Kenya’s Tech Helps Chile, Too

Steve — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:55:15 +0000

Saturday’s massive earthquake off the coast of Chile slammed Santiago, the capital, and nearby regions. Buildings were leveled and official reports place the death toll at 708, though that’s likely to climb. Although the Chilean event was many times more severe than last month’s quake in Haiti, the sturdier infrastructure in Chile offered residents far more protection.

I’d written recently (“Out of Africa, Help for Haiti”) about an open-source tech platform developed in Kenya called Ushahidi which enables people in crisis-affected areas to text their location and make urgent requests or provide assistance for those needing it. Ushahidi’s disaster relief system is being used in the aftermath of Haiti’s quake, and now it’s being used to provide vital disaster relief in Chile.

While every crisis presents a different set of challenges, the lessons that Ushahidi’s team learned in Haiti enabled them to customize the platform for Chile in a matter of hours.

My interest is in how technology made in developing regions can be used in other regions. As in the case of Haiti and many other disaster-affected regions, a robust Kenyan tool is being used to relieve suffering in another hemisphere. I think this story deserves more attention.

Ushahidi-Chile is now requesting information on anything concerning building collapses, medical emergencies, vital communications, food and water distribution, or similar issues. Interested parties can also notify Ushahidi volunteers in locations to information via Twitter by using the #chile or #terremotochile hashtags.

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Post-scrip: March 3, 2010 – Newsweek piece, ‘Ushahidi’ Technology Saves Lives in Haiti and Chile

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Kenya’s Tech Helps Chile, Too