The 14th EINIRAS Conference 30.9.-1.10. 2004
The Role of Information Technology in Crisis Management

Kristiina Rinkineva, Programme Director, Crisis Management Initiative

It is a pleasure to here in this 14th EINIRAS conference and I would like to thank the organisers for inviting me. My background organisation, Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) is a Helsinki–based non-governmental actor aiming to respond to new security challenges. The objective of CMI is to enhance the crisis management capacity of the international community and to find solutions to global problems and divisions. CMI was founded in 2000 by former President of Finland, Mr. Martti Ahtisaari. As was mentioned, I am working as the programme director for the Crisis Management Capabilities Programme. For the past three years one of the key areas of our work has been the use of ICT in humanitarian assistance and crisis management. In the end of my talk I will discuss in more detail some of our projects in this field.

In the following I would like to address the role of information technology in crisis management from two different perspectives. First, how we can use ICT to support the work of the international community in crisis areas and second, how we can support the recovery of local government in post-conflict countries with information technology. Finally I would like to discuss some of the key principles and recommendations how to improve both the sharing of information in crisis situations and the tools to do that in a more secure and speedy manner.