11. Crowdsourcing
•
The state of crowdsourced applications:
•
Outputting structured data
•
Delivering actionable data
•
Creating situation reports to turn high volumes of data
into shorter, digestible reports
•
Partnerships with existing services and institutions
•
Bringing agility to where there is already accountability
12. Libya Crisis Map
The Libya Crisis Map deployed by request of UN Office for
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
15. Concerns
•
The data is not verified.
•
We don’t know who it’s coming from.
•
What if we receive bad information or misinformation?
•
What if the cost of these systems and personnel don’t
provide valuable data?
18. Take home message
Whether for emergency response or civic affairs:
crowdsourcing is happening and we have best practices to
allow us to do it smarter. Let’s harness crowdsourcing to
improve public services and entrepreneurship.
What existing services could benefit from a direct
connection with the public as information provider?
What major challenges in your country could benefit from
crowdsourcing applications?
Ushahidi started in Kenya in January 2008, born out of a media blackout as post-election violence erupted into the streets. Ushahidi enabled anyone with a cell phone to submit reports of what they were seeing in the streets.
The original Ushahidi deployment, showing reports from all over the country.
Haiti, January 2010
Taking our experience from Kenya, in the hours after the earthquake, we asked ourselves…
And the number of Ushahidi deployments keep on growing, now with over 15,000 maps
The most exciting part of this methodology is the current state of the field, the output of these systems. Not just about big data anymore but actionable, structured data.
And that leads me to the Libya Crisis.
On March 2nd, UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
requested the Stand-By Task Force be activated in Libya.
The initial map was password protected to ensure safety of reporters, but later made publicly accessible.
And that leads me to the Libya Crisis.
On March 2nd, UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
requested the Stand-By Task Force be activated in Libya.
The initial map was password protected to ensure safety of reporters, but later made publicly accessible.
It’s not a perfect science. Here are the immediate questions where as not to use crowdsourcing. They are all valid.
Consider the application to use crowdsourcing: perhaps not to replace existing systems or be central, but
Don’t take it from me.
Sly & Robbie – Jamaica has been crowdsourcing for over 30 years with riddim.