Katie Dowd, the State Department’s New Media Director, asked this evening via Twitter, "What can we do in Tech do help Haiti"
She was asking the right crowd: earlier today the Red Cross announced it had raised over $1 million in donations for Haiti earthquake relief through a text message campaign that spread largely over Twitter.
So how can we evolve relief efforts by leveraging technology? I’ve listed a few ideas below. Please add yours in the comments.
- Text message reporting of medical emergencies and injuries.
- Text message reporting of aid resource supply and demand provisioning.
- Cross-organizational Craigslist-style hub with forums for sharing resources and declaring need. Get corporations like Wal-Mart and Amazon involved.
- Leverage existing resources like UShahidi’s Haiti map mashup of text reporting.
- Look to the iReport hub of photos of missing persons to connect survivors.
- Refer to this rich resource list of incredible technology response initiatives to the Haiti earthquake.
- Build an interactive, hyperlocal GroundReport media hub where locals and diaspora can tweet, text, post images, photos, articles, reports and commentary on the events.
- Create an emergency radio station broadcasting information about services and aid. See Internews efforts to provide emergency information services in Haiti.
- Create a local hotline for reporting emergencies and asking for help.
- Create giving campaigns online at Amazon and other outlets to add provisions for Haitians in need at check-out.
- Create Livestream channels (see Haiti Pal for example) to cheaply share information via video and live chat to locals and diaspora.