Patrick Meier (humanitarian)

File:PATRICK MEIER Ushahidi (5571093944).jpg, 2011]]

Patrick Meier invented the concept of using crisis mapping in humanitarian emergencies, and is a co-founder and the Executive Director of WeRobotics.{{Cite news|title=When Disaster Strikes, He Creates A 'Crisis Map' That Helps Save Lives|language=en|work=NPR.org|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/10/02/495795717/when-disaster-strikes-he-creates-a-crisis-map-that-helps-save-lives|access-date=2021-11-28}}

Early life

The son of a businessman, Meier grew up in Kenya, Ivory Coast, and Austria.

As a 13-year old in Kenya, Meier created an online map of Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War.

Education

Meier received his undergraduate degree from Tufts University, and studies for his Ph.D. at Tuffs University's Fletcher School.{{Cite web|last=Greenwood|first=Faine|title=When Technology Helps Us Become More Human|url=https://psmag.com/environment/when-technology-helps-us-become-more-human|access-date=2021-11-29|website=Pacific Standard|date=14 June 2017 |language=en}}

Digital mapping of the Haiti earthquake

Meier's fiancée was in Port-au-Prince when the 2010 Haiti earthquake occurred.{{Cite web|date=2015-06-24|title=Navigating Disaster|url=https://now.tufts.edu/articles/navigating-disaster|access-date=2021-11-29|website=Tufts Now|language=en}} Working remotely, Meier invented the concept of a crisis map by creating an online digital map to help with the coordination of humanitarian assistance. Thousands of people in forty countries pulled information from YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter as well as email, videos and text messages, and input it on the online map.{{Cite web|date=2015-03-18|title=Remote Data Team Helped Put Haiti Back on the Map|url=https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2015/03/18/hrppspring2015_crisisdata_meier/|access-date=2021-11-29|website=State of the Planet|language=en}} The crisis map was used by United States Marine Corps, and the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Career

File:Patrick Mieir at a 2015 event 'Drones and Aerial Observation New Technologies for Property Rights, Human Rights, and Global Development' (19953446525).jpg

Meier worked at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and is the director of social innovation at the Qatar Computing Research Institute.{{Cite web|last=Chu|first=Ted|date=6 Oct 2015|title=Digital humanitarians|url=https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/digital-humanitarians|access-date=2021-12-16|website=blogs.worldbank.org|language=en}}

In November 2013, Meier aided the United Nations response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.{{Cite web|title=Do no harm: A code to guide use of humanitarian drones|url=https://www.scidev.net/global/supported-content/do-no-harm-a-code-to-guide-use-of-humanitarian-drones/|access-date=2021-11-29|website=SciDev.Net|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Washington|first=Jennifer Hlad in|date=2015-07-28|title=Drones: a force for good when flying in the face of disaster|url=http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jul/28/drones-flying-in-the-face-of-disaster-humanitarian-response|access-date=2021-11-29|website=the Guardian|language=en}} Later he criticized humanitarian drone operators for not sharing the information they had gathered with either local authorities or humanitarian agencies, and spoke of the need for a code of conduct.

In March 2014, Meier led a process to update the UAV Code of Conduct.{{Cite web|last=swissinfo.ch|first= in Boston|title=How drones are transforming humanitarian aid|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/sci-tech/-dronefrontier_how-drones-are-transforming-humanitarian-aid/44141254|access-date=2021-11-29|website=SWI swissinfo.ch|date=5 June 2018 |language=en}}

In February 2015, Meier was a judge in a Dubai based Drones for Good competition.{{Cite web|date=2015-02-09|title=Des drones à usage humanitaire ?|url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/fr/reportage/2015/02/09/des-drones-usage-humanitaire|access-date=2021-11-29|website=The New Humanitarian|language=fr}}

In the aftermath of the 2015 Nepal earthquakes, Meier used unmanned aerial vehicles to create detailed images of Kathmandu. Speaking later in 2015, he accused many humanitarian drone operators of "causing more harm than good",{{Cite news|last=McFarland|first=Matt|date=7 Oct 2015|title=In Nepal, a model for using drones for humanitarianism emerges|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2015/10/07/in-nepal-a-model-for-using-drones-for-humanitarianism-emerges/}} and spoke of importance of the drone code of conduct.{{Cite news|date=2016-05-16|title=Armed with drones, aid workers seek faster response to earthquakes, floods|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-humanitarian-summit-nepal-drones-idUSKCN0Y7003|access-date=2021-11-29}}

In 2016, Meier was contacted by authorities in Ecuador who were seeking advice about how to respond to the 2016 Ecuador earthquake.{{Cite web|last=Scammell|first=Rosie|title=Using drones in refugee search and rescue efforts|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2016/5/1/using-drones-in-refugee-search-and-rescue-efforts|access-date=2021-11-29|website=www.aljazeera.com|language=en}}

Meier is a co-founder of WeRobotics,{{Cite web|last=Wu|first=Katherine J.|title=Do Not Fear the Drones Air-Dropping 50,000 Mosquitoes From Above|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/do-not-fear-drones-air-dropping-50000-mosquitoes-above-180970068/|access-date=2021-11-29|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}} the founder of the Humanitarian UAV Network (also known as UAViators), and a co-founder of Kathmandu Flying Labs.

Meier co-founded the Digital Humanitarian Network with United Nations official Andrej Verity.

Meier is the author of the book Digital Humanitarians.{{Cite web|date=2016-10-23|title=Humanitarian efforts benefit from drones as ethical debate continues|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/drone-use-humanitarian-aid|access-date=2021-11-29|website=PBS NewsHour|language=en-us}}