Data Philanthropy: Public & Private Sector Data Sharing for Global Resilience | Global Pulse

Robert Kirkpatrick, UN Global Pulse Blog, September 16, 2011

Learning to Live with Volatility. The digital revolution of the first decade of this new century has brought many wonders, yet it has also has ushered in a bewildering array of unanticipated consequences. We now find ourselves in a volatile and hyperconnected world where risk has been globalized. … However, the same technologies that connect us to one another have also turned all of us into prolific producers of data, and this new data may hold the keys to mitigating much of the volatility and uncert ainty that now confronts us. …One of the defining challenges of the second decade of this century will be for the public sector to learn how to tap into this new “unnatural resource” to understand the changing needs of citizens and respond with agility.

For full text of the article, visit: Data Philanthropy: Public & Private Sector Data Sharing for Global Resilience | Global Pulse.

GIS Enables the Humanitarian Response: A Perspective from the United Nations

By Craig Williams, John Marinos, UN OCHA, Directions Magazine, September 22, 2011

Summary: Managing information during a humanitarian emergency is a crucial part of any relief operation. Geospatial information is central to the United Nations’ efforts, from early warning to emergency preparedness to emergency response. Craig Williams and John Marinos, both with the UN OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, describe the people and resources needed to manage in a crisis.

For full text of the article, visit: GIS Enables the Humanitarian Response: A Perspective from the United Nations – Directions Magazine.

FCC, FEMA offer new tech tips for emergencies – CNN.com

By Amy Gahran, Special to CNN, September 22, 2011

(CNN) — In an emergency, do you know how to best use your cell phone to stay safe, informed and in touch? Recognizing that Americans have been getting mixed messages from many sources, this week the Federal Communication Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Administration teamed up to publish a new list of tips for communicating before, during and after a disaster. … For full text of the article, visit FCC, FEMA offer new tech tips for emergencies – CNN.com

Related articles

• Will Irene kill cellphones again? (politico.com)

Future of 9-1-1? App Lets University Students Send Video Instantly to Police

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by News Staff, Government Technology, September 16, 2011

University of Maryland students, faculty and staff were given access this week to a free Android smartphone app that gives them a direct and instantaneous line of communication to campus police and dispatch. With the M-Urgency app, smartphone users on the College Park campus have the ability to broadcast real-time audio and video to emergency dispatchers with the push of a button. Police and fire can also find the user’s approximate location by triangulating off of the phone’s built-in GPS and cell towers. … The Maryland Information and Network Dynamics (MIND) Lab and its director, computer science professor Ashok Agrawala, developed the app in collaboration with the university’s Department of Public Safety. … For full text of the article, visit: App Lets University Students Send Video Instantly to Police.

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• On Android Phones, a Live-Streaming Police State (readwriteweb.com)

Tech@State: Data Visualization

The next Tech@State, scheduled for Sept 23-24, will feature new innovative and fascinating data visualization techniques. The event will also be streamed live on the Internet.

Agenda for Data Visualization

DAY 1:

8:00 AM – Doors Open

8:50 – 9:00 AM – Introduction, Suzanne Hall – Senior Advisor for Innovation, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

9:00 - 9:15 AM - Welcome, Dr Kerri-Ann Jones, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs

9:15 – 10:15 AM – Keynote Address – ‘Policy and Technology’ Edward Tufte

10:15 – 10:30 AM – Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:25 AM – Panel on ‘Development Challenge: Open Data to Making Sense of Data’

• Jean-Louis Sarbib, Development Gateway
• Aleem Wajli,  World Bank Institute
• Saroj Kumar Jha, Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery
• Charles Kenny, Center for Global Development

11:25 AM - 12:20 PM – Panel on ‘Latest Trends in Data Visualization’

•  Adam Bly, Seed Media Group
• Jonathan Cousins, Cousins & Sears Creative Technologists
• David Bolinsky, XVIVO
• David McConville, Elumenati

12:20 – 12:30 PM - Showing of ‘Connected’ Trailer & Declaration of Interdependence Project

12:30 – 1:30 PM – Lunch

— Afternoon Breakouts —

1:30 – 3:00 PM

Session A

1.  Supporting Disaster Response and Coordination – Panelists Bios & Photos

2.  Visualizations for Aid Transparency and Management – Panelists Bios & Photos

3.  Best Practices for Visualization Interoperability – Panelist Bios & Photos

4.  State Department and USAID Data Visualization Projects – Panelist Bios & Photos

3:00 – 3:30 PM – Coffee Break

3:30 – 5:00 PM

Session B

1.  Using Climate and Health Data to Monitor Food Insecure Areas – Panelist Bios & Photos

2.  Mobile Technology and New Media:  Trends and Opportunities – Panelist Bios & Photos

3.  Turning Information into Insight – Panelist Bios & Photos

4.  New Ways to Visualize Development Data – Panelist Bios & Photos

 

 

World Bank Webcast: Open Data, Open Knowledge, Open Solutions: Possibilities and Pitfalls

Open Data, Open Knowledge, Open Solutions: Possibilities and Pitfalls

Thursday, September 22, 2011; 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Watch Live from the World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, DC! As part of the World Bank’s 2011 Annual Meetings and Civil Society Forum, The World Bank will host a discussion with leading members of the civil society, open government, open development communities to discuss a new “Open Development Agenda,” in which individuals are empowered to create better solutions for development issues. The session will begin with an overview of Open Development, its implications for development partners, and how this move toward greater openness in data and knowledge is changing the entire development paradigm. It will include a lively moderated conversation on the opportunities presented by open data, open knowledge, and open solutions and how these relate to development challenges and aid effectiveness. Topics will include: What are the potential limitations of “open”? How can we draw on knowledge, learning, and innovation from a much wider pool of “solvers” and donor resources? Participants will also have an opportunity to see new mobile apps and the updated Mapping for Results portal. The session will close with an open dialogue, where participants will have an opportunity to present their ideas and feedback on the changing roles of the private sector, civil society organizations, and governments in making development more effective.

Related articles

• The Open Knowledge Foundation Comes of Age (mt-soft.com.ar)
• NYT: World Bank Is Opening Its Treasure Chest of Data (geodatapolicy.wordpress.com)

New Congressional Research Reports on Major Disasters and Emergencies | Secrecy News

From Secrecy News, September 16, 2011:

• “Climate Change: Conceptual Approaches and Policy Tools,” August 29, 2011
• “Homeland Security Department: FY2012 Appropriations,” September 2, 2011
• “Congressional Primer on Major Disasters and Emergencies,” August 31, 2011

For links to the PDF CRS reports, visit Secrecy News.

Political Repression 2.0 – NYTimes.com

by Evgeny Morozov, NYT, September 1, 2011

AGENTS of the East German Stasi could only have dreamed of the sophisticated electronic equipment that powered Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s extensive spying apparatus, which the Libyan transitional government uncovered earlier this week. The monitoring of text messages, e-mails and online chats — no communications seemed beyond the reach of the eccentric colonel. What is even more surprising is where Colonel Qaddafi got his spying gear: software and technology companies from France, South Africa and other countries. … Amid the cheerleading over recent events in the Middle East, it’s easy to forget the more repressive uses of technology. …

For full text of the op-ed, visit Political Repression 2.0 – NYTimes.com.

Related articles

• Op-Ed Contributor: Political Repression 2.0 (nytimes.com)

Sifting Fact from Fiction: The Role of Social Media in Conflict

Live webcast from the US Institute of Peace:

This Blogs & Bullets meeting will bring together the companies that sift through and sell this data with the activists that create it and the policy-makers who use it. We will look at the cutting-edge of technologies for analysis with experts from around the world in an effort to expand our ability to harness these new platforms for conflict management and peacebuilding. The event will be webcast live beginning at 9:00am EDT on September 16, 2011.

Information and Communication Technology Usage in the 2010 Pakistan Floods

NetHope Case Study: Information and Communication Technology Usage in 2010 Pakistan Floods, Published September 2011

In late summer 2010, the world watched as the people and lands of Pakistan were deluged by monsoon rainfall that triggered widespread flooding. These floods affected more than 20 million people, many of whom could be reached only by aircraft. Flood waters inundated and destroyed much of Pakistan’s vast wheat crop – the nation’s largest homegrown food source — creating a food crisis across Pakistan. Much of this you already know. What you may not know, but certainly can imagine, is the critical role information and communications technology (ICT) played in expediting aid to those in need. …

For full text of the case study report, visit NetHope’s Website or click here.