CrisisCamp Haiti Washington DC will take place again this Saturday, February 27, 2010, at the World Bank "I" Building.  This building is a block away from the Faragut West Metro station.   Participants will need to use the side entrance (19th & I) on Saturday, and should bring a picture ID and a laptop.  The World Bank will provide coffee and donuts in the morning and pizza/water/sodas at lunch.

CrisisCamp has brought together technology volunteers in six countries across numerous cities to provide local opportunities for citizens to assist in activities such as crisis mapping, data and RSS feed aggregation. In addition, people with specialized skills such as translation, computer programing and literacy advocates are encouraged to participate. 
 

CrisisCamp is a open, collaborative event held in “barcamp” style with http://www.crisiscommons.org/ to provide local and international responders, Haitian community leaders and non-governmental organizations an opportunity to engage with operations on the ground in Haiti. Tools and resources created by CrisisCamp volunteers can enhance responders' decision-making capability, transparency and collaboration.

This event is free and open to the public. You don't have to be technical to volunteer time.  We request that you bring a laptop, your creativity and a power strip with you (to share with others).
 

The first series of CrisisCamps for Haiti on January 16th, volunteers in five cities launched a number of applications, including “We Have, We Need,” a repository of specific technology needs of local Haitians' response. Volunteers contributed to rich open source maps that track which nonprofit organizations on the ground in Haiti are doing for more efficient coordination and resource distribution, and built and contributed data to multiple mobile phone, open source applications that enable people on the ground to report vital information such as the location of a hospital or a missing person. At this point, there are a number of high quality, outstanding projects which need a little more work to bring to operational status.  A list of these, along with needed skills will be provided later this week.

About CrisisCamp

Founded in March 2009 through an impromptu Tweetup at the Government 2.0 Camp, a small band of idealists and innovators gathered to discuss the idea of a creating a common community through a mash-up of citizen volunteers, crisis response organizations, international humanitarian relief agencies, non-profits and the private sector. Within minutes, the CrisisCamp concept was born to unite communities, seek common ground and cultivate innovation in the use of technology for mobility and efficiency during crisis. Learn more and join the movement at http://www.crisiscommons.org/