Authentication of documents can be the difference between real power and cheap paper. The "It's Real" Project will foster cheap and simple experiments in third-party authentication to apply voicemail/SMS/MMS/email/online technologies to authenticate documents and agreements.   If the simple techniques demonstrated by the "It's Real" project are widely copied, it will have succeeded.   

Ushahidi consists of citizen-provided data - reports of violence from the ground in Kenya via mobile phones (SMS), email and the website form. We geocode this data using the Google Maps API.What we're looking to do is add additional functionality, including more specific points on the map of Kenya for each incident, meaning additional map overlays. We would also like to create a "heat map" that shows which areas are in deeper conflict at a specific time. Some thought has been given to marrying this idea up with the current timeline feature. Lastly, we would like to add a seperate data point, "news". This presents a great opportunity to link news stories with citizen reported violence, YouTube videos and Flickr images to give a wholistic viewpoint on any one report. Ideas surrounding how to handle duplication of content, better geocoding, map overlays and how to best integrate other APIs are greatly appreciated!