Technology, a revealer of Truth or Fuel on the Fire??..

Is technology driving change for a sustainable tomorrow or driving mankind closer to the edge…

That poor Syrian boy who drowned escaping the conflict and was washed ashore for the world to see on social media is a perfect example of the savage conflicts that we were blissfully unware of just a few short years ago. We all ask, why? How could they? Who is to blame?

I have thought somewhat about that poor boy and the countless numbers of poor unfortunates of all ages whose only crime is being born in a country ruined by heartless state thugs and barbarous religious fanatics whom cannot seem to agree on anything in practice other than the majority of people are not innocents, but pawns in their sick game that shows no sign of abating to reason, compassion and what ever humanity maybe left in their hearts!

So focusing on nations who still have a beating heart in their chests and taking in refugees from ISIS and regime savagry, my thoughts move to process and how take in, process and disburse refugees amongst their population with a proper integration plan. For it to be sustainable, technology once again can aid change but should be overlaid into a good working process before value can be derived from the technology platform set up to house the process.

A good baseline for an integration process should have a proven process structure along the lines of what many NGO’s already have. It could be as follows:

Registration and Identity Validation*

Refugee’s basic details (name/address/family structure/records/issues/etc) are taken with production of passport or ID scanned against a template to create a file number for refugee. The application would scan the ID for defects and known forgery features to identify fake credentials. If passed, the application would then scan the internet looking for historic information on the town/area the refugee is coming from to confirm they have local knowledge of the area. Once the brief interview is over, the refugee status updated on the account.

Medical Evaluation (where necessary) & Starter Pack/Quartering with Essentials

Assigning medical assistance to the registered refugee should be done if needed along with a starter pack and quartering the refugee appropriately, which is assigned to the single read/write record. A record of all requests, needs and issues gets recorded building a data profile allowing needs to be predicted using some commonly used predictive data science algorithms. This also helps with finance, inventory and stock planning.

Interview & Aptitude Test*

A qualified professional should interview the refugee noting body language, answers and intimations that are compared using local culture knowledge. The interview should be recorded and transcripts put through data analysis (sentiment analysis for one) to assess the interviewees sentiment and conclusions of the interviewer. The refugee file should be updated.

An aptitude measuring IQ, EQ and other forms of intelligence should be recorded so the host country has a measurement of intelligence at the point of testing. The aptitude test should also feature cultural awareness of the host nation and quantify the level of awareness. It is in essence a starting point and should impact the longer term integration plan and support needed in transition.

Skills Assessment*

Interviewer should have gotten a skills list at the registration interview and then assigned the refugee to a specialist online skills exam in the areas of expertise to get a quantitative understanding of their skills level including languages spoken and proficiency levels. The results should be automatically updated on the unique account assigned to the refugee.

Threat Assessment*

Not every refugee applicant is an innocent refugee. Records may be unavailable from the country of origin even after application is made for them so an iterative threat assessment is necessary to weed out the wolves! This process may vary, but a iterative interviews recorded with text analytics will help flag threatening diction and repetitive patterning that indicates a possible threat posed by the individual.

Profile Completion & Classification*

Once the initial interview, registration, skills assessment and threat assessment is done with all information passed to a single file, then the refugee should be classified into a hierarchy of profiles (Short Term/Medium Term/Long Term) based on their profile and some preset elements that determines how a host nations will to accommodate the refugee. Where data science helps is when there is a good capture of information. It begins to connect the dots and flags predictive issues with the refugee. It is subject to human oversight but provides the evaluator with an educated guess to cause and outcomes for each point of interest that only gets better over time.

Assignment to Long Term Care/Integration Plan*

At this point, the refugee’s inputs should be somewhat minimalistic in terms of tests analysis and interviews. These types of inputs should be based on refining a longer term plan and the path ahead using data science analytics and case manager judgement. The length of time in the transition stage can be monitored, flagged and augmented by such technology in line with the design intent by the host nation.

(* = partly or fully automated/computerised process where data is inputted into a database located in an indexed data lake)

From there the single record per person is passed onto the host nation’s long term plan via access to the data lake (i.e. if done right,  a data lakes is many databases in the same place analysable as one), where they have permission to access and import that record into their own process instance within the same framework using the same unique file number.

The longer term plan based on the classification should feed seamlessly into the host country’s social fabric with education, cultural and social training being the priorities after housing, medical and job preparedness depending on the short/medium or long term classification.

A single system with integrated process and data science analytics and data driven decisions will have the following effect:

Security - Instantiate a security profile of the refugee based on interaction and inputs from them to a degree of accuracy that is verified by as many sources as possible. In the absence of prior records, it is a starting pillar on which to evaluate future behaviour against refining probabilities and threat posed.

Productivity - Its a travesty to have a good Doctor unable to work because he was not threaded in a plan to bring his English/German/French upto working standards for his host nation from the week he was registered as a refugee. She/he should be placed on a data driven and tailored plan to resolve any obstacles to achieving local qualifications in the host nation.  Every host nation saves a refugee by taking them in, but with technology’s help, the host nation can benefit from their presence and working contributions.

Social Integration - Technology can identify from good data inputs at the initial phase the best plan for integrating every individual into the host nation predicting cost and returns predicted along the journey. Concepts taken for granted can be mapped out and delivered in training to deliver understanding for the refugee and a sense of belonging to their new nation. With less fear of what could be, they take more control over their new lives and are less prone to manipulation by 3rd parties adding value to the society they are joining. Technology can help deliver on this too.

I could go on and one on this, as those outside or wars and savage conflicts are no longer shielded from it thanks to technology. Acting decisively with understanding, knowhow and vision, we can use technology as a catalyst for positive change saving those desperately in need in a manner that just some day may see them repaying such humanity in kind.