ushahidi toolbox - assessment
Post on 17-Oct-2014
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DESCRIPTION
The Kenya Ushahidi Evaluation Project was 9-month Ushahidi evaluation project in partnership with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative supported by the Knight Foundation. Jennifer Chan and Melissa Tully conducted research which lead to the creation of case studies and toolboxes. (2011) This is Toolbox #1: Assessment.TRANSCRIPT
Toolbox #1
Self-Assessment
Why do the toolbox? These tools are based upon the rich experiences of people and organizations that have used
the Ushahidi instance. The following toolboxes are crucial to your success!
Checklist TOOLBOX 1- SELF ASSESSMENT TOOLBOX 2- IMPLEMENTATION TOOLBOX 3 - USING YOUR INFORMATION
TIP: An Ushahidi project doesn’t start with setting up the platform and putting it on-line. You need to prepare your strategy, study the context, understand the implications, secure cooperation and knowledge of the tool for all of the actors involved. The launch of the platform is the last step of the project, not the first one. (Anahi Ayala Iacucci)
Tips on using these toolbox documents:
These toolboxes are in beta (draft). We are using this content to test for the final web and print versions toolboxes. Please provide feedback. Print documents do not include the extra notes which appear in the online versions. Online documents will show rotating tips, which are shown as extra comments in the notes field.
Helping you take the first steps to determine if the Ushahidi platform is a fit for your project - Learn about Ushahidi
- Find out if Ushahidi will fit into your project goals & objectives
- Think about partnerships for your project
- Identify the information, communication and technology needs for your project
- Think about what resources are necessary to make your project successful
Toolbox 1 Self-Assessment
Let’s Begin….. First Name:____________ Last Name: ____________ Are you an individual or part of an organization?
Organization
Individual
Email Address:___________________
Organiza(on Name: ____________
Uchaguzi-‐Kenya Sudan Vote Monitor Unsung Peace Heroes
icon Point on a Calendar
For events like elec(on monitoring, media campaigns with ending dates…. (more text)
Deployments
icon Hot Flash For emergencies like natural disasters, unexpected
events….(more text here). Ushahidi Prototype Hai( Crisis Map Uk Riot Cleanup Chicago Blizzard Japan Earthquake
icon Slow Burn For ongoing or complex emergencies, to track changes
in communi(es or responding agencies …. (crime mapping?)
War on Gaza DRC Zim Poli(cal Crisis
icon Long Term For ongoing programs and ini(a(ves (human rights
monitoring, media, environmental mapping, local gov mapping, resource mapping )
Voice of Kibera KANCO (health) Uchaguzi-‐Kenya
You can use the Ushahidi Pla[orm for informa(on collec(on and sharing, visualiza(on and interac(ve mapping. There have been over 3000 uses of Ushahidi/Crowdmap. Here are some common types of uses of the Ushahidi pla[orm (Ushahidi video introduc(on) (FAQs).. And more
EXAMPLES..
Here are some things you might want to think about before you start using the plaAorm….. This toolbox will help you answer many of these quesFons..
Who is your target audience?
What is the incen(ve/mo(va(on for people to use your pla[orm?
How is mapping going to contribute to your project?
How are you collec(ng and using data now?
Do you just want to use a new cool and free tool? Is there a gap you are trying to fill?
Thinking about How Ushahidi will Help your Project
Example: Linda Racree and her team wanted to gather informa(on on the amount, types, and loca(on of violence happening in communi(es where they were working on a Violence Against Children project. They wanted to know where the violence is happening most, and what kind of violence it is. The informa(on was then going to be used by the youth and project par(cipants, staff, and relevant local or na(onal
authori(es. The goals were to generate awareness, inform programma(c efforts, and advocate for more aeen(on and services to prevent, respond to, and treat violence against children.
Is this a new or exis(ng project?
new
old
What are the project goals? (user enters text here) What are the project objec(ves? (user enters text here)
Example Goals Violence Against Children Project Voice of Kibera Uchaguzi Kenya
Example Objectives Uchaguzi Kenya
What kind of project are you working on? (please check all that apply) Health Water and Sanita(on Media HIV/AIDS Environment/Conserva(on Women’s Issues War/Conflict Natural Disasters Human Rights
Children and Youth Educa(on Gender Based Violence Economic Development Security/Protec(on Poli(cal Violence Elec(ons/Elec(on Monitoring Other, please describe______
Is this a development or humanitarian/crisis project? (defini(ons and examples)
Development/Governance Humanitarian/Crisis
Community Programming Other
TIPS: How will you achieve your goals? How will the collected information achieve the goal.
Project Goals and Objectives
icon Type
Your project/program’s goals and objec(ve are:
With the goal to _____Users can correct the auto-‐ inserted text here________. The program/project objec(ves are Users can correct the auto-‐ inserted text here__.
What are the expected outcomes/impact? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ How will the Ushahidi pla[orm help you achieve your expected outcomes/impact? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________
TIPS: How will you achieve your expected outcomes?
Expected Outcomes / Impact
case studies instance sites Blogs/media Learn more… icon
Mapping data is important for creaFng responsibility. The fact that people see their report is the biggest moFvaFon to engage them. -‐ Oscar Salazar, Cuidemos el Voto
Mapping informaFon will benefit your project by: What kind of informaFon will you map? How do you intend to use it? Who do you want to view the map?
TIPS: The mapping system in Ushahidi is not automa(c: you need to geo-‐reference informa(on manually. You can do it at the admin level with volunteers or other people. If you plan to use it as a crowd-‐source system, you need to have a big number of people mapping those messages, or you need to do it only by web-‐submission (it means also forget about the media monitoring, SMS, e-‐mails and twieer submissions). What level of precision does the mapping require? Do you want data points or data areas? (Anahi Ayala Iacucci)
Mapping and Visualization Why use a map? What is the benefit of using mobiles or mapping to track your information? The information does not need to be crisis related. You might want to map existing community resources within a geographic area or raise awareness of local events. (Linda Rafferty)
Our users’ experience to date has humbled us to realized that the much of the success from organizaFons using the Ushahidi plaAorm comes from the project planning and preparaFon around the technology itself……
Just because you bought a domain name and ran the Ushahidi installer doesn’t mean that anyone is going to use the system — and even if you somehow get a lot of reports, you might not be relevant to the exisFng systems (that is, all the other people who are working on the same problem). So as Ory said in Cape Town, “Don’t get too jazzed up! Ushahidi is only 10% of soluFon.” Systems like Ushahidi have turned enormous communicaFon barriers into a trivial installaFon and training process. But there is a whole other 90% of real work. (Chris Blow)
Let’s focus on that 90% and identify potential partners in your project.
Technology and “the rest” – Allocating Time
Allocation of Time In an Ushahidi Deployment
Ushahidi setup • Requires some tech skills and training, but not much work • Set up a server, run installer, poke around
All the other stuff that makes a project successful • Outreach, branding, translation, annotation, verification, documentation, integration with other systems, SMS debugging, taxonomy development
Learn More: Why technology is 10%- Anahi Ayala Iacucci Allocation of Time –Chris Blow
Who are your partners? (lisFng) • •
TIPS-‐ One of the major partners in project is a technical administrator. If you envision customizing your instance a lot you should think about having a developer as a partner if you do not have one in your organizaFon.
What roles will they play? • • • • TIPS-‐ Which partner will provide the overall project manager. Will it be your organizaFon?
Who are your Audiences? Why do you think they will use your plaAorm? • • •
TIPS-‐One of the fundamental parts of your project is the definiFon of your audience. Who do you want to visit the site and use your informaFon and who you want to be your reporters?
Trust & Partnerships
The crowd as your partner Learn more… icon
Partnerships & Audience Key to the success of your project
case studies instance sites blogs/articles Learn more… icon Type
(ExisFng project)-‐ What informaFon are you currently collecFng? What informaFon do you want to add with this project? (New project) What informaFon do you want to collect? How will this informaFon allow the project to achieve it’s goals?
TIPS: Does someone else have exisFng indicators or iniFaFves or informaFon needs or formats that you should be linking in with and following or supporFng? (Linda Radree)
IMPORTANT! What is the exis(ng informa(on flow and how the informa(on flow you propose will change or modify the exis(ng one? The idea is that the more you modify the exis(ng informa(on flow the
less your project will be successful.
Information Your Ushahidi instance will help you collect,
organize and communicate information for the goals of your project
case studies blogs/articles Learn more… icon Type
From slide 11, this is your audience: ___________________________________________________ How do you plan to tell people about your project and how to send informaFon into the plaAorm?
Television AdverFsements Radio Newspaper Flyers Internet
How do you plan share the informaFon with your audience?
SMS Othe word of mouth Morning shows Twifer Facebook
TIPS: think about how your audience commonly views/accesses informaFon)-‐ and what way they are most likely to view informaFon during a crisis.
Example “The people who Media Focus on Africa FoundaFon are targe(ng do not have Internet access -‐ We want to bring the results back to the people using mass media.” As a result of MFAF’s goals, Internet is only one part of the larger project and campaign. This is not only true for the Unsung Peace Heroes campaign but for all of MFAF’s work. Bueerfly Works uses mul(ple media types in their work as well so the mul(media approach for Unsung Peace Heroes was familiar to both organiza(ons and important to achieving their goals. Bueerfly Works and MFAF used a mul(media approach, including a website, newspaper ads, radio and television appearances, par(cipa(on in live events and word-‐of-‐mouth. (Melissa Tully)
Communication Your Ushahidi instance will help you collect, organize and communicate information for the goals of your project.
Collecting information into Ushahidi platform is only half the battle. How will you communicate information to your audience? Partners? Media?
case studies blogs/articles Learn more… icon Type
The Unsung Peace Heroes project
in Kenya used a mul(media publicity strategy, including placing ads in the newspaper, making TV
and radio appearances, handing out fliers, par(cipa(ng in local peace events and having an online
presence, to spread the work about their project and to collect
nomina(ons of Peace Heroes throughout Kenya. This strategy allowed them to target various diverse audiences and in the end
they received over 500 nomina(ons for Unsung Peace Heroes
throughout Kenya. (Melissa Tully)
The communication strategy can be: 1) Announcement of the project/service 2) Setting expectations 3) Plan for responding to individual messages 4) Communicating information to different audiences
TIPS Be sure that you get clearly the message out: what you want to do, why and if the issue is urgent or not.
Example materials
How will you inform the crowd about your project? How will you communicate with your partners/audience?
Campaign, Messaging, & Communication Strategy Very important too is the communication strategy of the organization,
which should explain what the platform is and what it is not. (Anahi Ayala Iacucci)
case studies instance sites blogs/articles Learn more… icon Type
If you answer yes to any of these quesFons, or feel that this topic is important to your project -‐-‐ we encourage you to take the mini assessment tool here………. Will your project be dealing with sensiFve informaFon? Will your project potenFally place the users or partners at risk? Does the government strictly control informaFon in your project area? Are you prepared to address any informaFon/ privacy breaches if they should happen? Who will be responsible?
Take the assessment
now.
Information Security and Privacy can be a very important consideration for many projects that use the Ushahidi Instance. We encourage you and your organization to think about how the Ushahidi instance may affect community/organization safety, and the impact that mapping and information will have on your audience and partners.
Information Communication Technology (ICT), Privacy, and Secuity
1 Do you have regular power/internet access?
Yes No If you project area has limited power, and limited access to internet this will limit the ability to use Ushahidi /Crowdmap. Consider using another tool or start with a small pilot project……
2 Are your team members volunteers comfortable with computers/the internet, etc?
Yes No How do your partners and audience currently communicate? What are they comfortable using to communicate? (cell phones, sms, internet) What do they have access to and can afford?
3 Do you have a technology person on your project?
Yes No If YES, then have this person take a look at the Ushahidi Manual to see if this fits their capacity. If NO then take this technology assessment test here.
4 Is he or she a PHP developer and/or designer?
Yes No If NO, then consider using crowdmap. Link Here.
5 Do you want a lot of customiza(ons?
Yes No CustomizaFons, or ****, will require a developer and likely a designer. And you have YES’s for ques(ons 3 &4
case studies blogs/articles Learn more…
What is the local use of ICT in the country? How do people in the community use the internet and mobile phones?
TIPS: How do your partners and audience communicate now? What are they comfortable using? (cell phones, sms, internet) What do they have access to and can afford?
Take the tech assesment!
Technology Ushahidi is a software, which means it requires access to certain technologies.
TIPS: Have a clear budget and take into account advertisement campaign, dev work, PHONE EXPENSES if you use SMS and alerts, server space, and time to dedicate to the project. Also fundamental, have a monitoring &evaluation line in the budget and in your project plan and do periodical review of the project according to goals. (Anahi Ayala Iacucci)
Here are some ?ps to think about when looking for funding to support your project or idea: ‣ How does my proposal address the problem? ‣ What are the goals and objec(ves of the program? ‣ What is the budget and (meline for the project? ‣ Can you partner with others for non-‐financial support? ‣ How will the project be sustainable? ‣ Is there a geographic focus? (funders ocen support specific loca(ons) ‣ What are the expected outcomes and how will you measure them?
Funding Uses Examples of how you might use your funding: ‣ Funding a SMS shortcode number to allow people to send free SMS ‣ Funding an SMS alert campaign ‣ Funding a web designer to customize your Ushahidi deployment ‣ Funding a PR campaign: newspaper ads, online ads, to raise awareness about your Ushahidi instance ‣ Funding a data entry resource if you are migraFng exisFng data into the Ushahidi plaAorm
Resources & Funding
Resources Here are some resources you may need. Fill out the cost that you will need too.
Resource Cost Project Manager
Developer
Designer
Project Manager
Volunteers/Coordinators
Campaign Adver(sing
Servers
Computers
Phone/SMS expenses
Monitoring/Evalua(on
Training Workshop
Planning Workshops
General Office/Equipment
Other
TIPS Make sure you have a clear budget and think about the resources that will you need for your project.
TIPS “Find out about any poten(al licenses
you might need, for example for holding a compe((on, this can ocen be bureaucra(c and take (me to organise. NOTE Calculate ?me for the design and
prin?ng or produc?on of all your materials, making a website or flyer and prin?ng it can take a few weeks.
(Buferfly Works Toolbox)
Planning & Project timeline
Example project timelines
blogs/articles Learn more… icon Type
Planning your project, and allowing enough time to prepare for volunteers, customization, campaigns, and partner/community engagement will make you project more successful.
TIPS If you are looking to gather, share and make decisions with many different people & partners. Consider: • Planning mee(ngs& workshops early to make sure that all partners have similar expecta(ons and understand their roles/responsibili(es • Plan your media/adver(sing campaigns early, determine the cost, and how you will inform people of your project and set expecta(ons.
PROJECT EXAMPLES
ELECTION MONITORING
Staff and Volunteers for the Uchaguzi Kenya Project
( 2010 Kenya Referedum) – recommend 3-‐6 months for planning around a specific
elec(on days.
Project Goal/Objec?ves/an?cipated impact _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________
Reasons for mapping _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________
Partnerships _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________
Informa?on/Communica?on _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ Marke?ng Media Plan _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ Technology Assessment _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________
Below is informa(on about your project that you entered in the first toolbox (On the online tool, what you have filled out in the previous panels will automaFcally show up here!)
I would like to make
changes…..
Let’s move on!
THANK YOU FOR COMPLETING TOOLBOX #1!
Please save this file and add your name to the title, then return it to
[email protected] or wiki.ushahidi.com
You will receive a report from toolbox #1 to use in your project.
In your email please send comments on how you would like this tool improved or changed!
Thank you for being a very important part of Ushahidi’s User community!