Italy: How technology can help manage emergencies · Global Voices
Davide Galati

In a crisis, how can Web 2.0 be of use to social movements and what practical help can it offer to facilitate collective action? In reality, there is no shortage of platforms which, established on a voluntary basis, using free software, harness the internet and mobile phones to gather and share information, sourced directly from citizens, a process termed crowdsourcing. Their uses range from the management of humanitarian emergencies and conflicts, as in the crowdmapping of the post-election disorder in Kenya in 2008 (the first ever use of Ushahidi), to natural disasters, like in Haiti, in Chile or during the 2010 floods in Pakistan (Crowdmap, which evolved from Ushahidi, was used), to technological crises like the recent nuclear incident at Fukushima.  All of these projects, and others still in development, will be discussed in Paris at CrisisCamp Paris [Fr]( for details, see the following wiki page) from 27th to 29th of May 2011. Organised  in partnership with the Crisis Commons network, Ushahidi, Global Voices and other groups, the event will concentrate on the use of technology 2.0 in the management of crises. Italy will be represented by the Open Foreste project [Italian], based on Crowdmap, and which is dedicated to the prevention of forest fires in Italy. For further information on the latter  project see this article [Italian].