Ushahidi: How a Kenyan Team Used Open Source to Turn Crisis into Opportunity
The Story The streets of Nairobi were in turmoil. Kenya had just gone through a highly contested election, and violent clashes erupted across the country. Between 2007-2008 after the election violence, there was a lack of reliable information about incidents of violence and their locations. Misinformation spread like wildfire, and the world struggled to understand what was really happening. Journalists couldn’t report fast enough, and many affected communities were left voiceless. Amid this chaos, a group of Kenyan technologists, bloggers, and activists knew that technology could provide clarity . But how? Solutions on the ground: Mapping Crisis in Real-Time Kenya was facing a humanitarian crisis, but there was no single source for real-time, verified information . The mainstream media couldn’t keep up, and official reports were often delayed or inaccurate. A team identified as Ushahidi, which means "testimony" in Swahili emerged from the tech activists to define their scope...