Digital Humanitarian Network

I came across the Digital Humanitarian Network because of their fabulous hashtag #DigiHum - I saw it go by, was interested, and clicked on through.

The network seems to be a coalition of organizations each of which has some role in deploying technology savvy individuals to social change situations. From crisis mapping to data visualization expertise, the ten or so organizations are each global networks of technologists who work with, partner with, serve, and voluntarily complement humanitarian efforts. At least one of them, ESRI, is a commercial purveyor of technology tools (GIS mapping, in ESRI's case). The other member organizations are:

• DataKind (full disclosure, I'm on the advisory board)
• Geeks without Bounds
• Translators without Borders
• Humanity Road
• Statistics without Borders
• Map Action
• URISA's GISCorps
• Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team
• UNV Online Volunteering Team
• Standby Volunteer Task Force

The website gives you contact information to "activate the network" and its member organizations. It provides access to the coordinators' meeting notes, contact info for the coordinators, and - impressively - the Codes of Conduct for each of the organizations and the Network itself.  Here they are:

• GWOB Code of Collaboration (also adopted by the Ushahidi community)
• GISCorps Code of Conduct
• Statistics without Borders' Code of Conduct
• Humanity Road's Code of Conduct and Ethics Pledge
• United Nations Volunteers Code of Conduct
• Standby Volunteer Task Force's Code of Conduct

The Network will open to new members- there is an application form on the site. I find the effort interesting on several levels - as an example of coalition building in the digital environment, as a network of digital civil society organizations and their partners, as a portal to key issues about the ethics of data, and, as it grows, it will be a useful source of information about the expanding field.  Glad I found it.