11 May 2009

Ushahidi wins $200K MacArthur grant

Ushahidi -- a crisis-tracking tool with roots in TEDGlobal 2007 -- has been awarded a $200,000 grant for development from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The Ushahidi mapping tool was developed by Erik Hersman, Ory Okolloh and Juliana Rotich, who'd met as TED Fellows at the 2007 TEDGlobal conference in Arusha, Tanzania, and the programmer David Kobia. A mashup of Google Maps and texting widgets, Ushahidi allowed citizens to do real-time reporting via text during the Kenyan post-election riots. It's since been developed into an engine for more widespread reporting -- most recently, to monitor the Indian elections and to track swine flu. In his 2009 TEDTalk, Erik Hersman, a co-founder, talked about the team's big plans for Ushahidi -- making it open-source and expandable. Watch his TEDTalk to hear this vision, which the grant will help come true >>

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05 May 2009

Q&A with TEDFellow Erik Hersman: When technology goes African

In his 2009 TEDTalk, techno-blogger Erik Hersman breaks down the framework of and uses for Ushahidi, a crisis reporting platform that emerged to help Kenyans avoid violence during riots after the 2008 elections. During this follow-up interview with the TEDBlog, he talks about his African ties, how the TEDFellows program has impacted him and the very beginnings of Ushahidi.

How did Ushahidi begin? We know it began during the aftermath of the 2008 Kenyan elections, but who were the key players and how did they come to contact each other and form this system?

It was very, very fast and loose. We quickly combined our thoughts around the basic idea via Skype and then got the whole thing going in a couple days. Ory, Juliana, Daudi and I knew each other from the Kenyan blogosphere, and as past TEDAfrica Fellows. I knew David Kobia, our lead developer from an interview I had done of him on my WhiteAfrican blog.

Could you give some examples, from your recollections, of the most successful moments of Ushahidi -- moments where you knew you were part of an important structure?

The first week was the first indicator. To us, the system was rudimentary, but it worked. To outsiders, especially those in the humanitarian field, it was the first time they had really seen a technology tool used to bypass the establishment and go directly to ordinary people on the ground to get information. It seemed like the only thing to do to us, but it was revolutionary to them.

The other big moments were when we started to get approached by people and organizations from the rest of the world asking us to create one for them. Needless to say, we couldn't due to our having our own full-time jobs, but it proved there was a need.

Finally, having Al Jazeera pick the tool up for use to collect and monitor the Gaza situation back in January was big. It was the first time an established media organization had used our tool.

What are the elements of the system that contribute most to its success? Anonymity of reports, ability of the population to vote credibility of reports -- which to you are the most important or essential?

Well, I think the biggest thing is that Ushahidi fills the gap. It makes it easy for the traditionally unconnected, those in developing world countries and in rural areas, to start sending information in and getting alerts of things that happen around them -- all from a simple SMS only enabled mobile phone.

Beyond that there are two very important issues. First, the need for anonymity in environments where you can't trust the governing bodies. Second, a way to verify information as it comes in.

Just to probe, it seems that Al Jazeera is the only non-grassroots media group using Ushahidi? Why do you think this is? What makes Al Jazeera and Ushahidi a good fit?

There are some other NGOs using Ushahidi, but Al Jazeera is the largest organization using it to date. I happened to be in Qatar last week and had the chance to visit Al Jazeera's new media team in person. We spent a good portion of the day talking about what they're trying to do and why Ushahidi makes sense for them. It turns out that they're really trying to stretch the traditional news in new ways. Ushahidi isn't the only tool in their repertoire as they get into ways to both gather and disseminate news via mobiles. Finally, because Al Jazeera is largely focused on the parts of the world that most other large media organizations are not, it's a good fit since that's where Ushahidi works best as well.

READ MORE: Erik talks about his connection to Africa, attending TED2009, the TEDFellows program and more.

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25 April 2009

The week in comments

If we had to choose a theme for this week's comments, it would be Interaction Now. Usually, the highlights are reserved for your one-off quips, but from the themes of the talks, to speakers commenting on their own TEDTalks, to lightning-fast replies on threads, it was all about talking it out.

On Margaret Wertheim's TEDTalk: The beautiful math that links coral, crochet and hyperbolic geometry:
Dear All -- thanks for kind comments below. It's been rewarding/humbling to watch the roll-out of my TED talk. It's a uniquely terrifying experience to stand on the TED stage - ohmygod (one thinks) can I live up to all this? These are the Really smart people: What if I FLOP? So thanks for the lovely feedback ... -- Margaret Wertheim

On Niels Diffrient's TEDTalk: Rethinking the way we sit down:
$1400 for a chair? It looks worth it, but whew.... -- Allan, via facebook

don't worry, in a year or two someone will rip off the design and it'll be available for under $100... capitalism -- Alison via facebook

And it will be made in China. -- Shantanu via facebook

On Erik Hersman's TEDTalk: How texting and GoogleMaps helped Kenyans survive crisis
TED is porn - mind porn! -- Mads via facebook

I heard TED can be as addictive as porn to some. -- Elizabeth via facebook

Hey, I met my girlfriend on TED.com, don't knock it! -- Michah via facebook

anyone at all interested in the fact that these guys just revolutionized citizen reporting and information in crisis situations? anyone? -- Tim via facebook

On Nate Silver's TEDTalk: Picking apart the puzzle of racism in elections:
Interaction with people who don't look like you matters. Great TED talk by Nate Silver, even with proposed changes -- djmarquardt, via Twitter

Thanks for talking to us, and each other.

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