News & Events

Development of the SMS 4636 Code for Haiti Relief

In response to the earthquake in Haiti, many organizations and individuals collaborated to create a short message system (SMS) code that allowed for the exchange of short text messages between mobile phones and related devices. The SMS 4636 code helped to provide information and bring help more quickly to the Haitian people.

Collaboration and Information Sharing in Haiti

In response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010, many organizations, public and private, commercial and non-profit, from around the world, collaborated in exceptional ways to provide information, bring help quickly to Haitians, and support operational requirements. This was an exceptional effort by diverse collaborators, and those who contributed the support deserve great credit (as do officials who adopted innovative procedures to encourage and accept it). There are many lessons to be learned for application in future disasters, both in the US and abroad.

CrisisMappers hosting webcast of 3D GeoTime Analysis of Ushahidi-Haiti Data

Our friends at The International Network of Crisis Mappers (CM*Net) will be hosting monthly webcasts where members can present projects they're involved in and share perspectives and ideas with other CM*Net members.

This Wednesday at 12:00pm EST, Using the Ushahidi-Haiti response dataset and the USGS earthquake event data, they'll be correlating eathquake and response data from a geo-temporal perspective, using GeoTime's 3D Space-Time Viewer.
For more info and to register - http://www.geotime.com/cmnet.aspx

TIDES at AFCEA/USNI West Conference 2010 in San Diego - Feb 2-4

TIDES is at the AFCEA/USNI West Conference that starts today - February 2nd - 4th! Come visit our booth if you are in the San Diego area. Registration is free, and you can find more information here - http://www.afcea.org/events/west/10/introduction.asp

UPDATE: New Haiti Technology and Situation Report

Attached is an updated version of the Haiti Technology and Situation Report. The report highlights short-term and long-term solutions to the crisis in Haiti and also includes excellent links to news, mapping, and health.

Haiti Technology Situation Report

Attached is the most recent report describing the collaborative effort between partner organizations working to improve information and technology amid Haiti's devastating natural disaster. This includes, lessons learned and relevant links to news and mapping.

Choosing a family lawyer

At some point, most people find themselves needing a lawyer (Tampa lawyer). For some, it is a traffic offense that they feel is unjust. For others, it is a much bigger problem. However, for most individuals and families, the need to hire a lawyer arises when dealing with financial matters or business issues.

When you are going to hire a professional to deal with financial or business matters—or any issues—that affect your family, it is important to hire a person that you feel is competent and up to the job. This person is someone that you are going to trust with important issues, and it is important that you hire a lawyer that is right for you.

Comfort

Election Monitoring in Afghanistan

Attached is an article from the USAID website about how TIDES helped facilitate the quick development of a GIS tool to monitor election violence in Afghanistan during the August 09 elections.

STAR-TIDES and Starfish Networks: Supporting Stressed Populations with Distributed Talent

Attached is the most recent paper describing TIDES, its history, its projects and the future. This includes lots of great examples about the real-world responses where TIDES has contributed. Thanks to everyone who has worked to make this all happen.

Lin Wells STAR-TIDES Blog 12-8-09 Camp Roberts Field Experiments

John Crowley recently has posted the results of last month's field experiments at Camp Roberts in central California (See his blog post and the attached file http://star-tides.net/files/RELIEF%2010-01%20AAR%20STARTIDES%20v3.pdf).

The November activities continued a most productive partnership with Dr. Ray Buettner and his team that conduct the quarterly RELIEF (Research and Experimentation for Local and Emergency First Responders) events. Since August, John, Ray, and a coalition of participants from the business, NGO (non-governmental organization), PVO (private volunteer organization), academic and defense communities have made tangible progress in areas such as:

- Processing satellite imagery distributed by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)