The digital landscape is evolving rapidly, driven by advances in AI and emerging technologies, alongside internal shifts in skills and workforce dynamics. National Societies must prioritise foundational digital investments in technology and data systems while also exploring the potential of AI and other emerging tech. This dual focus is essential to navigate the opportunities and risks that come with these changes, ensuring our humanitarian efforts remain relevant and effective.

Digital technology is more than just a tool; it’s a catalyst for profound social change. It’s reshaping how we interact, how our institutions function, and how economies grow. As we move through this era, our Network faces the challenge of balancing two critical priorities: understanding the impact of digital technology on the world around us, and managing our own digital transformation to meet these challenges head-on.

On one hand, we’re witnessing the rapid rise of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. These advancements are just the beginning, with even more significant changes on the horizon. AI is already revolutionising fields such as biotech, materials science, health, and energy, driving progress that will shape our world in ways we can scarcely imagine.

“The market is demanding another level of experience. Volunteers, members, partners, the general public—they’re all expecting quality digital experiences.” – Participant, Focus Group on Digital Risks  

Each National society is on different points on the digital journey. Some  are focused on establishing the basics—like internet access, digital literacy, and infrastructure—while others are already exploring how new technologies can enhance our humanitarian work. This creates an “accordion effect” where we’re simultaneously playing catch-up with basic tech needs and exploring cutting-edge innovations. The accordion effect is a delicate balancing act, further complicated by the sense that we might be falling behind as the tech landscape evolves.

“Technology is moving fast, and we’re not catching it.” – IT expert – MENA Region

To truly benefit from these shifts, we must coordinate efforts across the basics, emerging technologies, and growing digital risks. Leadership within National Societies and across our network is crucial to making this happen. National Societies have shared their thoughts on what we need to prepare for the future.

“We need leaders who empower people, who help them realise their potential, and who trust them to drive progress.” – Participant – Focus Group on Volunteering

The Leadership Challenge in the Digital Age

Today’s digital era presents both significant challenges and exciting opportunities for leadership. Our discussions highlighted several key areas: embracing digital transformation, allocating resources wisely, engaging stakeholders, and advocating for policies that support our goals. Yet, many feel unprepared for the rapid pace of digital change. Without full leadership buy-in, digital advancements are often seen as optional, rather than essential shifts necessary for our humanitarian mission.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital transformation across our 191 National Societies, but there’s a growing concern that this momentum is slowing. Each National Society is at a different stage of digital maturity, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to addressing these needs. Strategies like skills-based matching are important for cultivating future leaders. Interviewees highlighted the need for digital leadership across the IFRC network including focus on talent retention and staff and volunteer upskilling to support the National Society. Prioritising digital initiatives can be difficult, especially with other pressing demands. Managers often lack the technological expertise needed, and staff may resist change due to cultural barriers.

Digital transformation comes with high costs, making sustainable investment strategies essential. Given competing priorities, advocating and negotiating long-term decision-making with technical expertise can be an obstacle for leaders. Understanding the political and social implications of technology and taking a strategic approach to integrating digital tools are key. . Our focus must be on sustainable investments—consistently funding people, processes, and technology to prepare our workforce for the challenges ahead.

“The appetite is huge. Everyone sees the potential in digital solutions, but the challenge is delivering it all quickly and managing it effectively.” IT Lead – Europe Region

Building the Digital Foundation

To address the basics, we must close gaps in digital literacy, ensure accurate data management, and support staff through digital transitions. This presents opportunities for continuous learning, automation, and standardisation. We need to overhaul not just our technology but also our organisational culture. The risks, like technical debt (legacy software systems and outdated infrastructure (hardware)) and cybersecurity threats, are exacerbated by monopolies in infrastructure and the digital divide. Having the right technology in place that works effectively, the digitally ready staff and volunteer networks, and the accompanying streamlined processes are foundational. We can advance our digital and data efforts by having these core systems, processes, and people in place. 

“There’s a big issue with having access to technology but lacking the behavioural change needed to use it effectively.” – Focus Group – Information Management

“I’m all for new things, but once we commit, we need to ensure they’re useful, usable, and actually used, rather than just moving on to the next shiny thing.” – Focus Group – Emerging Tech  

Investment in training, data literacy, shared resources, and technical skills is crucial. Respondents emphasised the need for a more comprehensive understanding of the true costs associated with managing digital products—beyond just the initial implementation. This ties to the need to make prudent technical decisions guided by risk, need and sustainability. By adopting improved product management practices, a clear data strategy, and a forward-thinking vision for digitally enhanced humanitarian action, we can make our services more adaptive and responsive. This will ultimately benefit our staff, volunteers, and the communities we serve. Participants demonstrated a passion for doing the right thing with ‘good enough’ technology. They also reiterated that staff, volunteers and partners are assets in this transformation. 

“Digital can enhance our work, making it more efficient, but we must keep the human aspect at the centre. Technology should enable, not overshadow.” – Focus Group – Volunteering   

The Role of Volunteers in Digital Transformation

Participants highlighted the importance of flexible, accessible volunteer opportunities, recognising their contributions, and providing clear onboarding and support. Sometimes digital tools don’t align with volunteers’ comfort levels, yet others are eager to adopt new technologies. This presents a unique strength—we can learn and grow with our volunteers. Applying digital transformation in volunteering requires careful shifts to ensure effectiveness. We must design digital solutions that are inclusive, adaptable to different languages and cultures, and that address gender and social inequalities in digital access and skills.

Our approaches to volunteering must evolve alongside shifting motivations and the digital divide. Offering remote opportunities, engaging youth, building online communities, and streamlining processes are crucial to retaining commitment and motivation. Digital can also open up new opportunities if we embrace hybrid, remote, and digital volunteering methods like micro-volunteering and blended learning.

Embracing Emerging Technologies

Emerging technologies bring both opportunities and challenges. Our focus should be on meeting the needs of users, whether they are volunteers or community members, rather than the technology itself. Sharing experiences and democratising access to tech knowledge is essential. We must prioritise community-centric approaches, ensuring that technology benefits and is understood by local communities.

“We find it so hard to prioritise, especially now, because what we find is across all of the areas that we’re working in the needs, the unmet needs are just getting more and more significant. Where do emerging technologies come in and how to bring it to life, where are the opportunities? So not just where the problems are, but where we could potentially have an impact that scales somewhere. I think there’s potential for us to be using AI better. But I also agree with the fact that a lot of it is probably internal, fast and really understanding like, how do we use what we already have?” – Participant – Focus Group on Emerging Tech 

“[I] like learn from the experiences from others because in my National Society a lot of people talking about AI, but we don’t really kind of understand it, and the idea is also to a bit of like democratise what is already there and like make it easy and accessible for everyone“ – Participant – Focus Group on Emerging Tech

Incorporating new and emerging technologies into humanitarian work requires careful consideration of both challenges and opportunities. Establishing ethical standards and educating staff on the responsible use of new technologies is crucial to maintaining integrity and supporting our core work. We need humanitarian accountability in technology, primarily as we work with vulnerable communities. Ensuring these technologies are accessible, beneficial, and built with local communities is a significant concern. We must prioritise ethics, data governance, and continuous learning to ensure technology benefits local communities. This includes improving language accessibility, building staff and volunteer capacity, and enhancing coordination and knowledge sharing among National Societies. Technologies like AI (Generative AI), Earth Observation (EO), VR/AR, robotics, quantum computing, and blockchain offer significant potential to our work, from improving communication to responding. Appropriate partnering with research institutions and technology companies can be essential for effectively navigating and leveraging these advancements. Furthermore, emerging technologies can aid in localising support and reducing headquarters costs.  

Navigating Digital Risks

“With some volunteers, the technology adoption curve might be steeper. And so, even if you tell them, “We have a secure instance.” They might not always be aware of how to use that properly.  How do you know those risks? How can the risk extend to other platforms, and what might they use and things like that? Both those fallen are like reconciling:  what is the hype around many new technologies? What hype reaches people through the news and through promotions?  And then kind of the underlying risk oftentimes is not discussed  as deeply.” – Participant – Focus Group on Digital Risks

The increasing complexity of digital risks—cybersecurity, misinformation, and digital inclusion—demands our attention. Preparedness, digital literacy, and careful partnership management are key. Digital preparedness can help maintain public trust and protect our reputation in a rapidly changing landscape. Support for the data transition, including data protection and digital security training, is essential.

We have opportunities to raise awareness of risks, share best practices, and develop responsible, scalable solutions. The exclusion of non-English speakers and marginalised groups due to language limitations, with, for example, AI tools, exacerbates existing inequalities, while misinformation and cyber threats disproportionately impact communities and vulnerable populations, particularly women and children. Interviewees underlined the need to keep our fundamental principles as we transform by managing the potential risks that come with technology partnerships. The sector’s reliance on digital tools without sufficient literacy and awareness poses significant risks to data integrity and organisational reputation. There is a critical need to reassess the digital ecosystem, ensuring that technology serves the sector’s mission and values rather than compromising them.  

“Often, the weak link in cybersecurity is the people, not the machines. Social engineering is the easiest way into networks, and the rise of deep fakes makes this even more concerning.” – Focus Group – Digital Risks 

Cybersecurity is a pressing concern as we increasingly rely on digital systems. The humanitarian sector faces challenges in securing sensitive data against breaches and is vulnerable to social engineering and identity spoofing. The rapid growth of digital tools has outpaced the development of robust cybersecurity measures, leaving organisations exposed to threats. There is an urgent need for scalable solutions, awareness programs, and skilled cybersecurity professionals to protect against inevitable breaches. Leveraging the global network of the Red Cross and Red Crescent could provide a unified approach to enhancing cybersecurity.

 Collaborating as a network

A network-centric approach, building on our strengths to learn and share, can significantly enhance our transformation efforts. Success in the digital age hinges on strategic, collaborative, and flexible approaches, continuous learning, innovation, and strong partnerships. Better sharing of expertise and investment within our network, along with new types of partnerships that leverage our ethical strengths, are necessary. Our humanitarian principles and the people we serve should guide all our decisions as we explore these new possibilities.

National Society focal points consistently highlighted the need for more collaboration on emerging tech research and digital risks like cybersecurity, along with more rigour in sharing best practices, lessons, tactics, and partnerships. While the IFRC does not aim to be a technology organisation, we cannot thrive in a bubble. Digital is changing how we do all our work.

In Conclusion

Leadership across our network will be crucial in driving this transformative change. From embracing digital advancements to addressing the digital divide, it is imperative that we prioritise sustainable investments in technology, digital/data literacy, and skills development. This approach will better prepare our workforce and volunteers for the future challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Here are some key questions for reflection:

• How can leadership effectively support the transformative change that digital brings?

• If we focus solely on digital fundamentals, how will we prepare for the risks and opportunities of digital transformation and emerging technologies?

• How are National Societies integrating digital approaches in volunteering? Are we ready for this shift, including the challenge of addressing the digital divide within our network?

• How can the IFRC network better invest in learning and best practices related to emerging technology exploration and research?

• Are we prioritising and preparing for digital risks and cybersecurity? Are we equipped to face the ‘digital storms’ ahead?

Our exploration of digital and data efforts across the network involved nine focus groups and over 100 interviews, enriched by insights from a few external colleagues. We extend our gratitude to everyone who contributed to this extensive undertaking. 

The significance of these discussions is underscored by our IFRC Strategy 2030 Midterm review online survey, which mentioned digital and data elements over 500 times. We encourage you to visit the IFRC Strategy 2030 Midterm review page and take the survey! we do all our work.