Ireland’s first CrisisCamp on 26 February at NUI Galway will show how open source software and hardware can be used to build and use technology tools to help respond to disasters and crises, such as the earthquake in Haiti.
On 26 February, NUI Galway’s Discipline of Information Technology and Haiti Connect will be hosting Ireland’s first CrisisCamp to show how open source software and hardware can respond to disasters and improve resiliency and response before a crisis.
CrisisCommons is a global community of volunteers from academic, technology, crisis response organisations, academics, government agencies and citizens focused on getting the best out of available technology for humanitarian purposes.
CrisisCamp began in March 2009 as an event to connect crisis management and global development practitioners to the technology volunteer community. During the Haiti response, CrisisCamp became a movement and added a response mechanism to the community.
Since 2009, CrisisCommons has co-ordinated crisis event responses such as the Haiti, Chile and Japan earthquakes and the floods in Thailand, Nashville and Pakistan.
More than 3,000 people have participated worldwide in more than 30 cities across 10 countries, including France, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Chile and Colombia. Haiti Connect has been running and supporting technology-based aid and rebuilding projects in Haiti since shortly after the earthquake of 2010.
Building awareness
“Through this event, we hope to create awareness amongst Irish crisis response organisations, government agencies and citizens on how open-source software and hardware can be used to build and use technology tools to help respond to disasters and improve resiliency and response before a crisis,” Evert Bopp, founder of Haiti Connect, explained.
“Working together with NUI Galway’s Discipline of Information Technology was a logical choice when organising this event.
“People in information technology and other disciplines in the College of Engineering and Informatics are already engaged in both research and voluntary work in support of crisis response. Through Crisiscamp, we hope to bring together people who are working on these challenges and inspire others to apply their skills in this area,” Bopp said.
The event will take place in the Information Technology Building on the NUI Galway campus from 10am-7 pm. Admission is free but interested parties are encouraged to register via the website.
