The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
Using Ushahidi Data to Study the Micro-Dynamics of Violent Conflict The field of conflict analysis has long been handicapped by the country-year straightjacket. This is beginning to change thanks to the increasing availability of subnational and sub-annual conflict data. In the past, one was limited to macro-level data, such as the number of casualties resulting from …
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Do “Liberation Technologies” Change the Balance of Power Between Repressive Regimes and Civil Society? My dissertation is now available for download. Many thanks to my dissertation committee for their support and feedback throughout: Professor Dan Drezner, Professor Larry Diamond, Professor Carolyn Gideon and Clay Shirky. This dissertation is dedicated to Khaled Mohamed Saeed and Mohamed Bouazizi. Abstract …
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My Opening Speech at CrisisMappers 2011 in Geneva As many of you already know, the CrisisMappers Community is an informal network of members who operate at the cutting edge of crisis mapping and humanitarian technology. We are not a formal entity; we have no office, no one location, no staff, and no core funding to …
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Democratizing ICT for Development with DIY Innovation and Open Data The recent Net Impact conference in Portland proved to be an ideal space to take a few steps back and reflect on the bigger picture. There was much talk of new and alternative approaches to traditional development. The word “participatory” in particular was a trending topic among both …
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Microtasking Advocacy and Humanitarian Response in Somalia I’ve been working on bridging the gap between the technology innovation sector and the humanitarian & human rights communities for years now. One area that holds great promise is the use of microtasking for advocacy and humanitarian response. So I’d like to share two projects I’m spearheading with the …
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Theorizing Ushahidi: An Academic Treatise Posted on October 2, 2011 by Patrick Meier [This is an excerpt taken from Chapter 1 of my dissertation] Activists are not only turning to social media to document unfolding events, they are increasingly mapping these events for the world to bear witness. We’ve seen this happen in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, …
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Real Time LRA Crisis Map Tracks Mass Atrocities in Central Africa Posted on September 29, 2011 My colleagues at Resolve and Invisible Children have just launched their very impressive Crisis Map of LRA Attacks in Central Africa. The LRA, or Lord’s Resistance Army, is a brutal rebel group responsible for widespread mass atrocities, most of which go completely unreported because …
