Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Samer Abboud

Samer Abboud is associate professor of global interdisciplinary studies at Villanova University.

Artificial Humanitarianism—The Data-Driven Future of Refugee Responses
A Sudanese girl who fled the war in Sudan gets her iris scanned using a biometric registration machine at a Transit Centre for refugees in Renk, South Sudan, on February 13, 2024. Luis Tato/AFP via Getty ImagesSophia at the AI for Good Global Summit 2018, Geneva. Photo courtesy of the UN’s ITU ((International Telecommunication Union). Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND.
MER Article

Artificial Humanitarianism—The Data-Driven Future of Refugee Responses

In Jordan’s Za’atari refugee camp, to pay for food at one of the World Food Programme (WFP)’s distribution centers, Syrian refugees must lean into an iris scanner that registers their biometrics. The scanner then logs their transaction onto the program’s blockchain network: Building Blocks. Za’atari
Samer Abboud • 9 min read
Artificial Humanitarianism—The Data-Driven Future of Refugee Responses
A Sudanese girl who fled the war in Sudan gets her iris scanned using a biometric registration machine at a Transit Centre for refugees in Renk, South Sudan, on February 13, 2024. Luis Tato/AFP via Getty ImagesSophia at the AI for Good Global Summit 2018, Geneva. Photo courtesy of the UN’s ITU ((International Telecommunication Union). Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND.
Current Analysis

Artificial Humanitarianism—The Data-Driven Future of Refugee Responses

AI and big data are changing contemporary humanitarianism for better and worse.
Samer Abboud • 9 min read