Ushahidi at TED 2009

Erik Hersman
Feb 3, 2009

Juliana and I are now in California, at TED 2009 as part of the new TED Fellows program. Ushahidi has a little bit of TED history though, as most of us met up in person for the first time at TED Africa in Arusha, Tanzania back in the Summer of 2007. 4 of the 5 full-time members of Ushahidi were there: Henry Addo, Juliana Rotich, Ory Okolloh and myself. Yet another TED Africa Fellow, Soyapi Mumba from Malawi has also been heavily involved. We think this relationship is a testament to the power of bringing people together. This never would have happened without TED deciding to get 100 Africans together, from all over the continent and the diaspora. It never would have happened without the funding by Google and AMD. This week we're very excited to be here, because we get the chance to tell the Ushahidi story to TED. To share back what has come about, catalyzed by the people in this community and by the event organizers. Thanks TED!