Ushahidi

Ushahidi, Inc.
Founded2008
FounderErik Hersman, Ory Okolloh, Juliana Rotich, David Kobia
Type501(c)(3)
2652079
Focusactivism, mapping
Location
OriginsCrowdsourcing
Area served
World
Methodmapping and geospatial
OwnerUshahidi, Inc.
Key people
Erik Hersman, Juliana Rotich, David Kobia
Revenue
US$2,500,000–$4,000,000
EndowmentUS$1,800,000[1]
Employees
31
Volunteers
50
Websiteushahidi.com

Ushahidi is an open source software application which utilises user-generated reports to collate and map data.[2] It uses the concept of crowdsourcing serving as an initial model for what has been coined as "activist mapping"[3] – 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.[4] 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 interface.[5]

The Ushahidi platform has been used by the United Nations Department of Field Services and Peacekeeping,[6] in response to the Haiti Earthquake in 2010,[7] to monitor the Nigerian elections in 2011,[8] by the Obama Campaign for America 2012,[9] by the Nepalese army to respond to the earthquake of 2015,[10] in and by local activists groups such as Humanitarian Tracker to monitor violence in the Syrian civil war[11] and HarassMap to help women report on sexual harassment.[12][13]

Successful deployment of crisis mapping applications like Ushahidi benefits from careful attention to how the technology fits into the relevant cultural settings, and focusing on realistic goals.[14]

  1. ^ "Top50 Private Web Companies". Archived from the original on 27 February 2010.
  2. ^ Simon Jeffery (7 April 2011). "Ushahidi: crowdmapping collective that exposed Kenyan election killings". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  3. ^ "'Activist mapping' at Ushahidi". Harvard Business School blog. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Ushahidi". Ushahidi. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Facebook Messenger bots help monitor Kenya election violence". CNET. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  6. ^ Baudet, Floribert; Braat, Eleni; Woensel, Jeoffrey van; Wever, Aad (30 July 2017). Perspectives on Military Intelligence from the First World War to Mali: Between Learning and Law. Springer. ISBN 9789462651838.
  7. ^ "Final Report: Independent Evaluation of the Ushahidi Haiti Project – Ushahidi Haiti Independent Evaluation". sites.google.com. Archived from the original on 28 June 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  8. ^ Bailard, Catie Snow; Livingston, Steven (2 October 2014). "Crowdsourcing Accountability in a Nigerian Election". Journal of Information Technology & Politics. 11 (4): 349–367. doi:10.1080/19331681.2014.947056. ISSN 1933-1681. S2CID 144103546.
  9. ^ "How Ushahidi Helped Thousands of Peoples' Votes Count in the 2012 USA Election". Ushahidi. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  10. ^ "Nepal Army and Disaster Management Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2017.
  11. ^ "Humanitarian Tracker". Humanitarian Tracker. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  12. ^ Chelsea Young (March 2014). "HarassMap: Using Crowdsourced Data to Map Sexual Harassment in Egypt". Technology Innovation Management Review. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  13. ^ "خريطة التحرش | معأ لخلق بيئة رافضة للتحرش الجنسي في مصر". harassmap.org. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  14. ^ Brandusescu, Ana; Sieber, Renée E; Jochems, Sylvie (1 December 2016). "Confronting the hype: The use of crisis mapping for community development". Convergence. 22 (6): 616–632. doi:10.1177/1354856515584320. ISSN 1354-8565. S2CID 147924319.