Humanitarians work with local communities around the world to address many challenges. With the data revolution growing in our sector, how can we build data literacy? Why is this important? What are some examples of the impact or the potential issues?

In this one hour conversation, guests from Reboot, Fabriders, the World Wide Web Foundation join the International Federation of the Red Cross Red Crescent (IFRC) to discuss these topics providing insights into the data journey for various communities. 

Guests included:
Dirk Slater, Fabrider
https://www.fabriders.net/dirkslater/

Panthea Lee, Reboot
Laura Freschi
https://reboot.org/team/laura-freschi/

Nnenna Nwakanma, World Wide Web Foundation 
Ana Brandusescu, World Wide Web Foundation
http://webfoundation.org/about/executive-team/ana-brandusescu/

John Crowley, Manager Knowledge and Learning

Hosts: Heather Leson, Data Literacy Lead
Learn more about the IFRC Data program - http://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/category/data-literacy/

From Data Curious to Data Ready in Humanitarian Sector

Heather Leson is a technologist strengthening community collaboration via humanitarian technologies and social entrepreneurship. She builds partnerships, curates digital spaces, fosters volunteer engagement and delivers training while inspiring systems for co-creation with maps, code and data.

At the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent, Heather coordinates global Data Literacy programs. She is a Board Member at the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team and an Advisor for MapSwipe - using gamification systems to crowdsource disaster-based satellite imagery.

Imagine this world if we all lent a digital hand. Heather is a frequent public speaker having presented at Crowdsourcing Week, European Space Agency Summer School, Impact Startup Europe, Understanding Risk, IEEE Humanitarian Technology Conference, Google Big Tent, OSCON, and TedxSilkRoad. Recently, she wrote articles on the power of data and digital literacy for the World Economic Forum and Civicus Datashift. 

Heather holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Combined Political Science and History from Carleton University, as well as a Library and Information Technician diploma from Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology

Heather Leson

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