Radio, AI and community insight: strengthening the Ebola response in DRC

This webinar explored how radio can be incorporated into community listening and humanitarian decision-making.

Against the backdrop of the current Ebola response in eastern DRC, ORB International introduced wAIve, a capability that captures public FM broadcasts and uses AI to transcribe, translate and structure them in near real time.

ORB and CAFOD then drew on Ebola-related monitoring in DRC, demonstrating what radio can reveal about community concerns, misinformation and the response itself – and how these insights can complement local expertise, direct engagement and other evidence sources.

Key areas covered were:

• Why local radio is an essential source of community insight in DRC and other low-connectivity contexts.
• How radio can reveal emerging concerns, rumours, trusted messengers and reactions to public health interventions.
• How wAIve converts public FM broadcasts into searchable, translated and near-real-time evidence.
• How Ebola-related radio insight can strengthen risk communication and community engagement, adaptive programming, early warning, and monitoring and evaluation.
• Practical considerations for using AI-enabled monitoring responsibly alongside human analysis and locally led engagement.

View the slides