CNN has a feature story on Ushahidi and a good explanation of what Crowdmapping is – something that is becoming more and more important in public health.

Earlier this year we wrote how Google and Frontline SMS had collaborated during the Haiti post earthquake disaster relief efforts and used mobile technology to make health care workers aware of public health issues on the ground – Ushahidi was there, helping translate text messages and tweets to data on a map.

What is Crowdmapping?

After an event  – whether it be post disaster relief, or for any public health crisis – anyone can sent a message related to public health to a SMS short code, or send a tweet.  The message needs to contain the relevant public health info, along with a location.  It can then be translated to data on a map, allowing public health workers to efficiently allocate resources in real time.  These real time online interactive maps are called Crowdmapping.

CNN:

In a disaster situation, the timeliness of the map is critical, because the needs and locations of earthquake victims, for example, change rapidly. A small army of volunteers works to collect information to put on the map. Ushahidi pulls some of this data in from official sources, like the United Nations, but has really found its power in curating Twitter posts, e-mails and text messages from disaster sites.

Once this information is collected, volunteers collaborate over the internet to put each post onto a map, which is updated second by second. This lets on-the-ground officials locate people with the most critical needs and deliver medical and humanitarian relief more quickly and efficiently.

Ushahidi currently has an Android and Windows Mobile App, and plans on releasing an iPhone app later this year.  Although apps aren’t required for Crowdmapping (SMS makes most sense in places such as Haiti) – smartphones make the use of Ushahidi significantly more powerful.  Allowing automatic GPS and pictures to be loaded.  The use of smartphone technology for Ushahidi in a public health setting would be something health care workers might be suited for – by being given Android phones to provide rich data.