Digital  Volunteers  &  Crowdsourcing  to  Support  Interna7onal  Relief  Efforts  

shadrock@ushahidi.com                      @shadrocker  

Ushahidi  builds  tools  for  democra7zing  informa1on,  increasing  transparency  and  

lowering  the  barriers  for  individuals  to  share  their  stories.  

 Open  Source  |  Non-­‐Profit    

Community-­‐Driven  

 Common  Ques7ons  •  What  /  who  are  “the  crowd”  or  “digital  volunteers”?  

•  Organiza7onal  needs  •  Accuracy  /  validity  of  data  •  What  are  the  benefits  

 Example:  USAID  Data  Crea7on  •  USAID’s  Development  Credit  Authority  •  Targeted  Programming  •  Analyzing  Impact  •  BeXer  Coordina7on  

 Problem:  Data  were  broken  COUNTRY LOCATION

Vietnam Mac Thi Buoi Vinh Tuy Ward, Hai Ba Trung Dist Ha Noi Viet Nam

Haiti Port au prince

Haiti Sud

COUNTRY LOCATION ADM1 PLACENAME

Vietnam Mac Thi Buoi Vinh Tuy Ward, Hai Ba Trung Dist

Ha Noi Ha Noi

Haiti Port au prince Ouest Port au prince

Haiti Sud Sud Sud

 Solu7on:  data  cleanup  

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 Step  1:  Infrastructure  Strategy  

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 Step  1:  Infrastructure  Strategy  

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 Step  1:  Infrastructure  Strategy  

•  Use  of  free  labor  •  Non-­‐disclosure  •  Personally  iden7fiable  informa7on  •  Informa7on  Quality  Act  

 Step  2:  Pioneering  Policy  

 Step  3:  Volunteers  /  the  “Crowd”  

 Output:  Open  data  &  maps  

•  300  volunteers  •  10,000  Records  •  16  hours  •  85-­‐90%  accuracy  

 Results:  Documented  Success  

•  Stronger  Public  Support  &  Interest  •  Poli7cal  visibility  •  Top  3%  most  viewed  USAID  web  pages:  tools  &  data  can  obviate  organiza7onal  data  silos  

 Impacts:  Documented  Success  

20%   15%  

•  Strategy  for  Technical  Infrastructure  •  Pioneer  Policy    •  Build  “crowd”  with  volunteer  organiza7ons  •  Clear  communica7on  with  volunteers  or  “crowd”  is  cri7cal:  manage  feedback  loops  

•  Plan  on  accuracy  assessment  •  Transparent  documenta7on  &  analysis  

 “Crowdsourcing”  Checklist  

•  OSM  is  a  open  map  (database)  of  the  world:  users  create  data  by  tracing  satellite  imagery.  

•  Relief  organiza7ons  are  experimen7ng    •  Supported  by  U.S.  State  Dept.  “MapGive”  •  Spa7al  accuracy  can  be  quite  good  (Haklay  et  al.  find  >80%)  

•  Subjec7ve  Damage  Assessments  are  problema7c  –  imagery  (American  Red  Cross)  

 Example  of  OpenStreetMap  

•  Kathmandu  Living  Labs  •  Established  by  GFDRR:  Open  Data  for  Resilience  

•  Built  local  capacity  to  create  open  data  •  Mix  of  NGO  &  Crowdsourcing  •  Valida7on  of  an  open  model  

 OpenStreetMap  in  Nepal    

 OpenStreetMap  in  Nepal      Kathmandu  Living  Labs  

We’re operating in an ecosystem now, with no one that’s necessarily in charge. The solution to journalism, civics, & governance won’t be a single a-ha moment, but the cumulative effect of work done together in a network.”    

-­‐-­‐  Joi  Ito,  MIT  Media  Lab  Director  

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