Operationalizing a Medical Intelligence Platform for Humanitarian Security in Protracted Crises

ABSTRACT

Most of present humanitarian crises are protracted in nature and their average duration has increased. Climate change, environmental degradation, armed conflicts, terrorism, and migration are producing exponentially growing needs to whom humanitarian organizations are struggling to respond. Novel infectious diseases such as COVID-19 add complexity to protracted crises. Planning to respond to current and future medical threats should integrate terrorist risk assessment, to safeguard population and reduce risks to aid workers. Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Modelling and Simulation (M&S) can play a crucial role. The present research has included the conduct of the United Nations HNPW 2021 session on AI and Medical Intelligence and an exercise on a real scenario. Focusing on medical and terror threats in North East Nigeria operating environment, authors have successfully deployed and tested the Expert.ai Medical Intelligence Platform (MIP) jointly with the MASA SYNERGY constructive simulation, with the aim to improve situational awareness to support decision-making in the context of a humanitarian operation.