The Role of Crowdsourced Damage Assessment in Disaster Response and Recovery
2025-10-05 , Talks II

During disasters, there is a need for accurate, rapid, and reliable mapping, validation, and damage assessment to inform humanitarian response and recovery efforts. However, as disasters are often extensive in scale, it is important that these methodologies are scalable and can be employed for multiple affected areas at any point in time.

Crowdsourced mapping, validation, and damage assessment, when combined with multiple layers of validation with local knowledge, enables humanitarian actors to quickly reach multiple affected areas at once - ensuring that no one is left behind. Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) will cover the crowdsourced methodology piloted for the 2025 Myanmar Earthquake response, the outcomes, and the lessons learned.

There are pros and cons in applying different methodologies - AI-generated, expert-led, or crowdsourced - during a disaster. HOT sees value in employing a mixed-methods approach. This session will also explore the methodologies' benefits and limitations, and HOT's preliminary assessment of a mixed-methods model for future disaster response.


Subtitle:

A future co-working model for accurate and reliable disaster response and recovery

Co-authors:

Fombuena, Honey (Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team)
Pechmann, Jessie (Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team)

Talk keywords:

Disaster, Damage, Crowdsourced, Mapping, Myanmar

Affiliation:

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team

Honey is a GIS Specialist for the Asia Pacific Hub of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. She is focused on the application of geospatial solutions to critical needs of frontline responders and communities, especially in the areas of climate and urban resilience. Recognizing the value of equal access to geospatial technology, she firmly advocates for free and open-source applications to close the gaps that usually hinder access to GIS. Her field of expertise lies in the adaptation of open mapping technologies for various stakeholders and in the development of scalable and localized geospatial solutions.

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