ushahidi at netsquared (loop)
DESCRIPTION
I had this presentation set on "loop" at last week's NetSquared mashup challenge in California (which we won). Makes more sense if someone talks to it, but you'll get the idea.TRANSCRIPT
crowdsourcing crisis information
The Ushahidi Story
Ushahidi (v1)rapid development and deployment of
a crowdsourcing mashup
Kenya Elections 2007
Getting from here
To here
In January of 2008 there was a disputed election in Kenya. The incumbent claimed a win and, due to gross irregularities, the opposition refused to accept the results.
What started out as a political fracas quickly devolved down ethnic lines. Government forces and civilians battled it out in the urban slums and rural Kenya.
A media blackout was created and only non-traditional media was in operation...
and cell phones.
Ory Okollohkenyanpundit.com
Our Goals
• Create a way for everyday Kenyans to report incidents of violence that they saw
• Create an archive of news and reports around those same events
• Show where the majority of the violence was happening
Ushahidi Calendar
27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 27 27
Jan. 10 - 75% of Kenyan bloggers write about Ushahidi
Jan. 12 - MSM pickup: BBC, NPR, Guardian, etc...
violence
idea, production, launch blogging and media
Jan. 3 - The idea of Ushahidi
Jan. 5 - Ushahidi discussed
Jan. 9 - Ushahidi launched
Jan.10 - Added functionality (RSS, SMS, etc...)
Jan. 6 - Ushahidi prototype
Jan. 22 - Ushahidi blog addedJan. 26 - Ushahidi timeline feature
Jan. 10 - Kenyan SMS shortcode partnership
Dec. 27 - Kenyan ElectionsDec. 27 - Dec. 30 - Period of uncertaintyDec. 30 - Jan. 1 - Media blackout
Kenya, January 2008
Rapid Development2 days
Rapid Deployment6 days
Media Hits
100blog posts in week #1
350blog posts by week #3
Ingredients Needed
• Connector
• Champion
• Passionate developers
• Collaboration
• Technical Expertise
• Volunteers
(to get it up in record time)
To Really Get Cooking
• Data gathering - on the ground
• Fear of contradicting government statistics
• Wrestling with verification
• Ability to answer the “why?” question
• Stretched resources - we all wear other hats
(we still need)
Data Gathering
Ushahidi Engine v1:
Kenya (post-election violence)www.ushahidi.com
South Africa (xenophobia attacks)www.UnitedforAfrica.com
Ushahidi engine (v1) being used to map reports of Xenophobia in South Africa
What’s Next?
a free and open source crowdsourcing and visualization tool
Ushahidi Engine (v2)
Ushahidi (v2)Using what we’ve learned to fulfill our primary goals:
1. Create a free, open source and easy tool to get crowdsourced crisis information
2. Help non-profits gather data and visualize that data in multiple ways
News Media
Citizen Generated
NGO data
Government
Public APIsFlickr
YouTubeTwitter
Ushahidi Crisis Mapping
Engine
Map
Timeline
SMS Alerts
RSS
Data Types Input Methods Output Methods
SMSEmail
Web formAPIRSSMMS
• SMS alerts
• Time visualization
• Mapping infrastucture
• Missing persons index
• Bandwidth issues
• ... and many more fun challenges!
from PHP experts to mapping gurus,we need YOUR help with:
The Ushahidi Team
ory okolloherik hersmanjuliana rotich david kobia
www.ushahidi.com
Ory Okolloh ([email protected])NGO relationships, media interviews, verification, blogging
Erik Hersman ([email protected])Website development, media interviews, blogger relationships, blogging
Juliana Rotich ([email protected])Local citizen outreach, media interest, blogging
David Kobia ([email protected])Website development, programming, feature updates