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Humanitarian Technology

Journal of International Humanitarian Action welcomes submissions to a thematic series on Humanitarian Technology.

Humanitarian actors have always adopted and adapted technology to improve aid delivery and protection practices. What is of particular interest to us – and what we believe merits specific attention – is not only what technology does for humanitarian action, but what it does to humanitarian action.

With this focus on ‘humanitarian technology’ we do not mean to suggest that certain technologies are humanitarian / or inherently benign. As editors, we argue for the need to pay greater attention to the kinds of technologies that various humanitarian actors make use of – including questions about how and why some of these technologies may not necessarily be ‘humanitarian’, e.g. because of how their application may risk exposing crisis affected individuals and communities to various kinds of insecurity.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:

  • The role and place of humanitarian principles with respect to humanitarian technology
  • Humanitarian ethics and technology
  • How technology changes and challenges humanitarian action
  • Humanitarian data and responsible data management
  • Humanitarian actors use of ‘state security technologies’
  • Biometrics in refugee management, food aid and medical humanitarianism
  • Cybersecurity challenges in the humanitarian space
  • Humanitarian drones
  • Humanitarian robotics
  • The challenges of adopting and adapting specific technologies for the humanitarian sector (3D printers, IoT)
  • The relationship between humanitarian technology uses and refugee identity, safety and security
  • The relationship between humanitarian technology uses and donor demands
  • The role of technology in shaping the relationship between humanitarianism and state security


Submission Instructions

Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have carefully read the submission guidelines for Journal of International Humanitarian Action. The complete manuscript should be submitted through the Journal of International Humanitarian Action submission system. To ensure that you submit to the correct thematic series please select the appropriate thematic series in the drop-down menu upon submission. In addition, indicate within your cover letter that you wish your manuscript to be considered as part of the thematic series on 'Humanitarian Technology'. All submissions will undergo rigorous peer review and accepted articles will be published within the journal as a collection.


Articles submitted to this thematic series will be evaluated by this journal's team of editors. If you have any questions, please contact Philipp Olbrich, University of Groningen, Netherlands.


Authors benefit from the usual advantages of open access publication:

  • Rapid publication: Online submission, electronic peer review and production make the process of publishing your article simple and efficient
  • High visibility and international readership in your field: Open access publication ensures high visibility and maximum exposure for your work - anyone with online access can read your article
  • No space constraints: Publishing online means unlimited space for figures, extensive data and video footage
  • Authors retain copyright, licensing the article under a Creative Commons license: articles can be freely redistributed and reused as long as the article is correctly attributed

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