Ushahidi: Mapping Reports of Post-Election Violence in Kenya

N2Y3: Mashup (2008)

N2Y3: Mashup (2008)

Challenges Entered:

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!

What else have you done in this area of work?

Ory Okolloh is the co-founder of www.mzalendo.com (a website that keeps an eye on the Kenyan Parliament). She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and is best known for her blog coverage of the Kenyan election and post-election fallout on KenyanPundit.com.

Erik Hersman is the founder of www.afrigadget.com, and WhiteAfrican.com, where he analyzes and talks about developments in the web and mobile space and how they affect Africa.

David Kobia is the founder of www.ihavenotribe.com, TextHQ and Mashada. With a background in web design and application development.

Project Details

Project url:

http://www.ushahidi.com

Project RSS:

http://blog.ushahidi.com/index.php/feed/

Supporting organization:

None at the moment

Project Assessment

Financial support:

Project has financial support

Project goals:

Ushahidi was initially set up to mainly document incidents of violence, looting etc. during the post-election crisis in Kenya. Over time the website began document peace efforts and ways to help. The impetus behind the website was a belief that the number of deaths being reported by the government, police, and media is grossly underreported. We also were of the view that we don't have a true picture of what is really happened/is happening- reports that all have us have heard from family and friends in affected areas suggests that things are were worse than what we have heard in the media. Beyond trying to present are fuller picture of what happened based on citizen reported information, we also want to create an archive of events that occured after the election results were announced. Once we are done with the mapping of incidents, we also hope that we can begin to put names and faces to the people who have lost their lives and create a memorial of sorts. Whatâ€™s the point of all this you might ask? Well, Kenyans have demonstrated their capacity for selective amnesia time and time again. When this crisis comes to an end, we donâ€™t want what happened to be swept under the rug in the name of â€œmoving forwardâ€ - for us to truly move forward, the full story of what happened needs to be told - Ushahidiis our small way of contributing to that. Ushahidi will change in the world in the following ways: There will be more awareness about incidents of violence of looting in post-election Kenya, these incidents may not have neccessarily been covered by mainstream media. There will also be a visual timeline of the events post Dec 27, allowing people to track points of escalation and cooling down. More information about efforts to promote peace by Kenyan citizens on the ground and information on how people can help.There will be a digital archive or "memorial" of sorts for the events that have happened in Kenya so that we can never forget.There will be a documentation of information that can be used in any future peace and reconciliation efforts. There will be an opportunity of the hitherto unnamed and unseen victims of the violence to tell their stories. There will be a model that can be replicated in other future crisis events.

Identified Obstacles:

Ushahidi was whipped together over a 2-day period at the beginning of January. It was of the utmost importance that the website get up quickly so that it could be used immediately. However, in doing so, we took some development shortcuts.In short, Ushahidi has to be re-written. It's currently in ASP, and we would like to convert it over to PhP for scalability and openness. Our goal would be to have a replicable solution for other violence related crisis situations, open enough for other developers to contribute.Ideas surrounding how to handle duplication of content, better geocoding, map overlays and how to best integrate other APIs are greatly appreciated!

Location

Nairobi

Kenya

Submitted by ehersman on February 27, 2008 - 4:20am

It is very important for

Submitted by muneeb on January 14, 2011 - 9:08am.

It is very important for projects helping common causes to provide their data so that the mashup doesn't end with their project, but is a single visualization and tool that can serve as a basis for other projects.I am very impressed with the Ushahidi tool and some of us Kenyans in the Bay Area have really become unofficial flag bearers for Ushahidi.I like this project a lot because it also has a lot of potential for other applications.

Very important model and technology

Submitted by rootwork on March 27, 2008 - 2:51pm.

At the Genocide Intervention Network we were excited to run across Ushahidi when we were beginning to track the incidents in Kenya (we include it as a link on our profile of Kenya). There was a comment awhile back about whether this kind of thing would have a concrete positive impact.

One of GI-Net's long-term goals (along with numerous other organizations such as the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Responsibility to Protect project) is to contribute toward an "early-warning system" of mass atrocities and genocide.

Technology like this is integral to such a development. In situations where countries at the highest risk of mass atrocities are paradoxically often the least-reported on, the ability for citizen reporting of incidents is crucial in giving weight to calls of action. Imagine if such a mechanism had existed during the 100 days of the Rwandan genocide. Perhaps the first couple of weeks violence might not have been prevented, but as the number of incidents escalated, with clear documented evidence presented to the international community it might have been harder for them not to take more immediate action.

I'm thrilled that this is a featured project and very excited about the possibilities here. Congrats!

That is what I just yelled

Submitted by Robin09 on June 5, 2009 - 2:30am.

That is what I just yelled when I read your post. That is SO cool. I am going to post about it in my next blog post so folks know about it. If you know of NGOs using blogs, it would be great if you posted a quick case study about them in Net2in Action. We only have two that have been translated from Spanish to English right now: Tupiniquim and Centro Nordestino de Medicina Popular. it would even be find if you posted it in Spanish.

Regards,
Lorenz University

reply

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on October 17, 2009 - 6:58am.

Is there any other versions?

Compare with Mainstream news

Submitted by vineet on March 13, 2008 - 9:02am.

This is a great project bringing real incidents that are happening in Kenya.

One great perspective that can be developed on this is to compare it with the coverage on mainstream media.

I work for a company called Daylife.com and we can certainly help in putting this perspective on the site. We have an open news platform which we want people to use and present new ways of exploring news and different perspectives of news.

http://www.daylife.com/topic/Kenya

Similar to Sokwanele

Submitted by K. Mundala (not verified) on April 1, 2008 - 6:24pm.

Do you know how has it been for Sokwanele? They do the same that you propose but for Zimbabwe. Do you have any reference about their results?

http://www.sokwanele.com/map/all_breaches

IÂ´m not sure if this helps directly people

Submitted by Keith R. (not verified) on March 14, 2008 - 9:46am.

I ´m not sure that your project will have a positive impact in kenyans. What -if anything- will really change in this country with your project? Sounds like you show the world previous violence acts in a mashup, but how this will really help people? Is there a commitment from local authorities to avoid future violent acts? If not, you will only contribute to Kenya's fame as a violent place.

Good Thoughts

Submitted by ehersman on March 14, 2008 - 11:41am.

Keith, you're hitting upon some things that we've been thinking about and discussing internally quite a bit, so thanks for bringing it up. While what we're doing creates a historical record that can be used as an archive of some of the incidents for further study, one of the really interesting things about Ushahidi is it's near-realtime reporting of the events as they happen.

What that means is there is an immediate value to seeing what is happening in a crisis situation in Kenya, where the hot spots are and possibly who is involved. That has its own value. However, we there is also the archive of data that each of these incidents creates in our database that has historical significance.

Basically, we're opening up the amount of information available on a given crisis scenario. Sure, our hope is that technology like this creates a healthy hesitation in the local authorities to commit acts against its own people. But beyond that we hope that it helps people as things are happening, saves lives and speeds the recovery process.

As far as contributing to Kenya's fame as a violent place, it's a little hard to speak to that. All I can really say is that our goal is not necessarily a tool for outsiders, but a tool for those who are in the country who need help or are giving help. If we can augment and improve upon that, then we're successful.

great potential also in health related areas

Submitted by Ignatia on March 12, 2008 - 12:13am.

I like this project a lot because it also has a lot of potential for other applications. With this mash-up you can for instance follow the progress of a disease as it is spreading over a country or continent, you can follow the progress of wild-life ... so many positive solutions, really great!

Excellent Start & Shared Data

Submitted by ajturner on March 11, 2008 - 12:51pm.

This project is an excellent start - in purpose and usability.

One of the great parts about it, that most other projects overlook, is that it is sharing out the underlying data in a common format. In this case, KML (used in Google Earth and other Geo Viewers). It is very important for projects helping common causes to provide their data so that the mashup doesn't end with their project, but is a single visualization and tool that can serve as a basis for other projects. Ushahidi is doing just this.

Fantastic effort guys

Submitted by Juliet on March 11, 2008 - 9:08am.

Hope you get it!!!

Ushaidi

Submitted by Dipesh Pabari (not verified) on March 6, 2008 - 2:36pm.

Ushaidi has set the precedence for civil society's ability to govern ourselves. It has given us the tools that government has time and time again proved incapable of providing its citizens. Now, we have to work to taking it one step further and working towards platofrms like this effecting postive change through immediate response. Thinking like Ushaidi is the way forward

projects overlook,

Submitted by kaka on July 19, 2009 - 7:21pm.

projects overlook, is that it is sharing out the underlying data in a common format. In this case, KML (used in Google Earth and other Geo Viewers). It is very important for projects helping common causes to provide Almeda University their data so that the mashup doesn't end with their project, but is a single visualization and tool that can serve as a basis for other projects. Ushahidi is doing just this.