This section presents how findings through CDR data analysis were distributed to responders and utilized in disaster contexts. In the 2010 Haiti and 2015 Nepal earthquakes, Flowminder distributed its findings very broadly to relevant stakeholders, including Governments and humanitarian organisations. Reports were published either by Flowminder directly or in collaboration with UN OCHA, and disseminated through the official UN OCHA information channels for key data to aid in response efforts. To allow for broader use of the data, with authorisation from the relevant mobile operator, mobility data on the 2015 Nepal Earthquake and the 2016 Hurricane Matthew (Haiti) were posted directly onto the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX). The HDX is an open platform for sharing data across crises and organisations launched in July 2014.
For the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Damien Jusselme of the Information Management Unit at IOM (Minustah Logistic Base, Port-au-Prince, Haiti) mentioned in 2013 that from 2010 up until the present (now), the "Digicel studies" remain the only exhaustive report on the movement of population outside of the earthquake affected-area. It was widely used in 2010 and 2011 to advocate for a more important focus on this population that fled the capital right after the earthquake to be hosted by families and communities outside of the affected area. He also mentioned that it provided them with the necessary figures to advocate with donors and to coordinate the response in the regions. They consider the tool as a revolutionary tool that should be generalized for further emergencies involving major displacements.
For the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Kurt Burja stated that when the first Flowminder report came out after the Nepal earthquake, they used it right away in their national assessment of food security. Displaced people are often the most food insecure. Hence, getting national and district level numbers on displaced populations was an important component in their assessment of where to focus support after the earthquake. It was noted that the Flowminder analyses were widely read and circulated in the humanitarian community during the Nepal earthquake disaster response operations.
For Nepal, Fawad Hussain Syed of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) Coordinated Assessment Support Section mentioned that Flowminder work with the Ncell Nepal was a major break-through to their organization because they were able to see not only population movements but also the size of the population numbers, and where they are moving to during displacement, after displacement, and how long they stayed in their location. Also, they were able to analyse when they're returning to their affected areas.
For The Gambia, at the early stage of COVID-19, the analysis result of CDR data was shared with the National Health Emergency Committee and used for facilitating the communication. In parallel, 10 rounds of the High Frequency Phone Surveys (HFPS) were conducted to collect data from a sample of households nationwide. Analysis results from both data collaborate where the poorer were affected most. In response to the effect of COVID-19 a cash transfer program was conducted, and the poorer were reported to have benefitted more from the program by implementation agencies. It showcases the synergy of new and traditional data sources to inform decision where mobile phone data analysis delivered the quick and timely result on the effect of restriction measures in different localities while the HFPS provided detailed information on the affected population and socio-economic effects.