Assessing a Citizen Disaster Reporting Platform

This project assessed the impact of a citizen disaster reporting platform that has been operational for over a decade in Indonesia and the Philippines. Beyond quantitative metrics, the study sought to capture the nuanced ways people interact with the platform during crises — not just what they do, but why they do it, and how it shapes their disaster response capabilities.

I led this evaluation for Yayasan Peta Bencana (Disaster Map Foundation) funded by USAID, between November 2024 and September 2025. I conducted 12 in-depth stakeholder interviews with platform users, government officials, community leaders, volunteers, and first responders, along with three key informant interviews with internal team members. We supplemented this with quantitative monitoring data gathered by the platform.

The findings revealed fundamental shifts across multiple levels. The platforms transformed individual experiences of disasters — turning moments of panic into opportunities for agency and shifting people from helplessness to capability. They catalysed the formation of disaster preparedness communities, with young people emerging as key champions. Organisations experienced improved response times and precision, with the platforms enabling household-level assessments rather than just city or village-level data. Government agencies now incorporate citizen-generated data into official systems, demonstrating successful bridging between formal and informal disaster reporting.