Ordinary people have a voice, and interesting things happen when you aggregate those voices and visualize the results. Surprising information and insights can be found.

Crowdmap is a tool that allows you to crowdsource information and see it on a map and timeline. It is the Ushahidi platform, built by the team who created Ushahidi as a way for anyone to run their own crowdsourcing site without having to know the intricacies of running their own server. It’s free and it’s yours to use.” Source: Crowdmap

 

“Digging Out DC (With Help From Kenya)

Ushahidi (Swahili for “testimony”) proved to be the Zelig of 2010 disasters. A social-media application built in Kenya to let citizens alert each other to election unrest, Ushahidi also played a crucial role in mapping the oil spill and the Haiti quake. Ushahidi even helped Washington DC dig itself out from its Snowpocalypse of 2010. The capital, lying more than 50 miles below the Mason Dixon line, didn’t quite know what to do when several feet of snow blanketed the city. But Ushahidi, which is open-source and free to use, was adapted to let Washingtonians record the locations of downed trees, clogged streets, and shoveling squads. Crowdsourced data may be imperfect, but in a crisis—or in a snow-smothered Southern city—it can provide a lot of useful information, fast.” Source: The Atlantic