How drones and open source are building maps for refugees

Key Concepts:

• Refugee camp integration with the local community
• AI and machine learning for spatial data extrapolation
• Open-source data and code for humanitarian aid
• Community-driven data collection
• GitHub as a platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing

Kakuma Refugee Camp and Integration:

• Kakuma is one of Africa's largest refugee camps, located in northwest Kenya, hosting over 300,000 refugees from more than 20 countries.
• Integrating Kakuma with the local community is crucial for its future sustainability.
• The Kakuma mapping initiative is critical to this integration.

The Problem:

• The Kakuma refugee-hosting areas were not originally designed for human habitation.
• The municipality of Kakuma officially annexed the region after 30 years to provide services.
• Lack of infrastructure and spatial data hinders effective service delivery.
• Manually mapping the area was deemed too prohibitive and unlikely to happen.

The Solution: AI-Powered Mapping:

• The team leveraged AI, machine learning, and open-source tools on GitHub.
• Refugees in the camp were engaged to identify features in a small portion (16km²) of the area.
• AI was used to extrapolate data from this small sample to the rest of the camp.
• Local residents were involved in all aspects of data collection, including drone operation.

Data Collection and AI Training:

• Data collection involved identifying features like solar panels and poles.
• The collected data was used to train AI models.
• The models can quickly predict features in new areas after being trained on a small dataset.
• Open-source code is available for mapping solar panels, buildings, roof types, and sanitation facilities.

Open Source and GitHub:

• The data and code are open source and available on GitHub.
• GitHub Copilot was used to ensure consistent code formatting for the public repository.
• GitHub is seen as the starting point for the next phase of the project.
• Students and other UN agencies have used the code.
• Connecting developers, civic technologists, and data scientists to these problems is a key mission.
• Sharing knowledge and resources is crucial for assisting refugees globally.
• GitHub is a critical platform for making the code accessible worldwide.

Notable Quotes:

• Duncan: "It’s really important for the future of Kakuma to be integrated with the community. And the Kakuma mapping initiative is critical to that sustainability."
• Seema: "To manually map this area was incredibly prohibitive and probably would have never happened."
• Simone: "As scientists within the AI space, it was very important for us to work with teams that understand the human aspect, that understand the implications."
• Amrita: "The data is open source. The code’s open on GitHub. Everything is out there, guys."
• Seema: "We want everything that we’ve learned to be part of the broader knowledge of assisting refugees. And GitHub is a critical component to making sure that this code is available to others around the world."

Technical Terms and Concepts:

• AI (Artificial Intelligence): The simulation of human intelligence processes by computer systems.
• Machine Learning: A type of AI that allows computer systems to learn from data without being explicitly programmed.
• Spatial Data: Data that identifies the geographic location of features and boundaries on Earth.
• Open Source: Software or data that is freely available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute.
• Ground Truth: Data collected through direct observation and measurement, used to train and validate AI models.
• GitHub: A web-based platform for version control and collaboration, commonly used for open-source software development.
• GitHub Copilot: An AI pair programmer that suggests code and functions based on context.

Synthesis/Conclusion:

The Kakuma mapping initiative demonstrates the power of AI, machine learning, and open-source tools in addressing humanitarian challenges. By engaging the refugee community in data collection and making the data and code freely available on GitHub, the project promotes collaboration, knowledge sharing, and sustainable solutions for refugee integration. The initiative highlights the importance of considering the human aspect and ethical implications when applying AI in humanitarian contexts.