Ideas change everything

Reporting crisis via texting

512,833 plays|

Erik Hersman |

TED2009

• February 2009

At TEDU 2009, Erik Hersman presents the remarkable story of Ushahidi, a GoogleMap mashup that allowed Kenyans to report and track violence via cell phone texts following the 2008 elections, and has evolved to continue saving lives in other countries.

At TEDU 2009, Erik Hersman presents the remarkable story of Ushahidi, a GoogleMap mashup that allowed Kenyans to report and track violence via cell phone texts following the 2008 elections, and has evolved to continue saving lives in other countries.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.

Participate in developing open-source code for Ushahidi. Not technically minded? Help spread the word.

Visit the iHub in Nairobi to see Africa's tech scene in action.

About the speaker

See speaker profile

Erik Hersman harnesses Africa’s boundless spirit of innovation by creating platforms to improve daily lives both inside and outside the continent.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.

Participate in developing open-source code for Ushahidi. Not technically minded? Help spread the word.

Visit the iHub in Nairobi to see Africa's tech scene in action.