branch mapping functionality, currently being piloted with 10 National Societies, will accompany the launch of the new country pages on GO, expected by the end of Q1 2024.
As with all features on GO, please get in touch by emailing IM@ifrc.org, if you want to get involved in piloting or providing feedback.
Innovation through play
Late last year we ran an innovative campaign to raise awareness of the GO platform. The process was written up here, but we were pleased to invite colleagues from the IFRC Solferino Academy, to explain the collaboration. The feedback we received for the game was very positive and we shared some memorable quotes and data-driven insights.
We heard from the two winners of the prize who explained their motivation to play the game, what they learned through the process and how they use GO. Ruth Clark, from the British Red Cross, explained how the historical data on GO, stretching back over the 100 years of the IFRC’s existence, helps her to tell the story of the RCRC Movement to her partners. Molly O’Ray, from the Canadian Red Cross, explained how the game helped her realise how GO could be a resource for her studies, as well as her work. She also thought the human-centred framing of the game instilled a sense of pride in being part of the Red Cross Red Crescent family.
The Climate Legacy Data Detective game brought smiles and interest to many new users, and we’re keen to take this to the next level. Stay tuned for more in 2024. Talking of which…
Looking forward
Finally, we provided a brief overview of the GO workplan, which provides timeframes for the deliverables we have committed to for the platform in 2024. Please get in touch if you are keen to contribute or collaborate on any of these features.
90% of GO’s development has been 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
