|
Ushahidi
Ushahidi is an open source software application which utilises user-generated reports to collate and map data. It uses the concept of crowdsourcing serving as an initial model for what has been coined as "activist mapping" - the combination of social activism, citizen journalism and geographic information. Ushahidi allows local observers to submit reports using their mobile phones or the Internet, creating an archive of events with geographic and time-date information. The Ushahidi platform is often used for crisis response, human rights reporting, and election monitoring. Ushahidi ( Swahili for "testimony", closely related to shahidi which means "witness") was created in the aftermath of Kenya's disputed 2007 presidential election that collected eyewitness reports of violence reported by email and text message and placed them on a Google Maps map. The Ushahidi platform has been used by the United Nations Department of Field Services and Peacekeeping, in response to the Haiti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ushahidi
Ushahidi is an open source software application which utilises user-generated reports to collate and map data. It uses the concept of crowdsourcing serving as an initial model for what has been coined as "activist mapping" - the combination of social activism, citizen journalism and geographic information. Ushahidi allows local observers to submit reports using their mobile phones or the Internet, creating an archive of events with geographic and time-date information. The Ushahidi platform is often used for crisis response, human rights reporting, and election monitoring. Ushahidi ( Swahili for "testimony", closely related to shahidi which means "witness") was created in the aftermath of Kenya's disputed 2007 presidential election that collected eyewitness reports of violence reported by email and text message and placed them on a Google Maps map. The Ushahidi platform has been used by the United Nations Department of Field Services and Peacekeeping, in response to the Haiti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juliana Rotich
Juliana Rotich is a Kenyan information technology professional, who has developed web tools for crowdsourcing crisis information and coverage of topics related to the environment. She is the co-founder of iHub, a collective tech space in Nairobi, Kenya, and of Ushahidi, open-source software for collecting and mapping information. She is a TED Senior Fellow. She is a trustee of Bankinter Foundation for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Spain, as well as a board member of Standard Media Group and the Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Board. She was the head of East Africa Country Cluster for BASF from May to December 2018. Background and education Rotich was born in 1977 in Kenya. After attending elementary and secondary school locally, she was admitted to the University of Missouri–Kansas City, in the United States. She graduated from there with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. She is an MIT Media Lab Fellow. Career In 1999 Rotich started working at Sprint Nextel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erik Hersman
Erik Hersman (born 1975) is a technologist, blogger and commentator who specialises in the impact and application of technology throughout Africa. Raised in Sudan and Kenya, he is a graduate of Kenya's Rift Valley Academy and Florida State University, he runs the websites ''WhiteAfrican'' and ''AfriGadget,'' the latter being a multi-author website dedicated to showcasing African ingenuity. ''AfriGadget'' was named one of '' Time's'' "Top 50 Sites of 2008". He is co-founder of ''Ushahidi'' ("testimony" in Swahili), a crowdsourcing website created to map incidents of violence during the 2007–08 Kenyan crisis. ''Ushahidi'' has since been used for reporting violence in Madagascar and election monitoring in Afghanistan. In December 2009, the Omidyar Network announced an investment of $1.4 million to support the continued growth of the platform. In 2008 Hersman was named a Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellow. In the summer of 2009 he was awarded a TED Fellow Fellowship, and the follow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ory Okolloh
300px, Okolloh in 2006 Ory Okolloh (or Ory Okolloh Mwangi) is a Kenyan activist, lawyer, and blogger. She is Director of Investments at Omidyar Network. She was formerly the Policy Manager for Africa with Google. In 2007, Okolloh co-created ''Ushahidi''. Early life She earned an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh and graduated from Harvard Law School in 2005. Career In 2006 she co-founded the parliamentary watchdog site '' Mzalendo'' (Swahili: "Patriot"). The site sought to increase government accountability by systematically recording bills, speeches, MPs, standing orders, etc. When Kenya was engulfed in violence following a disputed presidential election in 2007, Okolloh co-created ''Ushahidi'' (Swahili: "Witness"), a website and tool that collected and recorded eyewitness reports of violence using text messages and Google Maps. The technology has since been adapted for expanded purposes (including monitoring elections and trackin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Kobia
David Kobia is a Kenyan programmer and one of the co-founders of Ushahidi. He programmed the first version of the site. Kobia was named "'Humanitarian of the Year" by MIT's ''Technology Review''. In 2011, Kobia accepted a Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ... on behalf of Ushahidi. References Living people Computer programmers Year of birth missing (living people) {{Compu-bio-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FrontlineSMS
FrontlineSMS is a free open source software used by a variety of organizations to distribute and collect information via text messaging ( SMS). The software works without an internet connection and with a cell phone and computer. History The software was originally developed in 2005 by Ken Banks for conservationists to keep in touch with communities in Kruger National Park in South Africa. The 2.0 release is a deep redesign and is the first version to install a browser-based interface to the Java FrontlineSMS backend. Usage FrontlineSMS enables users to connect a range of mobile devices to a computer to send and receive SMS text messages. The software works without an internet connection by connecting a device such as a cell phone or GSM modem with a local phone number. FrontlineSMS can send and receive messages, group contacts, respond to messages, and trigger other events. If internet access is available, FrontlineSMS can be connected to online SMS services and set up to feed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed geodata sources. OpenStreetMap is freely licensed under the Open Database License and as a result commonly used to make electronic maps, inform turn-by-turn navigation, assist in humanitarian aid and data visualisation. OpenStreetMap uses its own topology to store geographical features which can then be exported into other GIS file formats. The OpenStreetMap website itself is an online map, geodata search engine and editor. In 2004, OpenStreetMap was created by Steve Coast in response to the Ordnance Survey, the United Kingdom's national mapping agency, failing to release its data to the public and under free licences. Initially, maps were created only via GPS traces, but it was quickly populated by importing public domain geographical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HARASSmap
HARASSmap is a mobile and online technology non-profit that uses interactive mapping to try to reduce the social acceptability of sexual harassment throughout Egypt. History As of 2005, HARASSmap co-founder Rebecca Chiao began investigating the prevalence of sexual harassment in the daily life of Egyptian women and eventually, with the help of friends and volunteers, launched a campaign that would eventually be adopted by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights. While these efforts were aimed towards changing sexual harassment legislation within the Egyptian government to better criminalize offences, there was a push for more urgent action. In a 2008 study conducted by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights, researchers found that out of the 1,010 women they surveyed, 83% of Egyptian women and 98% of foreign women in Egypt said they had experienced sexual harassment. Deciding it was time for some on-the-ground action, Chiao and HARASSmap co-founder Engy Ghozlan decided to harnes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2007–2008 Kenyan Crisis
The 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis was a violent political, economic, and humanitarian crisis that erupted in Kenya after former President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the presidential election held on December 27, 2007. Supporters of Kibaki's main opponent in that election, Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement, alleged electoral manipulation. This position was widely confirmed by international observers, as being perpetrated by both parties in the election. Even the head of the electoral commission himself confirmed that he did not know who had won the elections despite announcing the incumbent as president. In part due to the ethnic and geographic diversity of Kenyan politics, no singular narrative can explain the reaction of opposition supporters to the announcement of Kibaki's swearing-in, which was done on December 30, 2007, in the evening. The opposition announced a mass protest against the official results, the violence was largely stoked by the police. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open-source Platform
Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. Open-source software may be developed in a collaborative public manner. Open-source software is a prominent example of open collaboration, meaning any capable user is able to participate online in development, making the number of possible contributors indefinite. The ability to examine the code facilitates public trust in the software. Open-source software development can bring in diverse perspectives beyond those of a single company. A 2008 report by the Standish Group stated that adoption of open-source software models has resulted in savings of about $60 billion per year for consumers. Open source code can be used for studying and allows capable end users to adapt software to their personal needs in a similar way user scripts an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CodeIgniter
CodeIgniter is an open-source software rapid development web framework, for use in building dynamic web sites with PHP. Popularity CodeIgniter is loosely based on the popular model–view–controller (MVC) development pattern. While controller classes are a necessary part of development under CodeIgniter, models and views are optional. CodeIgniter can be also modified to use Hierarchical Model View Controller (HMVC) which allows the developers to maintain modular grouping of Controller, Models and View arranged in a sub-directory format. CodeIgniter is most often noted for its speed when compared to other PHP frameworks. In a critical take on PHP frameworks in general, PHP creator Rasmus Lerdorf spoke at frOSCon in August 2008, noting that he liked CodeIgniter "''because it is faster, lighter and the least like a framework.''" Source code and license CodeIgniter's source code is maintained at GitHub, and as of the preview version 3.0rc, is certified open source software licensed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foursquare City Guide
Foursquare City Guide, commonly known as Foursquare, is a local search-and-discovery mobile app developed by Foursquare Labs Inc. The app provides personalized recommendations of places to go near a user's current location based on users' previous browsing history and check-in history. The service was created in late 2008 by Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai and launched in 2009. Crowley had previously founded the similar project Dodgeball as his graduate thesis project in the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at New York University. Google bought Dodgeball in 2005 and shut it down in 2009, replacing it with Google Latitude. Dodgeball user interactions were based on SMS technology, rather than an application. Foursquare was similar but allowed for more features, allowing mobile device users to interact with their environment. Foursquare took advantage of new smartphones like the iPhone, which had built-in GPS to better detect a user's location. Until late July 201 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
