Mobile Phones: Established Technologies for Innovative Humanitarian Logistics Concepts

Recent studies have shown an increased interest in the role of logistics function in supporting humanitarian relief operations. However, there is limited discussion in literature of how established technologies could be adopted effectively for supporting the delivery of basic relief items for beneficiaries. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the appropriateness of mobile phone technology to support humanitarian operations and to create new humanitarian logistics concepts. With mobile phone technology, an established (humanitarian) technology is selected to enhance the performance of humanitarian logistics in disaster relief operations. This research provides insights for improved humanitarian relief operations and delivery for refugees in sub-Saharan Africa, Jordanian refugee camps and Germany.