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Transforming humanitarian responses to disasters through geographic data science

Our research at the University of Liverpool is pioneering new ways to understand population movement during disasters. By integrating traditional data sources with digital trace data - such as mobile phone GPS and social media activity - we deliver timely, spatially detailed insights to improve humanitarian responses to wars, pandemics, and climate-induced natural hazards.

This work is led by Dr Elisabetta Pietrostefani and Professor Francisco Rowe from the School of Environmental Sciences, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM).

Watch on YouTube: Transforming humanitarian responses to disasters through geographic data science

Transforming humanitarian responses to disasters through geographic data science

Dr Elisabetta Pietrostefani and Professor Francisco Rowe explain how they have been working in partnership to explore new, innovative ways to use GPS data to more accurately monitor the displacement of people to better inform humanitarian responses to disasters around the world.

Abstract graphics from a report published on triangulating digital trace and traditional data for displacement monitoring

Report: Triangulating digital trace and traditional data for displacement monitoring

Exploring how digital trace data can complement traditional sources and improve the accuracy and responsiveness of displacement monitoring.
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Hackathon: Scaling data triangulation for disaster response

Testing how triangulated data methodologies could be adapted to support humanitarian response across a wider range of disaster contexts.
A photograph of the team from the Geographic Data Science Lab in Liverpool. They are standing in front of the Bluecoat Building.

Geographic Data Science Lab

The Geographic Data Science Lab (GDSL) is a world-leading centre of excellence that is driving innovation in how we use data to understand people, places, and change.
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DEBIAS: Correcting biases in human mobility data for the public good

Ensuring that digital data used to understand human mobility reflects everyone — not just those most connected or represented online.
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Meet Rodgers Iradukunda

PhD student at the Geographic Data Science Lab, Rodgers researches the cumulative effects of spatial inequalities.
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Harnessing the power of geographic data science to improve policy making

Writing in Science in Parliament, the GDSL team explain how geographic data science can be harnessed to improve policy making.