OLPC hosting global mapmaking event

[Nick Doiron]

One Laptop Per Child's office in Cambridge is hosting an olpcMAP
Sprint / Summit from December 27th-31st.
Topics will include:

* Digital mapping with the OLPC laptop, including offline maps
platform supporting GeoRSS and KML (formats of Ushahidi and Google
Earth) http://wiki.laptop.org/go/User:Ndoiron/OfflineMap

* Use of http://olpcMAP.net to map and network schools which use OLPC
laptops and the Sugar operating system. The website and the laptops'
software are free and open source.

* Using the online map as a medium for photos, storytelling, and
updates from local communities around the world

OLPC has shipped two million laptops to schools around the world,
including Haiti, Afghanistan, and other crisis-stricken regions.
Educating students about the power of mapmaking and creating a
communications / content portal serve the long-term interests of
CrisisCommons. There has also been discussion of adults using the
laptops to run Ushahidi and Sahana on a low-cost, low-power, and
resilient system.

Please RSVP if you would like to attend part of our map sprint.
Content-creation is going to be a major focus of December 28-29
events, so it would be great if some of the crisis mapping community
could be there.

Regards,
Nick Doiron
Civil Engineering Class of 2011
Carnegie Mellon University

[Alex]

Hello, Nick.

I met some of the OLPC and Waveplace team at CrisisCamp Boston's Haiti events earlier this year. I am Haitian-American, and work in digital/educational media and wanted to get involved in their direct training efforts but couldn't attend the big "realness" summit and training last may.

Alternatively, I would definitely like to attend this event in December, and help however I can. Could you please tell me what technical skills are required for participation?

Thanks!
Alexandra M. Merceron


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