Plenary sessions

Introduction

Maeve de France, CartONG: introduction to the conference

Michel Dantin, Chambéry Mayor & European MP: welcoming words

Keynote speaker

Data ethics. Ethic challenges in the collection and use of geographic data for public health

Dr Philippe Calain (MSF-Switzerland)

Philippe Calain is a medical doctor specialized in infectious diseases and tropical medicine. He also holds a doctorate in biology (virology). He has worked in Rwanda, Afghanistan and Laos and is currently a senior researcher at the Research Unit on Humanitarian Stakes and Practices (UREPH) of MSF Switzerland. His current research focuses on humanitarian medicine, research ethics, public health ethics, global health governance, public health surveillance, and extractive industries.

• The collection of geographical data has always been essential to inform public health activities. GIS and mapping technologies offer new developments and great benefits to public health, particularly in the case of outbreak investigations and control.
• From an ethics perspective, GIS data collected for public health purposes is not different from other data. Depending on use and purpose, mapping peoples’ features (including health conditions) can have benefits but can also be harmful. For example, the collection or disclosure of information may lead to psychological distress, discrimination, economic loss, or loss of dignity. In extreme cases, the mapping of individuals or communities affected by stigmatizing diseases can entail a risk for their physical security.
• Are there specific ethical considerations to keep in mind for GIS data collection, data sharing or publication? How can potential burdens and harm be minimized when collecting and sharing GIS data? When should individual and community consent be sought?

Plenary session

"Turning data into actionable knowledge"

Paul Spiegel (UNHCR): Data for decision makers

Paul Spiegel is the Deputy Director of the Division of Programme Support and Management at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as well as a Senior Fellow for the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and Adjunct Professor at Bloomberg School of Public Health. In addition to a substantial involvement as Medical consultant for numerous organizations, he published many papers on HIV, epidemiological methods and health information systems.

UNHCR contributes to coordination and informed decision-making in refugee operations by providing accurate, relevant and timely data and statistics. This key resource is used by all partners to respond to the needs of refugee populations.

Paul Spiegel will introduce the global strategy of the Division of Programme Support and Management for data management. Responsible of 3 technical sections, this Division manages important volumes of data from the field, and has to produce high-quality information to support decision-making both internally for UNHCR and with partners.

Paola de Salvo (Esri): Data for decision makers

Environmental Biologist with 12 years of experience as Geospatial Analyst within various United Nations agencies (mainly the FAO and World Food Program) involved at Head Quarter and field locations.

Passionate user of GIS technology in support of evidence-based decision-making, Paola joined Esri 2 years ago as technical Account Manager within the Non Profit and Global Organization Team, based in Geneva, Switzerland.

All the information in the world is useless if it cannot be acted upon and technology does not have a mind of its own. The humanitarian community has been called upon to provide reliable, timely key information to decision makers; this will allow for decisions that will impact people's lives and livelihoods.

Geo Spatial Technology should no longer be considered the bottleneck that prevents the humanitarian community and decision makers from understanding and reaching their targets. Now more than ever, Esri Geo Spatial Technology is ready in all of its components, (desktop, server, mobile and cloud technology, open data). It is a strong, reliable and totally interoperable platform that will support operational and decentralized complex layouts to identify and reach millions of beneficiaries worldwide, allowing data to be brought into easy consumable information and therefore foster decision making and action.  A variety of real time web mapping applications will be shows at the plenary.

René Saameli (ICRC): Data for decision makers, some ICRC experience

René Saameli joined the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 2000. He was initially sent as an ICRC Water and Habitat project engineer to Kenya, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He then took over Water and Habitat program coordination in Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and then Eritrea. In 2006, he joined the ICRC headquarters in Geneva, where he set up a mapping and geographic information management team. He now supervises a distributed team of over 25 GIS officers working in the headquarters and major ICRC operations.  René Saameli has a masters degree in Civil Engineering from EPFL

ICRC manages many projects, in many countries on various themes: Protection to water and sanitation projects. With more than 25 GIS officers based on the ground, the ICRC GIS HQ unit within the Water and habitat section, has become more and more a cornerstone in the coordination of information management within the organization.  René Saameli will present the methods developed by the ICRC to manage geographic information, through examples of tools and projects used on different operations and headquarters.