IRC opens sources tool for tracking humanitarian supplies in high-risk areas
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is “open sourcing” its Commodity Tracking System (CTS) technology – which it uses to track the shipment of humanitarian supplies into high-risk, destabilized areas. By “open sourcing” CTS (which was made possible by grants from the UK and US governments and Stichting Vluchteling) the IRC is making it available for free to individuals and other organizations.
Since 2012, the CTS has allowed the IRC to track the movement of all humanitarian supplies going into Syria. This allows the IRC to know when a shipment has reached its intended recipient while promoting accountability, transparency and improved reporting to donors.
“The IRC is proud to be a leader in the use of technology as it continues to play a transformative role in the humanitarian sector,” said Mark Schnellbaecher, regional director for IRC’s Syria response, in a statement issued last week.
The IRC like other INGOs cannot deliver medical aid and other supplies such as shelter materials or heating supplies inside Syria for security concerns, so it works with local civil society groups inside Syria that pick up IRC’s shipments at border points from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan and they deliver them to intended locations inside Syria.
The CTS allows the IRC to track the movement of all humanitarian supplies from dispatch to destinations, allowing IRC to determine if the intended packages arrived to its intended locations.
Every IRC package going into Syria is tagged with a QR code. Using GPS-enabled smart phones with dedicated software, the civil society groups that IRC works with scan these shipments as they are crossing the borders to various distribution points. The data is automatically encrypted and securely uploaded to the IRC’s server.
The QR code system allows for fast tracking of the shipment while en route.
Intended recipients confirm receipt of the shipments via email or Skype providing additional levels of assurance to the tracking system.
Individuals and organizations can access the technology and source code here.
