0.3 Where Are We Now?
Progress, Challenges, and the Evolving IM Landscape
Over the past decade, the humanitarian and development sectors have increasingly recognized that Information Management (IM) is not a technical afterthought, but a central pillar for effective, principled, and accountable humanitarian action. Organizations, donors, and coordination bodies have made significant investments in strengthening IM practices to better support evidence-based programming and coordination.
Today, many humanitarian actors have established IM functions at various levels—whether embedded within clusters, agency country offices, or global headquarters. Frameworks such as the IASC Operational Guidance on Data Responsibility, the Sphere Standards, and inter-agency initiatives like the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) highlight the growing maturity and strategic importance of IM across operations.
At the same time, technology advancements have expanded the range of IM tools available, from mobile data collection platforms to real-time dashboards, geographic information systems (GIS), and AI-assisted analysis. Organizations now have greater opportunities to collect, analyze, and share data more rapidly and efficiently than ever before.
However, significant challenges remain:
Fragmentation of Practices: IM systems and standards still vary greatly across contexts and organizations, creating gaps in interoperability and consistency.
Ethical Risks and Data Protection: As data volumes grow, so do concerns about privacy, consent, and responsible use of information. Ethical IM practices are not yet universally embedded across the sector.
Capacity and Resources: Many humanitarian operations, particularly at the field level, still face shortages of skilled IM staff, adequate tools, and dedicated funding for IM activities.
Localization and Inclusion: Strengthening the IM capacities of local actors remains an urgent priority to ensure equitable access to information and leadership in data-driven decision-making.
Lack of Integration between Humanitarian and Development Data: Data used in humanitarian contexts often remains separate from data used in the development or peacebuilding context. This disconnect undermines the continuity of analysis and limits the ability to design integrated, long-term responses. In fast-paced contexts, the pressure to deliver quick-turnaround data and analysis can lead to trade-offs: sacrificing analytical depth, local validation, or longer-term alignment with development objectives. Closing the gap between short-term crisis data and long-term planning data is essential to building responses that are both immediate and sustainable.
Adaptability to Change: The humanitarian and development landscape is constantly evolving — shaped by political shifts, displacement dynamics, environmental shocks, and shifting funding streams. Information Management must be adaptable to these rapidly changing conditions, enabling organizations to remain responsive, flexible, and effective in uncertain or volatile contexts. This includes the ability to revise data flows, update tools and indicators, and respond to shifting coordination demands. While emerging technologies like AI and machine learning present new opportunities, they also add layers of complexity and ethical responsibility that IM systems must be equipped to manage.
Lack of IM Literacy and Maturity: In many settings, the concept and value of Information Management remains poorly understood. This affects the ability to prioritize IM in programme planning, to assign responsibilities clearly, or to allocate sufficient resources.
Limited Standardization: Without shared definitions, formats, or workflows, data collected by different teams or projects often remains siloed, undermining both internal coherence and inter-agency coordination.
Balancing Innovation with Responsibility: Emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics, present exciting new opportunities for humanitarian and development actors. These innovations can enhance analysis, automate workflows, and uncover patterns that improve targeting and efficiency. However, they also introduce new complexities: ethical concerns, risks to data protection, increased dependency on digital infrastructure, and the need for specialized skills and sustained resources. There is also a growing risk of technocratism, where decisions may be overly driven by algorithms or data models, rather than grounded in lived experience and contextual judgment. Organizations must approach technological adoption thoughtfully, ensuring that new tools enhance, rather than overshadow, principled and inclusive humanitarian action.
The COVID-19 pandemic, rapid-onset emergencies, and protracted crises have further underscored the necessity of agile, ethical, and sustainable IM systems that can adapt to changing needs, support multi-sector coordination, and reinforce the protection of affected populations.
⚠ Positioning of This Handbook
Recognizing these evolving needs and challenges, this Handbook is developed as an open-source resource to serve the broader humanitarian and development community.
It aims to provide practical, scalable, and context-adaptable guidance focused specifically on programme Information Management—offering a strategic foundation while remaining flexible enough to address the operational realities faced by field teams, partners, and local actors.
REFERENCES & FURTHER READINGS:
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