Monthly Archives: February 2011

Excerpts of Lessons Learned from Ushahidi-Chile

 in Uncategorized by

Excerpts from USHAHIDI-CHILE GRANT REPORT 16 JAN 2011 There were only a few hours between the moment the earthquake struck Chile to the first student-volunteer who browsed through media to find reports of needs and responses. The project was not planned and there was no infrastructure in place at the start of the deployment. For these reasons, the Ushahidi management team was forced to develop solutions to problems in real time and make decisions in the moment. Through the process of enacting plans and learning […]

New Resource – Lessons Learned from Ushahidi-Chile Earthquake Project

 in Uncategorized by

Excerpts from the report: On February 27, 2010 at 03:34 local time, a tremendous earthquake occurred off the coast of Chile, rating a magnitude of 8.8 on the Richter scale and lasting 90 seconds. Seismologists estimate that the earthquake was so powerful that it shortened the length of the day by 1.26 microseconds and moved the Earth’s axis by 8 cm. It is estimated that Chile’s territory expanded by 1.2 km² as a result. That afternoon, [Patrick] Meier invited students from Columbia University’s School of […]

Social Media Week – Open UN: Engagement in the Age of Real Time

 in Uncategorized by

By Priyanka Pathak, Director of ICTs and Mobile for Development This past week, technology enthusiasts met up in major cities around world for Social Media Week – a week dedicated to discussions and idea exchanges surrounding social media and its emerging trends. Many events were held right here in New York City, and Nadia (Director of Crisis Mapping) and I were fortunate enough to be able to attend an event on real-time technologies hosted by UN Global Pulse. Titled “Open UN: Engagement in the Age […]

How We Use Social Media During Emergencies

 in Emergencies by

The use of social media during national and international crises, both natural and political, is something that Mashable has followed with great interest over the past few years. As a culture, we started becoming more aware of the power of social media during times of crisis, like when the Iran election in 2009 caused a furor, both on the ground and on Twitter. More recently, the Internet and social media played an important role in spreading news about the earthquake in Haiti and political revolution […]

The Role of Social Media in the Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan Rebellion

 in Events by

Event Name: The Role of Social Media in the Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan Rebellion (Crisis mapping in North Africa and Middle East) Speaker: Anahi Ayala Iacucci Date: February 7th, 2011 Monday Start-time: 12:40 p.m. End-time: 1:40 p.m. Rm: 411 IAB What do Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan have in common these days? The massive use of social networks like Twitter, Facebook, blogs and sometimes mapping software like Ushahidi and Google maps. The digital international community is bypassing the mainstream media by creating its own space in […]