…that you will help build a global system to detect each new disease or disaster as quickly as it emerges…
InSTEDD Overview Public launch in January 2008.
501(3)c non-profit based in Palo Alto, CA
Initial funding from Google.org, now funded by Rockefeller Foundation, John Doerr, and others.
Iterative design-centric development culture
Functions as an “innovation lab” for developing novel approaches to challenges in the field.
From a faint signal to collective action
Merge & AnalyzeMerge & Analyze
Media
Journals
ICS Operations
Collective understandingEvent CharacterizationResponse initiationRealtime feedback
Immediate analysis & Decision making capacity
Peer- to –peer information sharing and collaboration
Informed collective action
Realtime feedback and coordination
Proactive education & preparation
A few of the challenges…
Laptop fromLTC Susanna Roughton, RAMCPhysician-EpidemiologistBritish Royal ArmyAz Zubair, Iraq - 2003
Our environments are harsh.
Tough environmentsdrive innovation.
Platform Development StrategyInnovate only where we must
Gather requirements in the field.
Solicit ideas from a wide audience.
Repurpose existing tools with potential for humanitarian use.
Partner with key public and private sector organizations.
Build wherever gaps remain.
Integrate into the InSTEDD Platform.
Iterate…
AgileDevelopment
Process
InSTEDD Field LabParticipatory ethnography meets natural selection
Humanitarian field practitioners work in extreme conditions.
Our tools have to work where they work.
So…we go to the field.
We learn by failing fast and failing often. In the end, we hope our tools will be more reliable, easier to use, and closer to what is needed.
Steung Treng Province, northern CambodiaFebruary 2008
If I can make it here…
Mesh4x: Applications and Libraries for a Diverse Ecosystem
Open source implementation of FeedSync architecture, an open spec for data meshes
Synchronize between applications and devices
Work online or offline. Redundant, standards-based, socially neutral Currently in Java and C# Latest adapters: Hibernate, KML. More on
the way. HTTP Sync Service at http://sync.instedd.org. Hosted on Google Code, see
http://mesh4x.org
Cyclone Nargis Response
Virtual instance of Sahana hosted at https://sahana.instedd.org
Currently coordinating localization into Burmese. 98% complete.
Have accelerated release schedule for GeoChat and KML sync service, based on requests from users in the region.
