DigiCap

Across humanitarian operations, digital tools are increasingly used for programme delivery, coordination, service mapping, referrals, monitoring, feedback and reporting. Yet the capacity to design, govern and connect these tools is uneven. Many organisations, particularly local and medium-sized organisations, face difficulties in assessing technology options, negotiating with vendors, setting up responsible data-sharing practices, or ensuring that digital systems remain practical in field conditions.

This creates a growing need for advisory capacity that is both technically competent and grounded in humanitarian realities. Digital challenges are rarely only technical. They often involve questions of trust, governance, accountability, consent, data protection, institutional mandates and coordination between actors.

DigiCap responds to this gap by making specialised digital advisory support available to humanitarian actors facing shared operational and coordination challenges.

DigiCap can support humanitarian actors where digital challenges affect more than one organisation, sector, system or response function.

This may include:

• mapping existing digital systems and identifying fragmentation or duplication;
• improving interoperability between platforms, databases, referral systems, dashboards or reporting tools;
• developing data-sharing protocols, data governance frameworks or responsible data practices;
• advising on the selection, procurement or adaptation of digital tools;
• supporting digital inclusion and the meaningful participation of local actors;
• reviewing risks related to sensitive data, cybersecurity, biometrics, artificial intelligence or automated decision-making;
• facilitating agreement between organisations on shared digital workflows, standards or operating procedures;
• supporting coordination bodies to better understand and manage digital transformation challenges.

DigiCap is most relevant when the issue is collective. It is intended for situations where several organisations, a coordination platform, a consortium, a local actor network or a technical working group require neutral support to clarify the problem and agree on a practical way forward.

DigiCap support may be requested by:

• humanitarian coordination bodies, clusters, sectors and working groups;
• UN agencies and INGOs leading collective digital or data-related initiatives;
• NGO consortia and collaborative response platforms;
• local and national NGO networks facing a shared digital challenge;
• donors or coordination platforms seeking independent technical scoping or feasibility advice.

Requests from individual organisations may also be considered where the challenge has clear interagency relevance, wider humanitarian value, or potential to generate learning for the broader response and when endorsed by the cluster or consortia. 

1. Request submission

The requesting agency, coordination body or coalition submits a short request describing the digital challenge, the actors involved, the urgency, expected outputs and available operational or financial support.

2. Initial screening

ERC reviews whether the request fits DigiCap’s mandate. Priority is given to requests with interagency relevance, clear humanitarian value, local actor involvement and realistic conditions for uptake.

3. Scoping discussion

ERC and the requesting entity hold a scoping discussion to clarify the problem, stakeholders, advisory role, deployment modality, timeline, risks and responsibilities.

4. Terms of Reference

A light Terms of Reference is jointly developed. It defines the objective, outputs, stakeholders, reporting lines, safeguarding requirements, operational arrangements and expected duration.

5. Advisor matching

ERC identifies a suitable advisor or small advisory team from the DigiCap roster based on the required profile, language, context, technical expertise and availability.

6. Deployment or remote support

Support may be delivered remotely, in person or through a hybrid model. The advisor may work with coordination bodies, local NGOs, UN agencies, INGOs, donors, government counterparts, technical working groups or sector leads, depending on the context and agreed scope.

7. Outputs and follow-up

Each engagement produces agreed outputs, such as a digital roadmap, interoperability options paper, data governance framework, procurement guidance, workshop report, training package, tool review or implementation plan. Where relevant, ERC may provide follow-up support after the initial engagement.

Depending on the request, DigiCap can help produce:

• digital needs assessment or system mapping;
• interoperability roadmap;
• digital governance framework;
• responsible data or DPIA checklist;
• data-sharing protocol;
• referral pathway or service mapping design note;
• procurement requirements for a digital platform;
• vendor comparison or due diligence tool;
• digital inclusion and localisation plan;
• responsible AI or automation risk review;
• standard operating procedures for shared digital workflows;
• workshop facilitation report;
• implementation plan;
• learning brief or case study.

Humanitarian principles and neutrality

DigiCap is guided by the principles of humanity, neutrality, independence and impartiality. Advisors are not deployed to promote a single agency’s tool, vendor or institutional agenda. Their role is to support collective decision-making and principled digital coordination.

Accountability and participation

Digital systems should strengthen accountability, not weaken it. DigiCap promotes digital approaches that help affected people receive timely information, provide feedback safely, and participate in decisions that affect their lives. This includes attention to accessibility, language, informed consent, safe feedback channels and responsible communication with affected people.

Localisation and inclusion

Local and national actors should be meaningfully involved in digital planning, governance and decision-making. DigiCap supports approaches that strengthen local capacity and avoid creating systems that are difficult for local actors to access, use or sustain.

Responsible data use

Digital systems can create harm if personal or sensitive data is collected, shared or stored without sufficient safeguards. DigiCap promotes data minimisation, informed consent, secure access, clear accountability and context-specific risk assessment.

Practicality and sustainability

Recommendations must be realistic for humanitarian settings, including low-connectivity environments, limited staff capacity, security constraints and complex coordination structures. DigiCap focuses on solutions that can be implemented and maintained, not only on technical concepts.

Interoperability before duplication

Before new systems are introduced, DigiCap helps actors assess whether existing tools, standards or workflows can be adapted, connected or governed more effectively. The aim is to reduce duplication and support more coherent digital ecosystems.

DigiCap does not replace existing coordination leadership, manage another organisation’s programme, provide general IT troubleshooting, impose specific digital solutions, act as a software vendor, or make final decisions on behalf of humanitarian actors.

It provides neutral advisory support so that organisations and coordination structures can make safer, more informed and more coherent digital decisions.

DigiCap works best when:

• the request responds to a recognised coordination or multi-agency need;
• key stakeholders are willing to participate in scoping and decision-making;
• local actors are included from the beginning;
• the host or requesting entity can identify a focal point;
• the advisor can access relevant documentation, systems and coordination spaces;
• there is openness to address governance, data protection and institutional questions, not only technical configuration.