TAKING FLIGHT HUMANITARIAN GROUPS MUST TAP THE POWER OF STARTUPS

摘要

At the start of his treacher-ous journey across the Aegean Sea in a rubber dinghy with 62 other refugees, Hassan called a friend in New York. His plan was to keep her on the line in case anything went wrong. It did. The boat sprang a leak and sank. As Hassan went overboard, he managed to hold his phone above the waves so he could tell his friend to alert the Turkish coast guard. He used WhatsApp to send her his location. He was rescued 45 minutes later. 1 Hassan, a 28-year-old English teacher fleeing the Syrian civil war, set out again the next morning, but only after checking an app called SeaConditions. It didn't matter: Masked vigilantes attacked his boat, and Hassan had to swim for eight hours to a Greek island. Once safe, he bought a new, dry smartphone. The current refugee crisis differs from every mass migration before it, not just in size and scope-3 million people are expected to arrive in Europe this year-but because these travelers are so connected. Vast numbers of them own smartphones (even if they don't have a passport); Wi-Fi has become as vital as food and water. That's crucial to understand as traditional aid organizations struggle to help. For the aid to be truly effective, these agencies must begin funding and emulating the smaller, nimbler startups that recognize what's really needed here: mobile solutions, for a crisis literally on the move.