Tag Archives: Ushahidi


Crowdsourcing the slums: a breath of fresh air?

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Ville Miettinen

… of toilets and water access points across Tandale. The interface (clearly inspired by the famous Ushahidi platform) also allows residents to report sanitation problems via SMS and web forms. I guess now it’s up to governments and NGOs to actually do something with all that data.

My only issue with the (obviously worthy) Tandale project is what happens after the well-funded Western PhD student has packed-up his GPS and gone home? In other words, is the project sustainable?

Mark tackled …

Tags: crowd crowdsourcing Dar es Salaam Doctor of Philosophy Global Positioning System Mark OpenStreetMap Swahili language Tanzania Ushahidi

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Apocalypse Now-ish: can crowdsourcing save us from 2012?

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Ville Miettinen

… we can always mobilize crowdsourced crisis response platforms to help sort out the mess. I bet Ushahidi could have an interactive zombie infestation map online in under 24 hours. Clearly the crowd has got global annihilation covered. 2012? Bring it on I say.

Tags: Africa Asteroid Bruce Willis crowd crowdsourcing ESA European Space Agency foldit Near-Earth object Tenerife Ushahidi

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Paying the price for Google Maps?

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Ville Miettinen

… for fans of random mashup sites. But what about large not-for-profit mapping projects, like Ushahidi, that rely on Google’s unrivalled geocoding? Should they also be exempt?

Online commentators have been quick to point out that hard-up developers can always “just use OpenStreetMap instead”. OpenStreetMap – a free crowdsourced alternative to Google Maps – is a great product, however it lacks some of Google Maps more sophisticated features (like the all-seeing, …

Tags: Africa crowd crowdsourcing google Google Map Google Map Maker Google Maps API microwork OpenStreetMap Ushahidi

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After the quake: crowdsourcing Japan

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Ville Miettinen

… are getting together and giving something back.

On the map

Thanks to the pioneering work of Ushahidi in Haiti, crowdsourced crisis-mapping is now almost a standard part of earthquake response. With impressive speed, students in America launched a Japan crowdmap barely two hours after the earthquake struck. During the first chaotic post-quake days, over 3000 people uploaded geo-located data to the map. This provided rescue teams with vital information on trapped people, dangerous …

Tags: American Red Cross Bruce Willis crowd crowdfunding crowdsourcing crowdsourcing platform distributed work earthquake Geiger counter iPhone Japan United States Ushahidi

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A Ray of Sunshine

Posted on February 6, 2010 by Ville Miettinen

… The volunteers can translate information, verify data and map new items in an information system ( Ushahidi ) which ultimately gets to the major NGOs and aid workers in a position to help directly. NGOs like Oxfam, the Clinton Foundation, Plan International, and American Red Cross are this minute benefiting from Ushahidi data in the field in Haiti.

At a relative’s work last week, they organized a bake sale – which is a somewhat more traditional way to help those in need in …

Tags: American Red Cross earthquake Haiti Oxfam Plan International the Clinton Foundation Ushahidi

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