UNICEF’s Magic Box
Photo credits in order of page no: © UNICEF/UNI174459/James © UNICEF/UN035354/Markisz © UNICEF/UNI174450/Jallonzo © UNICEF/2016/Innovation © UNICEF/2017/Innovation © UNICEF/2017/Innovation © UNICEF/2017/Innovation © UNICEF/UN056225 © UNICEF/UN011574/Marcelino © UNICEF/UNI41366/Estey
An unlikely journey to combine new types of data, build unconventional models, and create open-source technology to help fix the world to work together to stop the pandemic.
A global pandemic During the 2014 Ebola crisis, there was a sense that humanity was more connected than ever before. More than 11,000 people died, and the world needed to work together to stop the pandemic.
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Humanity faces a terrible threat
A team of problem solvers UNICEF Office of Innovation worked to rapidly define and build systems that could help stop the deadly virus.
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A common threat creates a common dream
U-Report Liberia Our team spent time in Liberia, supporting those on the front lines of the struggle, and setting up systems like U-Report to let young people report on their needs via SMS.
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The smartest minds build individual solutions
Google & UNICEF This effort inspired others, like engineers at Google, to spend months with us creating software architecture and building solutions.
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Genius in isolation
Principles of Innovation We occasionally built ahead of ourselves, not always following the sacred Principles of Innovation, and though we created inspiration, the product didn’t serve our global needs.
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The failure of hubris
Flight patterns Stepping back from the immediate work and looking at epidemics more broadly allowed us to bring in many new partners, like Amadeus, who were all committed to solving different parts of a global problem.
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The humility of our connections
Forming a common movement In our second approach, we were able to separate tasks, types of data, and use cases, and begin to build a common movement that would provide real-time data for action in a range of different emergencies.
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Collaboration at global scale
Telefรณnica joins UNICEF Being collaborative, humble, and open-source about the work allowed us to connect to partners like Amadeus, IBM, MIT, Telefรณnica, and others who all share our belief in the collective power of their data.
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From each according to their ability
Combining forces This new data has already let us build models for mudslides in Colombia, Zika movement in the Americas, and Information Poverty around the world.
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What was impossible
Creating a stronger, more connected world. UNICEF, corporate partners, and academia have a new ability to use data, science, and technology to make the world safer and more full of opportunity ... for every child.
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Humanity is its own fragile shell.
www.unicefstories.org www.unicef.org/innovation @unicefinnovate
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