Mashups

April 3, 2008 by RootSpaceOnline

Come help us explore ways we can use the web for social change and social development in Lebanon.

Tuesday, March 4, 7-9pm RootSpace (Saifi, Charles Helou Boulevard, Valli & Valli Building, 6th Floor)

The IDEA in focus: The mashup.

The current OPPORTUNITY: We are working on submitting ideas for two mashup competitions, one out of London (www.sicamp.org), another out of San Francisco (www.netsquared.org).

WHY you should come: Come join us and help us brainstorm and refine the existing idea. Or, if you have another idea of a mashup, please send it to us and we can stick it on the agenda, or figure some way to help you further the idea. If this idea excites, help us build this movement in Lebanon (or partner with us if you’re another organization, or let us help your projects if you have something cool going on…).

OUR MASHUP IDEA: First of all, let’s be clear that (1) this is an initial idea, and (2) it involves the participation of a variety of partners and data sources because, well, that’s just what a mashup is all about. We are open to comments, (constructive) criticism, other ideas, participants, and more.

THE PROBLEM WE ARE TRYING TO ADDRESS: There are many organizations (NGOs and charities, Lebanese and international) working in Lebanon, but oftentimes there is not very much coordination, a lot of overlap of similar projects, and at the same time there are gaps where needs are unaddressed or unserved. Some organizations do good, positive, effective work, while others are inefficient, divisive, corrupt, or politicized.

IMAGINE THIS… a dynamic and interactive map of Lebanon which shows different layers relevant to social problems, NGO work, government services, and internet accessibility, including, for example:
• a point where each organization is doing a project, and when you roll over a point it shows information about the project, organization, et cetera; and/or
• a variety of social indicators (compiled from a variety of sources); and/or
• Internet access points, to get a sense for how “wired” Lebanon is, and how easy it is for people to get online from different parts of the country, and where people and organizations can go to add information or update their database record for this site; and/or
• a visual representation of electricity outages in the country, and the times and frequency of such outages. With all of this information visually displayed on a map, it would be a powerful resource to see where gaps exist, to find organizations to partner with or support, to identify resources for people or groups in need, and more.

WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT DUPLICATING DATA. Some of this data already exists. For example, we would like to tap into the various databases about organizations in Lebanon, such as from www.lebanon-support.org, the UNDP NGO Directory, and the Volunteer Directory of the Association for Volunteer Services. We would then add additional information on top of that, and create a map with several “layers” to visually communicate this varied information.

AGAIN, this meeting is for exploring ideas, thoughts, et cetera. And please forward this invitation on to others potentially interested groups.

If you have other ideas or thoughts on this, please send an email to: innovate (at) therootspace (dot) org or call: +961-3-138-770

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