18 Bridging the Information Gap: Mapping Data Sets on Information …
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18.4 Discussion and Conclusions
We compared our framework of information needs with the one from Gralla et al.
(2015). Their Context and scope, Coordination and Institutional Structures and
Humanitarian Needs themes overlap with ours and are the most important factors
in the earlier response. Several other information requirements are not mentioned in
our interviews such as Looking forward and Relevant laws and policies as part of
Coordination. The Gralla et al. framework emerged from consultation with mostly
responders from the international humanitarian community, whereas our framework
emerged from consultation with only national and local responders. Also, the type
and scale of disasters looked at was different. We looked at small-scale disasters,
whereas Gralla et al. focused on large-scale disasters, where international response
is requested by the nation affected. Floods as in our case study have severe impacts
on livelihoods but usually less in terms of loss of life. In many cases, there can be also
a difference of opinion between the NGOs, on the one hand, and the government,
on the other hand, as to whether declare a flood an official disaster. One interviewee
mentioned encountering in some cases political pressure not to help. Nevertheless,
it is widely acknowledged that the role of national and local responders is of utmost
importance also in large-scale disasters. Local responders have more local context
knowledge and -in case of recurring disasters like annual floods—they also usually
have more response experience than the international community. This leads to a
different level of information needs regarding the Baseline theme between local,
national, and international responders (van den Homberg et al. 2014). For international responders, the public and media perception turned out to be a separate theme.
In our interviews, media perception did not come forward as an important issue,
probably related to the fact that national and local responders usually are not directly
applying for funding themselves (but through their supporting international NGOs)
and that the local communities affected do not have access to a lot of media channels. We did not find much information needs in relation to Recovery. This might
have to do with the relatively limited possibilities for the responders in our interview
group to extend their activities beyond response. In sum, it is important for each
type of context and hazard to develop a tailor-made information needs framework.
We have developed one for a hydrological hazard in one of the poorest countries in
the world. A comprehensive framework with a generic set of themes can be used
as a starting point and for each actor there will be differences as to which category
is the most important to them given their organizational mandate, where, for example, some NGOs focus on women empowerment and others on disability. Such a
comprehensive framework should include both the local, national, and international
perspective.
Subsequent mapping of available data sources on the information needs in the
framework is key for identifying the data gaps that currently exist. It is clear from the
mapping we did that both the responding and the professional community lack information to effectively dimension and target their response. The governmental SOS
form is rapidly available (within 48 h) but is very high level. The more detailed infor-
221
18.4 Discussion and Conclusions
We compared our framework of information needs with the one from Gralla et al.
(2015). Their Context and scope, Coordination and Institutional Structures and
Humanitarian Needs themes overlap with ours and are the most important factors
in the earlier response. Several other information requirements are not mentioned in
our interviews such as Looking forward and Relevant laws and policies as part of
Coordination. The Gralla et al. framework emerged from consultation with mostly
responders from the international humanitarian community, whereas our framework
emerged from consultation with only national and local responders. Also, the type
and scale of disasters looked at was different. We looked at small-scale disasters,
whereas Gralla et al. focused on large-scale disasters, where international response
is requested by the nation affected. Floods as in our case study have severe impacts
on livelihoods but usually less in terms of loss of life. In many cases, there can be also
a difference of opinion between the NGOs, on the one hand, and the government,
on the other hand, as to whether declare a flood an official disaster. One interviewee
mentioned encountering in some cases political pressure not to help. Nevertheless,
it is widely acknowledged that the role of national and local responders is of utmost
importance also in large-scale disasters. Local responders have more local context
knowledge and -in case of recurring disasters like annual floods—they also usually
have more response experience than the international community. This leads to a
different level of information needs regarding the Baseline theme between local,
national, and international responders (van den Homberg et al. 2014). For international responders, the public and media perception turned out to be a separate theme.
In our interviews, media perception did not come forward as an important issue,
probably related to the fact that national and local responders usually are not directly
applying for funding themselves (but through their supporting international NGOs)
and that the local communities affected do not have access to a lot of media channels. We did not find much information needs in relation to Recovery. This might
have to do with the relatively limited possibilities for the responders in our interview
group to extend their activities beyond response. In sum, it is important for each
type of context and hazard to develop a tailor-made information needs framework.
We have developed one for a hydrological hazard in one of the poorest countries in
the world. A comprehensive framework with a generic set of themes can be used
as a starting point and for each actor there will be differences as to which category
is the most important to them given their organizational mandate, where, for example, some NGOs focus on women empowerment and others on disability. Such a
comprehensive framework should include both the local, national, and international
perspective.
Subsequent mapping of available data sources on the information needs in the
framework is key for identifying the data gaps that currently exist. It is clear from the
mapping we did that both the responding and the professional community lack information to effectively dimension and target their response. The governmental SOS
form is rapidly available (within 48 h) but is very high level. The more detailed infor-