Relief System for Earthquakes - Pakistan (RISEPAK)

RISEPAK was a web platform created by Asim Khwaja along with experts from the World Bank, Pomona College, and the Lahore School of Management Sciences in Pakistan during the catastrophic earthquake of October 2005.  

The web site, which went live on 19 October 2005, was a searchable database containing information compiled from population statistics, satellites, geographical systems, relief agencies, workers, and local officials. The database included village-level statistics on such things as damage suffered and relief received for over 4,000 villages in the affected area. The goal was to have "no village left behind" in regard to aid.

In 2006, RISEPAK won the Stockholm Challege Award, also known as the Nobel Prize of IT, in the Public Administration category.  The Stockholm competition seeks innovative projects from around the world that use ICT (Information and Communication Technology) to improve living conditions and economic growth. 

Khwaja has pointed out that the nature of the platform is highly adaptable.  He notes that one of the first posts on the site was from a Pakistani man whose livelihood had been destroyed, saying, 'I need a job, where can I go?'  Because no two disasters are ever going to be the same, the platform created by RISEPAK can be used to address diverse issues beyond earthquake relief in Pakistan.