FloodTraces
Welcome
This website hosts the materials for the FloodTraces policy workshop and hackathon:
Integrating Digital and Traditional Data for Real-Time Humanitarian Decision-Making
Led by the Geographic Data Science Lab at the University of Liverpool, in partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the International Organization for Migration’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM).
FloodTraces develops a replicable data pipeline combining GPS mobility data, social media signals, satellite imagery, and traditional survey sources to produce timely, spatially detailed estimates of flood-driven population displacement. The pipeline generates Digital Traces Situation Reports (SitReps) — concise, policy-oriented documents designed for humanitarian decision-makers in the critical first weeks after a disaster.
Beyond Floods
While the project’s focus is flood-related displacement, the Digital Traces methodology is designed to transfer across disaster contexts. As a demonstration of this, we have applied the same GPS pipeline approach to conflict-induced displacement — producing a SitRep for Iran in early 2026:
Situation Report — Iran Conflict: Digital Trace Data Analysis (28 Feb – 19 Mar 2026)
Experimental reporting. Published on ReliefWeb.
This report illustrates how the same analytical approach — analysing population movement signals from digital trace data against a baseline period — can be adapted rapidly to new geographies and crisis types, with appropriate caveats on data coverage and representativeness.
Event Overview
The 22–24 June 2026 event at the London School of Economic (LSE) combines a policy workshop and a two-day hackathon. Click any row for details.
| Day | Format | Audience | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 — 22 June | Policy Workshop | Senior policy, FCDO, IOM, NGOs + hackathon participants | Indonesia & Colombia SitRep presentations; structured feedback; methods clinic; data walkthrough |
| Days 2–3 — 23–24 June | Hackathon | Technical teams + returning policy stakeholders (Day 3 afternoon) | Pakistan case study: three problem statements across data, interaction, and anticipatory action |
Join Us
Day 1 of the policy workshop (22 June) is open to remote attendance. If you work in humanitarian response, policy, or displacement data and would like to join online, we welcome your participation.
To register interest or find out more, contact Elisabetta Pietrostefani at e.pietrostefani@liverpool.ac.uk.
The hackathon (Days 2–3) is for pre-registered participants only. If you are interested in future editions, please get in touch.
Case Studies at a Glance
| Country | Event | Analysis Window | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indonesia | West Sumatra floods & landslides | Feb–Mar 2024 | SitRep — presented Day 1 |
| Colombia | Floods & conflict | Oct–Nov 2024 | SitRep — presented Day 1 |
| Pakistan | Monsoon floods | Aug–Oct 2022 | Hackathon case study |
| Iran | Conflict displacement | Feb–Mar 2026 | Example SitRep — wider methodology |
Contact
Dr Elisabetta Pietrostefani — e.pietrostefani [at] liverpool.ac.uk
Dr Martina Pardy — m.l.pardy [at] liverpool.ac.uk
Matt Mason — matt.mason [at] liverpool.ac.uk
Andrea Nasuto — andrea.nasuto [at] liverpool.ac.uk
Prof Francisco Rowe — fcorowe [at] liverpool.ac.uk
The website is licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International.