Communicating after the earthquake

Posted on | January 21, 2010 | No Comments

Phone lines collapsed soon after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, but large parts of the network infrastructure was actually intact. This led many people to use the internet and social networks to try and contact friends and relatives and get information about their condition.

According to a BBC article, Facebook, Twitter, and e-mailing were widely used after the earthquake and in order to help those in need, volunteers came together to develop a specific tool, combining web and mobile phone technologies. The result is Project Ushahidi, which gathers reports sent in by Haitians in need of water and food, or needing help with locating a missing person. The reports can be submitted through either mobile phones or the web and are forwarded by Ushahidi to different organizations working on the ground. This enables the work on the ground to be completely focused on the needs of the population, as reported by ordinary people.

Read more here.

Source: BBC.

Written by Fanny Johansson

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