Source: Ushahidi

• Imagine a way for people all over the world to tell the story of what was happening to them — or around them — during a disaster or emergency.
• It would need to be easy to use. Something that almost anybody could do. And it would need to be deployable worldwide.
• Thatʼs why the Ushahidi (“testimony” in Swahili) Platform was created.
• Born form the post-election violence in Kenya in 2008, the platform kept Kenyans current on vital information and provided invaluable assistance to those providing relief.
• Since then, the Ushahidi Platform has grown into a large open-source project impacting a number of communities around the world.
• It was deployed in the DR Congo to monitor unrest.
• Al Jazeera used it to track violence in Gaza
• It was used to help monitor the 2009 Indian Elections.
• And to help gather reports globally about the recent Swine Flu outbreak.
• Anybody can contribute information. Whether itʼs a simple text message from a SMS-capable phone, a photo or video from a smartphone, or a report submitted online, Ushahidi can gather information from any device with a digital data connection.
• After a report is submitted itʼs posted in near real-time to an interactive map that can be viewed on a computer or smartphone.
• The most powerful feature the platform offers, is the ability to take the core application and deploy it yourself to suit your communityʼs needs. Since the Ushahidi Platform is open-source, anyone can improve the service in anyway they see fit.
• Our growing community of developers are constantly at work improving Ushahidi to bring it to as many people as possible — including working to bring native applications to todayʼs most popular mobile devices.
• With the Ushahidi Platform, itʼs easier than ever to get critical and timely information to those that need it most, on a platform that almost everybody can use.