Example of a user-based interactive map. Photo: whiteafrican (flickr)

Imagine being an aid worker isolated in rural Zimbabwe, where the worst cholera outbreak in 15 years has claimed more than 4,000 lives in recent months. You and your relief network are sprinkled across the country and the epidemic is evolving every day. How do you decide where help is most needed and coordinate your response?

What if there were a way to connect almost instantaneously by sending a text message to a website that indicated your location, status and needs on a map available to anyone in the world? This is what organizations like WikiMapAid are trying to make happen. Many humanitarian organizations are considering these user-based mapping systems, some of which integrate Twitter, SMS, email and collaborative wiki software to create interactive maps that track everything from poverty and infectious disease to natural disasters and political protests.

Using mapping systems in aid work is nothing new — more complex systems like GIS have been used in both governmental and NGO aid work in the development field for years. But there are limits to these mapping systems: They often take a long time to generate and distribute, which means they are not always up-to-date, nor are they accessible or user-friendly to the general public — especially in the developing world.

More simple user-based mapping technologies may be able to solve some of these problems. Proof of the potential are successful projects like Ushahidi, a text message–based mapping website that was used to monitor post-election violence in Kenya last year, or Al Jazeera's similar "crowdsourced" website, the War on Gaza.

The technology is catching on in the relief sector. Last week Reuters AlertNet hosted a workshop to discuss "how the aid world can use maps to communicate, advocate and plan for disasters" — seeking advice from both aid organizations that have used complex mapping systems for a long time, such as Map Action, and new wiki user-based mappers like Open Street Map and InSTEDD GeoChat.

There are definitely problems with newer mapping systems. One big one is possibly unreliable information. Some websites are going beyond content moderation and developing algorithms to rate their users' integrity based on whether other users have tagged the information as bunk. Others, such as HealthMap, have tried to confront the problem of legitimacy by generating content from diverse sources — NGOs, the media, government and individual users — in the hopes of being able to cross-check information.

But these websites also take time to generate enough content to be useful. And while many people in the developing world have access to cell phones to send input to these websites, few have reliable access to the internet to view the maps.

Problems aside, user-based maps certainly hold appeal. Part of it lies in their ability to empower everyday people to connect and speak out in times of crisis. This technology can be — and already has been — incredibly useful for reporting on conflicts where the media is not allowed. And in the aid world, it offers the possibility of swift action, unhindered by bureaucracy or lack of infrastructure.

Photo: Dan Patterson (flickr)

Tiny European country Moldova grabbed headlines this week as post-election dissent went viral on Twitter and Facebook, prompting a crowd of 15,000 to take to the streets in the capital city of Chisinau.

After news emerged that the country’s Communist party captured a majority vote in national elections, a small group of demonstrators gathered outside the parliament and government buildings to show their outrage at what they claim was a rigged election. But as the BBC reported, when the Moldovan government shut down mobile phone and cable news networks, broadcasting a soap opera and dance program instead of political coverage, local activists turned to the Web to spread the word.

Users flooded Twitter with tweets tagged "#pman," referencing the protest site Piata Marii Adunari Nationale, the biggest square in Chisinau. Youth NGOs Hyde Park and ThinkMoldova led the online charge for a peaceful demonstration.

At the time of this post, the dialogue on #pman was still on Twitter's short list of Trending Topics.

Most Twitter updates were in Romanian, alerting local readers with a play-by-play of the protests as they unfolded, rallying people to join efforts that turned violent as activists clashed with police. "I am terrified," wrote a Moldovan woman, "but i hope that the revolution will happen and that our country will be free at last... after years and years."

A few English posts helped journalists and supporters outside the country track the protests. A post from Romania read "Is Moldova closed? Borders, Internet, phones? Is it legal? Isn't it against human rights?"

While the protests were politically motivated, Moldova’s dire economic situation helped spur activists, according to the BBC. Moldovans earn an average of $250 per month, the lowest wage among Europeans. The country's floundering economy is dependent almost solely on agriculture and remittances. The New York Times says a quarter of Moldova's young workers send money from abroad, but as their jobs are eliminated in the wake of the global financial crisis, many young Moldovans are returning home, anxious to see their country move away from Communist rule.

Natalia Morar, a ThinkMoldova activist, posted regular updates on her "Blog for Democracy". As the protests unfolded, she reiterated the firm demands of her group, called "I am not a Communist":

We demand the formation of a civil coalition made up not just of politicians, but members of civil society. If the parties insist on playing their political games, we call on our young people not to let themselves be manipulated by them.

Wired reported that Morar has been charged with "calls for organizing and staging mass disturbances." But efforts like hers show a clever mass appeal using networking tools to dodge government blockades, especially in a country like Moldova where freedom of speech hasn't always prevailed.

Moldova gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and has since been divided between Communist loyalists and those seeking closer ties to Europe's economic benefits. Moldova's economic isolation has been magnified since next-door neighbor Romania — a nation closely linked with Moldova in language and history — joined the EU in 2007.

How will the so-called "Twitter Revolution" will play out in Moldova? Writing for Foreign Policy's tech blog net.effect, Evgeny Morozov says it may not have the impact as the 2004-2005 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, which was largely aided by mobile and text messaging technology. Yet in a place where media is state-controlled and censorship is commonplace, online social networks, he says, provide a space where people can feel relatively free.