MERCHY CORPS ‘AI TOOL GIVES AID WORKERS FIELD INSIGHS IN SECONDS – ryan

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Founded in 1979, Mercy Corps is a Global Humanitarian Aid Organization Based in Portland, Oregon. IT OPERATES IN MORE THAN 40 COUNTRIES, AND HAS ROUGHLY 4,000 Employees Supporting Communities affected by Poverty, Disaster, Conflict, and the Climate Crisis. The Majority of Its Staff Members are from the Countries Where they work.

Situation Analysis: What problem was the organization trying to solve?

In the Developing World, Agricultural Crises Like Droughts, Crop Failures, and Loss of Livestock Can Rapidly Escalate into Humanitarian Crises. Mercy Corps Has Experience Anticiping these Emergencies and Reducing Their Impact. But a Lack of Timely, Reliable Data Often Prevents that KnowLEDGE FROM REACHING THE RIGHT TO THE RIGHT TIME.

Alicia Morrison, The Director of Data Science at Mercy Corps, Saw Potential in Generation He for Getting Relevant Information Into The Hands of Decision-Makers More Quickly.

The goal was to budild a tool that is could provide aid workers with Quick, Reliable Answers to the Day-to-Day Questions they face in the Field. The Answers Wold Be Based on Past Projects, Research, and Proven Approaches, and Include Links to Sources and Circulations SO CAN KNOW COMES FROM.

“MAKING THAT TOOL AVAILABLE TO THE PEOPLE DOING THE WORK HELPS THEN Learn from what’s been and imagine new posseiries,” She Toold Business Insider. “That’s when we are the Most Creative Ideas and Uses of Information.”

Key Staff and Partners

Mercy Corps Took Part In Tech to the Rescue he for Changemakers Program, A Global Accelerator That Helps Nonprofits Experiment with him. Through intense, Short-Term Training Programs, Tech to the Rescue Giives Organizations a Chance to Pitch He Ideas and Connect with Private Partners Who Can Help Bring to Life.

Mercy Corps Matched with Cloudera, A Software Company Focused on Data Management, Analytics, and AI. “They Had the Idea and We Believed We Could Contribute Our Time, Resources, and Skills and Add Value,” Said Rob Dickens, A Solutions Architect at Cloudera.

Cloudera donated Engineering Time and Platform Credits to Developt the Product, which is Called The He Metcher. Dickens Said Development took About Seven Weeks, and the Tool Runs on Cloudra’s He Inference Service, which uses Nvidia Technology.

He in action

Methods matcher use a type of generatory he calmed retrieval-augmented generation. IT DRAWS ON AN ARCHIVE OF SUCCESSITFUL PROJECTS TO SEARCH FOR REGLEVANT INFORMATION, SUMMARIZE IT, AND OFFER RECOMmendations. Now, Decisions that Aid Workers Make on the Ground – From Calculating Vegetation Health to Tracking Fertilizer Distribution – Can Be Guided by Date.

Morrison Said the Tool Speeds Up Decision-Making by Reduction The Time and Manual Research Required to Analyze Large Volumes of Information. With Methods Matcher, Mercy Corps’ Teams Can Identify Actions that have worked Elsewhere and Get Evidence-Based suggestions in real time.

For Example, in Countries Facing Severe Inflation, Mercy Corps often Provides Multurpose Cash Assistance. But the organization Needs to know the purchasing power of that cash to make an impact. In this case, an aid workrier in the Field Might Might the tool, “How to Determine How Much Aid to Give People in A Region with Rising Inflation?”

Methods Matcher Responds with A Tailored Answer Based on past Mercy Corps Projects and Research. AID WORKERS CAN CAS FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS IN THE SAME SESSION, AND BECAUS The tool “Remembers” The Conversation History, They Can Build on Earlier Questions Having to Start Over.

The Tool Helps Teams in the Field Quickly Access Information with Waiting for Support from HQ. “They Can See for Themselves How Valuable This Kind of Information Can Be,” Morrison Said.

Did it work, and how did the Know Leaders?

SINCE The Tool’s Launch in November 2024, Morrison Said that while they have been to report metrics on the tool’s impact, there haen streng early adoption Among Field Teams. Mercy Corps Is Now Working With Cloudera to Expand Methods Matcher, Develops New He Tools, and Build Data Literacy Across the Organization.

IT’S ALSO GATering Feedback on Methods Matcher from Staff to Understand What’s Working and What Needs Improvement.

“We’re a nonprofit, so we don’t have a Big Team of In-House he Experts,” Morrison Said. “We’re learning as we are we – figure out how to maintain these tools, how to evaluate, and how to get People Across on Board for the Long Haul.”

What’s Next?

Mercy Corps has experienced a significant shift in funding in recent months, but Morrison Said Methods Matcher and Other AI Tools “A Priority Investment Area.” She added that the organization will continue to improvet on Team Feedback.

Dickens Said Cludera plans to bring agentic he into the tool through its agent studio, automing task gathering real-time data, analyzing trends, and generating reports or recommendations. This will allow methods matcher to surface relevant news and social media reports from affected Areas, MAKING IT MORE ASSESSED TO EVENTS ON THE GROUND.

“AID WORKERS WILL Get Richer, Real-Time Context Instead of Manage Compily Daily or Monthly Reports,” He Said.