CrisisNET

A collaborative platform for the collection and organization of crisis data from a variety of sources

CrisisNET is an initiative developed by Ushahidi, a non-profit tech company that specialises in developing free and open source software for the collection, visualisation and interactive mapping of information. The primary purpose of CrisisNET is to provide an easy to use tool which can continuously collect and organise crisis data from a variety of sources, such as social media, sensors or even quasi-real-time data. The hope is that the quick and easy access to real-time crisis data will make it easier for organisations and developers to quickly build their own applications without the need to spend days locating, identifying and processing data, thereby enabling much quicker responses to crises such as Ebola or conflicts.

All of the components in the system are open source and users can contribute to data retrieval, data processing or API.

CrisisNET gives app developers, data-journalists and other makers fast, easy access to critical government, business, humanitarian, and crowdsourced data. The API reduces the time it takes to access and use crisis-relevant data from hours (even days) to minutes.

CrisisNET is a platform that can gather and integrate information, allowing participatory urban planning and improvements in social cohesion as well as collective wellbeing thruogh the use of peer created information. At the same time, it uses effective visualization tools to better understand environmental, social and economic indicators, and to bring them to public attention and create large-scale awareness.