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The Martus Project - Secure Information Management
Challenges Entered:
The Martus Project – Greek for “witness†- is a free, open source software tool that helps non-technical users in the human rights field capture, backup and protect their most valuable asset: information.
Martus - Greek for 'witness' - is a free and open source technology tool designed by Benetech to securely record and organize human rights information, and support effective collaboration between social justice organizations.The human rights community gathers large amounts of sensitive data, yet often lacks the resources to do so systematically and securely. Data is often lost due to viruses, computer theft, fire, neglect or staff turnover. Timely, accurate data distribution is one of the most powerful weapons against human rights violations, and Martus helps ensure that such data can be preserved and utilized effectively.
WHAT WE NEED:
- Volunteers to assist with translations as we update our product and documentation.
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IT consultants to teach Martus to NGOs and help convey the impact on their work, particularly in the human rights field
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Feedback from Martus users for new feature requests
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Increased funds would ensure that we are able to continue to support the feature requests for Martus, provide ongoing support to users and explore new ways in which Martus can benefit the NGO community worldwide.
- Volunteers to assist with translations as we update our product and documentation.
-
IT consultants to teach Martus to NGOs and help convey the impact on their work, particularly in the human rights field
-
Feedback from Martus users for new feature requests
-
Increased funds would ensure that we are able to continue to support the feature requests for Martus, provide ongoing support to users and explore new ways in which Martus can benefit the NGO community worldwide.
Location
Palo Alto, CA
United States
See map: Google Maps
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Martus matters for US
From my experience working with Martus training and supporting community based organization and civil society organizations in Kenya has proved to be a reliable and effective advocacy, lobbying and sensitive information backup tool. It is user friendly. I am definitely giving Martus My Vote.
Martus matters for us. Developing technology for development and protecting the communities is definitely a good cause.
Martus works -- simply and collaboratively
I've trained NGOs in privacy and security technology -- including Martus -- in North and South America, in Africa and in Europe, and the best responses I've received are to Martus. It was built in collaboration with NGO workers, recognizing their needs, strengths and weaknesses. The result is a software that anyone can learn in minutes and put into effect immediately. It works for organizations with the oldest and most meager hardware, even for people who hardly know how to use a computer. However it is also a powerful organizational and broadcasting tool that can be appreciated by the most computer savvy NGOs. Combining strong encryption with an utterly simple user interface means Martus can be trusted to do its job while allowing NGO workers to do theirs -- they are there to defend human rights, not to learn tricky software.
'm proud to give Martus my top vote.
Caryn Mladen
Martus flexibility and security
I am helping facilitate a network of human rights groups from Burma, based on the country's borders. All of the network members collect data using various methods and in varying formats. After a review of possible formats that would allow the groups to maintain their autonomy and also have a way to share a common format, we chose Martus and have now posted over 1000 bulletins using this tool. One of the major obstacles to a united voice on Burma is that military rule has fostered a nearly insurmountable distrust among the various communities and organization promoting democracy. The strong security features, combined with the flexibility of Martus, have allowed these Burmese groups to bring their information together, to prepare the data for analysis for future joint advocacy. The confidence the network members have in Martus' security has opened a space for us, ironically, to build the trust that will have a long-term impact on the development of civil society in the future.
Patrick Pierce
Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB)
Transitional Justice Program Director
Top ten!
I'm proud to give this project one of my ten votes for the NetSquared Technology Innovation Fund.
--ivan (Anti-Genocide Community proposal)