We would like to hear on-the-ground accounts about information management solutions that were actively used in the Haiti response, especially those that posted critical information on online maps.
Promising tools we’ve been looking into include OpenStreetMap (OSM), Ushahidi, and Sahana.
We’re also interested in location-coded use of Twitter (geo-tweeting), any smart phone apps that are field ready, and the use of smart phones in any capacity in the field.
We’d like to ask anyone who is using any of these tools on the ground a few basic, non-technical questions. If you are using any of these in Haiti, or know people who are, please add a comment here or email us at maps2project@gmail.com.
February 10, 2010 at 2:50 pm |
OpenStreetMaps (OSM) for Port-au-Prince are being constantly updated by the OSM community, and are a key resource for anyone on the ground in PaP.
The OSM maps come in a form that’s easily loadable on many Garmin GPS units (http://labs.geofabrik.de/haiti/), and is extremely useful when having to navigate to new locations. The maps are very accurate, down to the back alley and footpath level.
OSM maps were also useful to us when loaded into Google Earth as a net link kml (http://www.gelib.com/open-street-map.htm). Working in Google Earth makes it easy to work with people who don’t have a GPS but do have local area knowledge to get coordinates for homes, offices, or other key locations.