Crowdsourcing for quality of life: The case of collaborative crisis mapping

Résumé En

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti showed how ICT and digital mapping could help provide emergency humanitarian aid to people affected by conflicts or disasters. Crowdsourced maps have been used by NGOs in order to quickly identify humanitarian needs on the field and provide up to date information. These tools are part of a recent trend in the humanitarian field, using big data, volunteer and technical communities (V&TCs) and collective intelligence networks to support crisis response. Collaboration is at the heart of the process to collect information and data on the field. On this topic, a large part of the literature is centred on the role of these maps in supporting the humanitarian response provided by NGOs.However, less research has been conducted so far on the use of online mapping tools by the people affected by crisis. What use can these tools have for them beyond the immediate crisis response? How does digital collaborative mapping help improve quality of life for people affected by crisis?This article analyses several collaborative mapping projects on recent or ongoing crisis in Syria, Nepal and France (Calais), focusing on the possibilities for local populations to be both users and contributors. Case studies are conducted on these maps to propose a typology of contributions. With this typology of information, this article then aims to discuss collaborative crisis mapping as a tool for: accessing information in crisis contexts; empowering communities and developing their abilities to be actors in the crisis response; and building community resilience. Perspectives, but also issues are explored in this article.