When a typhoon makes landfall or an earthquake shakes a region, quickly identifying the most affected areas and displaced communities is critical for saving lives. In today’s world, mobile devices, sensors, and satellites generate vast streams of data that can significantly improve the speed and precision of humanitarian operations. Artificial Intelligence-enabled methodologies for analyzing this large volume of data are becoming more robust by the month, yet they often remain inaccessible for humanitarian organizations to use at scale. DISHA (Data Insights for Social & Humanitarian Action), a multi-partner initiative led by UN Global Pulse, is working to change that.

DISHA is focused on accelerating ethical and responsible access to data and AI solutions to unlock social impact at scale. We strive to make sure humanitarian organizations have relevant data and proven AI models at their fingertips whenever and wherever necessary for operational decision-making during a crisis. While DISHA is currently focused on humanitarian preparedness and response, its model is replicable for other humanitarian and development domains.

DISHA was founded by Google.org, Jain Family Institute, McKinsey and Company, and the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation under the leadership of UN Global Pulse, the Secretary-General’s Innovation Lab. Formerly called the Global Data Access Initiative, it has benefited from contributions of a large number of people and organizations that have shaped DISHA’s vision and work. Now, the DISHA coalition of partners and collaborators also includes a growing set of data providers and humanitarian organizations, such as Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC), UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UNICEF, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT), and the World Food Programme (WFP), among others. Founding partners remain actively involved, providing philanthropic funding, pro-bono capacity support, and technological solutions, as well as strategic advice from  the DISHA Steering Committee.

How DISHA equips humanitarians to help more people more efficiently

Paired with modern AI advances, access to up-to-date data from mobile devices, digital transactions, sensors, and satellites can significantly enhance the speed and precision of humanitarian operations by enabling dynamic, high-resolution analysis of situations in areas affected by natural disasters. However, relevant datasets are often sensitive, privately held, and difficult to analyze. Responsibly accessing and processing this data to extract operational insights in near real-time involves numerous barriers, which remain too high for many organizations to overcome on their own.

To help humanitarian organizations make better decisions faster by leveraging relevant data and AI capabilities, DISHA is building an innovative partnership model and applying a learning-by-doing approach. We work side-by-side with our multidisciplinary partners to scope, develop, validate, implement, and scale data and AI solutions. In the wake of a crisis, every humanitarian organization faces predictable data needs, such as determining how many people are affected, where they are taking shelter, and what infrastructure and facilities have been damaged. By identifying these shared data needs, we can pool demand on behalf of the collective, taking on the work of negotiating data access, selecting and validating AI models, and establishing the necessary technical infrastructure and ethical safeguards. This approach saves our humanitarian partners time and resources while avoiding duplication of efforts. Along the way, we gather first-hand experience in mitigating risks and overcoming logistical and structural barriers to scaling impact, producing replication blueprints for our solutions and templates for all associated data access and partnership agreements.

At present, DISHA is equal parts a product organization and a facilitation mechanism bringing together humanitarian, technology, data, and philanthropic partners to match humanitarian needs with data and AI capabilities, while providing the infrastructure for leveraging these at scale. A key aspect of the DISHA model is the special role played by humanitarian organizations working with impacted communities on the ground. They are not just users of DISHA products, but co-designers, actively involved in identifying needs, shaping product features, testing, validating, and risk-proofing solutions. As we gain more insight into effective scaling enablers, we anticipate placing even greater focus on them, while remaining committed to our strong practitioner’s DNA.

Rather than doing all the work inside the UN, DISHA reaches outside to create a collective that brings together expertise in data, AI, crisis response, connections on the ground, and access to communities. But there’s a reason the Secretary-General’s Innovation Lab is leading the team of partners. DISHA ties directly into the UN Secretary-General’s vision of a UN 2.0, which includes bringing new expertise to the UN family – with data and digital being two key elements – as part of the larger goal of creating a stronger, more forward-thinking UN.