Silicon Beach: Crisis Camp Miami Geeks Brainstorm for Haiti Earthquake Relief

Photo by Alex de Carvalho

Great turnout at Crisis Camp Miami.

​Crisis Camp Haiti in Miami, which Silicon Beach previewed in a post here, took place last Saturday at the Miami Herald building. Nearly 100 techies, journalists, and other volunteers showed up, split into groups, and brainstormed ways technology can help Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Among the ideas set in motion were overhauling the We Have, We Need Exchange Wiki, which aims to help NGOs in Haiti with resources; working on mapping and Kreyol translation; and bringing Google's People Finder app to the iPhone.

In addition, the Miami Independent Media Center will work with tech companies, student journalists, and the local Haitian community to set up a Haiti Independent Media Center. And finally, one group will put together a database of local volunteer opportunities, which would eventually become be a 501(c)3 organization with a web portal.

Crisis Camp Haiti in Miami lasted five hours on a cold, wet, and dreary day but fired up some interesting discussion and ideas among geeks to help the Haitian relief process. 

But it didn't happen just in Miami. Patrick Barbanes, one of the camp organizers, summed it up best in a tweet yesterday: "We know techies have big brains. Their awesome response to Haiti GLOBALLY reminds us they have big hearts, too."

The relief, rebuilding, and healing process for Haiti doesn't stop here. To learn more about ways you can help, visit Crisis Camp Haiti in Miami's resources page. 

The event was live-blogged by Mallory Colliflower (@malcolli) and Alex Tiegen (@alextiegen) and videotaped by Lori Todd (@loritodd). Check Crisis Camp Haiti in Miami for more coverage.