CrisisCamp explores role of technology in crisis situations

In the aftermath of the Egyptian Protests and the role played by social media in the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, perhaps it’s only fitting that Saturday will see a meeting in Toronto discussing how social media can be used to help nations and regions in crisis.

CrisisCamp Toronto, part of CrisisCommons.org, “a global network of volunteers who use creative problem solving and open technologies to help people and communities in times and places of crisis,” will be holding a full day of sessions and demos at the University of Toronto. Called “Software Dev, Social Media and Crisis/Emergencies,” the day will be dedicated to sharing knowledge, testing and hacking of open source tools and creating a plan of action for using technology in crisis situations.

The centrepiece of the day will be in the afternoon, when a project will be worked on collaboratively by attendees. Anyone with a tech project that could be used by a community in crisis in invited to give a five-minute demo, which will be followed by a vote on the projects presented. The winning project will be worked on by a group of attendees, while other attendees play around with other tools useful in a crisis situation.

There are still plenty of spaces open for this free event; techies, writers, social media gurus, project managers, web developers, NGO representatives and advocates are all invited to attend.

Software Dev, Social Media and Crisis/Emergencies takes place on Saturday, February 19th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the University of Toronto. For more information or to register, click here.