The PdF Network is PdF’s premium membership service, designed to give those working in government, politics, advocacy, and many more sectors, unparalleled access to industry experts and resources. As we work to upgrade the network, launching at the end of spring, we’re offering the PdF Network’s bi-monthly call series to the public at no cost.
Patrick Meier.
Since its launch in early 2008, Ushahidi (“Witness” in Swahili) has grown from a Google Maps mashup of user-generated reports about post-election problems in Kenya that was hacked together in two days by volunteers, into a robust world-class platform for crowdsourced reporting on all kinds of urgent (earthquake in Haiti! floods in Pakistan!) and not-so-urgent (snow in Washington, DC) situations in close to real time.
Yesterday (February 17, 2011), on the PdF Network call, we unpacked some of the dense underpinnings of Ushahidi with Patrick Meier, its hardworking director of crisis mapping, and explored one of the new frontiers that he’s seeing as more people use its tools–and the thinking behind them–to map the local intelligence of a crowd enmeshed in a real-time political experience, such as a demonstration. The full call, as a podcast, is available to stream and download at the bottom of this post.
Crowdsourcing serious activism, Meier pointed out, isn’t something you just throw together like a flash mob. The Egyptian activists who used Ushahidi recently to document voting problems with the recent legislative elections there spent five months practicing their methods of collecting and verifying data. And when Meier needed help dealing with the outpouring of reports that started coming in after the Haiti earthquake, he was able to tap a pre-existing network of supporters and activists at Tufts University, where was then based. Indeed, he told folks on the call, Ushahidi now has developed teams of “standby volunteers” who have been pre-trained on using the platform. (To find out more, check out blog.standbytaskforce.com and email join-at-standbytaskforce-dot-com to join in.)
“Technology is just ten percent of the solution,” Meier noted. But that said, as we discussed the concept of “maptivism” it was also clear that some very cool new technology is being developed as we speak, as coders working with activists in London are making some powerful tools for what Meier called “tactical data” and “instant mapping.” (Check out Meier’s blog post on this topic here, and also go to Sukey.org for more information on one of those tools.)
Situational awareness, it appears, may not just be for soldiers in Afghanistan. On this call, Meier also gave listeners a bit of a sneak peek at a new product coming from Ushahidi, which they’re calling “Crowdmap Check-In’s.” Basically, FourSquare for political protests. Alas, I didn’t think to ask him if you can become the “Mayor” of a sit-in…
This was the second call in the spring series, and we’re excited that all of these calls are free and open to the public. The goal is to expose those working in government, politics, advocacy, and many more sectors, unparalleled access to industry experts and resources, and the upcoming calls promise to deliver just that!
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Next PdF Network Calls:
Sign up for them here.
March 3, 1pm-2pm EST
Using Social Media for Non-Profit Fundraising: charity: water’s Success
» Paull Young, charity: water Non-Profit Fundraising Online: Innovation via Social Media
What lessons can your non-profit learn from a start-up whose 1.3 million Twitter followers have helped bring clean drinking water to over a million people? charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Paull Young, Director of New Media, leads the organization’s online presence.
March 17, 1pm-2pm EST
Digital DC: How to Create a New Culture of Digital Government
» Bryan Sivak, Former DC CTO Digital DC: How to Create a New Culture of Digital Government
Changing government through technology is possible — but it will require a total cultural reorientation, away from old ways of running and thinking about government. Bryan Sivak, former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the District of Columbia (2009-2010), discusses how the nation’s capital is taking steps to create a new culture of digital governance from the inside out.
Podcast for: Maptivism- How to Crowdsource Political Action
-download podcast here
-Stream podcast here: