Ep 17 - Jacopo Margutti - Red Cross, Humanitarian Data Science & Moving from Physical to Digital Aid
Jacopo Margutti is a Data Scientist at 510, the Data Team of the Netherlands Red Cross which uses remote sensing, ground measured data and insights from social media to understand & react to humanitarian crisis. During this conversation, we touch on the the work the Red Cross does around impact forecasting of typhoons, how they have helped covid vaccine distribution, but also how to work on a tight budget to provide the maximum amount of help. Jacopo talks about the desire to move towards digital aid - sending money digitally - over physical goods and what the undesired consequences of humanitarian aid might be.
Sponsor of this episode: Element84
Jacopo Margutti
Time-stamps:
03:07 - Conversation begins, Jacopo presents himself
05:30 - Being in the Netherlands Red Cross Offices
07:55 - 510: The Data Team of the Netherlands Red Cross
09:50 - Example of applications: Natural Disaster Impact Forecasting
13:09 - Timeline of work on a Typhoon event
17:00 - The 4 Disaster Phases
19:15 - Working with satellite imagery providers
23:19 - Understanding what people need, not only where
24:45 - Insights from the ground compared to remote sensing
31:30 - Effective Altruism: Trying to do the most “good”
32:45 - Leveraging Social Media data
38:35 - Measuring the impact of the Red Cross interventions
40:05 - Challenges of working with data in help of far away locations
43:08 - Longer Term Impact Work: Delivering Digital Aid
50:20 - Financial aspect of Humanitarian Aid
53:30 - Deciding what to work on, who to help and who not to
58:15 - The Importance and Need of Volunteers
1:01:20 - Impact of Covid on the Red Cross
1:04:19 - Jacopo’s journey, from Particle Physics to the Red Cross
1:12:12 - Rounding off, Books & Podcasts Recommendations
Shownotes:
Books & Podcast Recommendations:
Good Economics for Hard Times: Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems by Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo
Hidden Brain by NPR
Volunteer to 510:
Please feel free to reach out!
