Crowd-Sourced Governance in a Post-Disaster Context

International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Cambridge University Press (2015)

University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 2014/003

17 Pages Posted: 15 Jan 2014 Last revised: 20 Jul 2022

See all articles by Shahla F. Ali

Shahla F. Ali

The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

Date Written: 2015

Abstract

In the wake of recent catastrophic natural disasters, the United Nations ("UN") has developed an increasingly sophisticated network of collaborative partnerships to assist with humanitarian relief operations. The growing use of open source technology such as crowd mapping and resource tracking being universally accessible, collaboratively designed, subject to ongoing improvement, and responsive to on-the ground needs, reflects in many respects the emerging UN governance mechanisms developed to support the creation of such technology. The 2008 meeting of the World Economic Forum called for increased documentation and "dissemination of the work of humanitarian relief to both the humanitarian sector and private sector firms, mapping of assets, non-food items" and resources to prevent duplication. However, as yet, little attention has been given to the role of open source governance mechanisms in the context of disaster response. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining the emerging mechanisms by which private sector collaboration is coordinated by international institutions such as the UN. It finds that the emergence of post-disaster open source humanitarian relief reflects the observations of new governance legal scholars that coordination is increasingly the result of expanded participation and partnership on the part of governments and non-state actors, a learning-focused orientation, with the state increasingly acting as a convener, catalyst and coordinator.

Keywords: Humanitarian Aid Law, Governance, Decision Making, Disaster Law, Law and Technology

Suggested Citation

Ali, Shahla F., Crowd-Sourced Governance in a Post-Disaster Context (2015). International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Cambridge University Press (2015), University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 2014/003, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2378775 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2378775

Shahla F. Ali (Contact Author)

The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.law.hku.hk/academic_staff/professor-shahla-ali/

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