The Ushahidi .ke Evaluation Launch was held on August 25th, 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya. The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative research team led by Jennifer Chan and Melissa Tully, supported by the Knight Foundation, conducted evaluation research. Over the year, they interviewed Kenyan Ushahidi deployers, specifically those participating in Uchaguzi, Unsung Heros and Building Bridges, and had community members help shape the research deliverables. Evaluation to action was a key goal of the project. Their research resulted in the creation of three toolboxes to assist users in the various stages of their Ushahidi deployments: Assessment, Implementation and Outputs.
The interactive event was designed to unite users and Ushahidi staff together to test assumptions and further build and refine the content about the toolkits:
Video produced by Charles Kuria.
From this event, the Ushahidi team is committed to incorporate the feedback into the toolboxes. We encourage you to respond with your experiences and best practices. We will revise these draft documents and will surface some of the key toolsets into a interactive web tool to assist deployers with their decisions as they assess, implement and review their use of Ushahidi's software.
Draft Ushahidi Toolboxes:
We would like to thank all the 45 participants who attended the evaluation launch. As well, our thanks goes to all the participants who contributed to the research project including:
Rob Baker, Lauren Bateman, Emer Beamer, Vincenzo Bolletino, John Bracken, Rachel Brown, George Chamales, Jennifer Chan, Jessica Colaco, Kate Cummings, Sarah George, Rachel Gichinga, Jessica Heinzelman, Anahi Ayala Iacucci, Wambui Kamiru, Susanna Kruger, Charles Kuria, Jamie Lundine, Stephen Maina, Dunstan Machoka, Gikunda Mburugu, Hilda Moraa, Nyaggah Muchiri, David Ogiga, Ory Okolloh, Tobias Ouma, Mayer Patel, Linda Raftree, Rukia Sebit, Marten Shoonmen, Jonathan Shuler, Philip Thigo, Melissa Tully, Jaro Valuch, Sanne van den Berg, Jeffrey Villaveces, The Akira Chix (who volunteered at the event), and the iHub staff (Patrick, Tosh, Pete, Chris, and Rose.)
Stay tuned as we work on the next steps.
The Ushahidi Team