GHTC 2020 : IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference

The Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) is the flagship IEEE forum for presenting and discussing humanitarian technology innovation and deployment. The technical focus of the Conference is complemented by an integrated understanding of broader contexts—economics, policy, culture, environment—that impact successful humanitarian technology implementation.

The 10th IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (IEEE GHTC 2020) will share practical technology-enabled solutions addressing needs of underserved communities in resource constrained environments around the world in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

Stakeholders from the public, private, education and research, societal, funding and donor sectors are invited to submit papers (or proposals for oral presentations) sharing Sustainable Development, ICT4D (information and communication technologies for development) and Humanitarian Technology related insights, experiences, good practices and lessons learnt from a research, policy, practitioner and/or community perspective.  Papers should present analysis of initial or final research results or a case study. General project descriptions are not appropriate. Submissions by practitioners (governmental, for-profit and non-profit), academics, private sector actors and policy makers describing intervention design and implementation, field experiences and best practices, case studies, project monitoring and evaluation results, and original research are of particular interest. Paper submissions should include results that have not previously been published and should not be simultaneously submitted to another conference or journal.

As well as describing technological aspects, Authors and Presenters are encouraged to consider socio-cultural, socio-economic, environmental and policy perspectives, and how Sustainable Development related good practices such as capacity building, community ownership, Co-Design, Collaborative Open Innovation and Theory of Change are applied. Submissions should describe the preliminary, final or expected results and impact.

The Conference theme of “Technology for the Benefit of Humanity” is presented in these thematic areas:

1. Affordable & Clean Energy (SDG7): Generation, and Distribution of Renewable Energy; Off-grid Energy for Lighting, Cooking and Heating.

2. Agriculture & Food Security (SDG2): Agricultural Technologies, Irrigation and Farming Practices.

3. Clean Water & Sanitation (SDG6): Clean Water; Sanitation; Solid Waste Management; Disease Vector Control; Drainage and Hygiene.

4. Connectivity & Communication in Support of Development: Communication and Information Technologies, Systems, and Applications; Social Media and Its Application;

5. Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG8): Entrepreneurship Programs (including social entrepreneurship), Sustainable Business Models, Social Enterprises, Workforce Development Programs (e.g. digital literacy programs), Innovative Business Financing Models.

6. Disaster Mitigation, Preparedness, Response & Recovery: Disaster Planning and Preparedness; Predictive, Warning and Response Systems; Community Mobilization; Monitoring and Evaluation of Community Response.

7. Good Health and Well Being (SDG3): Medical technology, Telemedicine, Mobile Clinics, Primary Care and Nutrition.

8. Quality Education (SDG4): Training and Capacity Building; Programs; Methods and Service Learning.

9. Other Related United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (e.g. SDGs 9, 11, 12, 14): Humanitarian Challenges & Opportunities; Infrastructure, Information, and Human Security; Shelters; Community engagement, Capacity-building, and Behavior Change; Metrics and measurement; Technology Design, Adoption and Dissemination; Human-Centered System Design; Ocean Health and Climate Change Mitigation.

Three types of submissions are possible for presentation at GHTC:

• Full Papers are appropriate for mature work or completed projects and should not exceed eight pages;
• Short Papers are appropriate for early stage projects or authors wishing to share a snapshot of results-in-progress, experiences and perspectives, and should be three to four pages in length including a short reference section.
• Oral-Only (Poster) Presentations are appropriate for work-in-progress, projects in the pre-implementation stage as well as an option for practitioners, policy makers or community representatives who do not want to write a paper. Oral-Only submissions should be described in one or two pages.

Short Papers and Oral-Only Presentations will be accepted for presentation either during an appropriate paper session or poster session at the discretion of the Program Committee.

Complementing the 2020 IEEE GHTC Conference Proceedings, accepted papers presented during the conference will also be submitted for publication in IEEE Xplore®.

A selection of accepted papers will be invited to submit a revised and extended version to an IEEE journal.

Important Dates