Paper details

Paper authors	Ümit Seven
In panel on	‘Real’ Humanitarian Governance: Accountability, Advocacy, and Alternatives
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

Humanitarian organizations are increasingly adopting digital technologies and data-driven processes to enhance the effectiveness of aid delivery. While this digital transformation is often framed as a pursuit of efficiency, it has profound implications for authority and governance in conflict-affected settings. This study employs a mixed-methods approach to examine how digital technologies reshape power dynamics between host states and international humanitarian actors. We begin by analyzing strategic documents from humanitarian organizations to understand how digital transformation is conceptualized. We then draw on survey data from humanitarian professionals to explore their experiences with digital tools and perceptions of associated risks. Our findings suggest that digitalization shifts operational authority away from host states and toward international actors, often bypassing local governance mechanisms. This transformation, we argue, undermines the principle of neutrality and reconfigures humanitarian practice as a form of digital governance. The study contributes to ongoing debates about the politics of technology in humanitarian contexts and calls for a more critical engagement with the ethical and political dimensions of digital transformation in aid work.

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