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Ushahidi

Web Service

The Ushahidi Engine is a free and open source platform that allows anyone to gather distributed data via SMS, email or web and visualize it on a map or timeline. Our goal is to create tools for democratizing information, increasing transparency and lowering the barriers for individuals to share their stories.

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Ushahidi, which means “testimony” in Swahili, was initially developed to map reports of violence in Kenya after the post-election fallout at the beginning of 2008. Ushahidi’s roots are in the collaboration of Kenyan citizen journalists during a time of crisis. The website was used to map incidents of violence and peace efforts throughout the country based on reports submitted via the web and mobile phone. This initial deployment of Ushahidi had 45,000 users in Kenya, and was the catalyst for us realizing there was a need for a platform based on it, which could be use by others around the world.

Core Features

  • Interactive map.
  • Timeline.
  • Ability to subscribe to report alerts based on proximity.
  • CSS based theming.
  • 5 minute web installer.
  • Ability to upload and download mass reports.
  • Ability to layer KML/KMZ files on the map.
  • Supports custom pages and tabs.
  • Site statitics and analytics

Details

Website: http://www.ushahidi.com

Licence: GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3

Software Version: 1.1.0

API Interfaces: PHP

Supported Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows

Support: http://forums.ushahidi.com