Text Messaging, SMS | Image Source : Softwarenewsdaily.com
Text messages and mapping tools are helping victims of the earthquake. Geeks and technologists around the world are creating tools to help earthquake victims in Haiti. These tools are focused around gathering and mapping the data, and broadcasting it to the relief workers on the ground.
When the news of the earthquake broke, several groups and companies sprang into action very quickly. Ushahidi, a portal originally built to track election violence in Kenya, created Haiti.Ushahidi.com. The site, developed by Patrick Meier, director of crisis mapping at Ushahidi, tracks incidents, search and rescue operations and people in Haiti.
So far more than 19,000 messages in English and Creole have been sent through the system, and the number of messages is increasing by 10% daily. The goal is to place all information reports on a map for immediate dissemination and future analysis of trends. About half the messages are useful and can be mapped (a smaller number of messages carry urgent information and are routed to the proper agency). Oftentimes, volunteers have to get clarification and more location information from the sender. Government agencies and NGOs are tracking Ushahidi’s data. Read more ……
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