“Digital media in conflict-prone societies have the potential to foster dialogue and peace or to fuel hate speech and violence. The rapid spread of digital-based communications and information networks is likely to have an effect on 21st-century wars, which increasingly center on internal conflict, disputed borders of new states, and separatist movements. At the same time, some of the most positive and innovative media projects are coming out of the developing world as people adopt networks and software applications for their own ends.”

It’s a long talk, including the question and answer period, which is probably the most interesting part. It looks like NED got it all up though, and here it is:

Digital Media in Conflict-Prone Societies from CIMA on Vimeo.

In it Clay talks about the way that patterns for technology use are being transferred from places like Africa. He uses the example of FrontlineSMS being used by civilians to monitor elections in Nigeria, and how we finally see that same type of activity in the US. It’s transfer from the developing world to the developed world.

“These tools don’t get socially interesting until they get technologically boring”

My favorite part (around 6:00):

“Members of the former audience can now also be producers and not consumers. Every time a new consumer joins this new media landscape, a new producer joins as well, because the same equipment; phones, computers, lets you consume and produce. It’s as if when you bought a book they threw the printing press in for free. It’s as if you had a phone that could turn into a radio if you pressed the right buttons. That is a HUGE change in the media landscape.”

Convening and supporting groups

One of the major points that Clay makes is that this new medium is about convening and supporting groups, not controlling them. As we build Ushahidi we challenge ourselves with this same foundational principal.

How can we build a platform that has the lowest barrier to entry? One where it’s so basic that anyone can take part. One where it can grow beyond our vision?

What can we create that will allow this convening to happen in places where it hasn’t been possible to do it digitally before?

You can see my notes from the talk here.

Just in Time Data

I’m here to talk to you a little about gathering real-time information from normal people. The organization that I co-founded is Ushahidi, we began last year in the midst of the post-election violence in Kenya to just this. One of our main goals was to create a simple way for ordinary Kenyans to share with the world what was going on to them, or around them.

[History on Ushahidi]

So, as you can see we care a lot about getting information and disseminating information back out to people. For us, it’s about creating simple tools that work. Though we’re technologists, what we think of is the end user and what will work for them.

Macro Level Drivers

There is a huge influx of mobiles into the developing world. Here are just a few statistics on the African market (which is where my expertise lies). Clearly, we’re here doing this panel because of these numbers.

The mobile phone is THE default device (in developing regions of the world).

There are a lot of details that are hard to discuss in just a few minutes, but one that I think needs calling out for most of the developing world is the difference between user-types, accessibility and processes needed when comparing rural and urban areas. The pictures you see here are from Liberia, and there is a stark contrast in the ability to collect information from citizens in each area.

Rural:

• Few towers, limited connectivity
• Language and literacy
• Community and social group relationships

Urban:

• Better phone availability
• More Java apps
• Good connectivity

Simple. Works.

A number of industries use mobile phones and PDAs for data collection, analysis and re-distribution of information. What I think is interesting is learning from products that are already working in the consumer market. What works in these areas that can also apply to human rights? Here are just a couple fields that I think are worth calling out:

Mobile payment systems – the best ones (like Mpesa in Kenya) are working purely off of SMS with person-to-person interaction as intermediaries. Security, trust and individuals are important, just as in human rights.
Fighting counterfeit drugs – Simplicity. A way to use SMS to track and authenticate inventory. A simple solution for a complex problem.
Agricultural markets – A free service for farmers in West Africa to see local agricultural market prices around their region. It enables farmers and traders in agricultural commodities in Africa to conduct business through the use of SMS.

Use what’s in people’s pockets. Use patterns and processes that people are used to doing. What we don’t want to do is create any more barriers to entry than there already is for people to submit information.

Example tools

Finally, I’d like to leave you with a couple of examples.

There are a number of good tools available for human rights groups to work with right now. All of them downloadable, open source and free to use. Depending on needs, different tools work better. You have to think of closed groups vs using the public for information gathering. You have to decide if you want unstructured messages (like we do at Ushahidi), or if structured data is needed, in which case you’ll need an application that can create/use forms, and the corresponding devices that are needed for that purpose.

• FrontlineSMS: Forms – A simple way to synchronize forms and send data via SMS
• InSTEDD’s SMS GeoChat – Creating SMS based chat solutions, and mapping them
• Datadyne’s Episurveyor – Java and PDA forms creation and send/receive tool
• Cartagen – SMS-based mapping

In the social media space, we have what is called the 1% rule, which basically states that in any given community only 1% of the population actively contribute new content, 10% will interact with it, and the other 89% will just view it.

However, in a time of crisis – when people are dying, being forcefully displaced, beaten or having their homes burned to the ground – there tends to be an increasing number who want to tell someone what is happening. The barriers of complacency and cultural indifference break down. All of the sudden things matter at an individual level and there is greater incentive to create a record of this.

We’re not the only ones looking at this space, but we are doing it a little differently. Focusing on mobile-only interaction as a basic tenant, and creating a platform that serves the developing world first, then offering that platform to the West as something that they can use too.

Pamoja (Together) Slideshow

Tomorrow’s talk will be tag-teamed by me and Juliana. To start things off though, we want to set the stage with an incredibly well done audio Pamoja Slideshow by Benjamin Chesterton (BBC), Barclay and Yasuyoshi Chiba (nominated for Visa d’OR award).

Ushahidi was was born, built and tested in this environment - and it’s critical that people understand that this is what colors our view to this day.

It’s a great honor to be here. The further we get with Ushahidi, the more it seems like we’re not just a bunch of bloggers and technologists with some interesting ideas, but that we’re representing a community that is supporting our efforts and actively helping us build an organization.