Haiti Earthquake: Project Reports

Project Reports
Crowdsourcing Crisis Information in Disaster-Affected Haiti - Heinzelman, J. and Waters, C. U.S. Institute of Peace (October 2010)

Abstract: This report was commissioned by the United States Institute of Peace’s Center of Innovation for Science, Technology, and Peacebuilding and Haiti Working Group. It examines the role of Ushahidi, a crisis-mapping platform, in the disaster relief effort following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Ushahidi provided the international community with access to actionable intelligence collected directly from the Haitian population via text messages and through social media sources, allowing responders to quickly and effectively target resources in the rapidly changing disaster environment.

Independent review of the U.S. Government response to the Haiti earthquake : final report

Authors: Guha-Sapir, D., Kirsch, T. et al.

Contractor: Macfadden & Associates, Inc.

Funded by:The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Abstract: This report recognizes and applauds the heroic and altruistic measures taken by hundreds of US Government per- sonnel, from diplomats, aid workers and soldiers on the ground to the highest level officials in Washington, starting within minutes after the quake. The authors also recognize that in any humanitarian disaster, and particularly one as large, complex and visible as this one, the rush to respond to human suffering can look – in retrospect – imper- fect in many ways. This report documents those imperfections so that across the US Government we can create stronger and more robust systems for coordination and efficient deployment of resources during future responses.

|ndependent Evaluation of the Ushahidi Haiti Project - Morrow, N. and Mock, N. et al. Development Information Systems International (DISI): (April 2011).

Abstract: The Ushahidi Haiti Project (UHP) was a volunteer-driven effort to produce a crisis map after the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The project represents an impressive proof of concept for the application of crisis mapping and crowdsourcing to large scale catastrophes and a novel approach to the rapidly evolving field of crisis informatics. This evaluation was commissioned by the student group at the Tufts University Fletcher School who instrumental in the UHP deployment and is intended to be a learning evaluation as opposed to an accountability evaluation. The evaluation’s purpose is to serve the needs of UHP users and was structured around the Organization of Economic Development’s (OECD) criteria: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability. The evaluation team utilized a mixed methods approach combining surveys of key user and volunteer groups, 30 interviews with core UHP volunteer staff and stakeholders, document review/data analysis primarily focused on UHP message data, volunteer chat forums, coordination chat history and key news sources/blogs.