Open Source Software for Disaster Management in Sydney

Michael Howden, CEO of the Sahana Software Foundation will speak on "Open Source Software for Disaster Management" at the University of Sydney, 2pm, 24th February 2015.

The Interoperability for Extreme Events Research Group [IEERG] is hosting a presentation by Michael Howden, CEO, Sahana Software Foundation, who is visiting Sydney.

Date: Tuesday 24th February
Time:  2.00pm
Venue: University of Sydney CBD Campus, Level 17, 133 Castlereagh Street, Sydney.

Coffee and tea will be served from 1:30pm and again after the presentation.

If you would like to attend (and if you know of someone else who would like to attend) please RSVP to Christian Ehnis by Friday 20th Feb, 2015.

The Sahana Software Foundation has developed the Sahana Open Source Disaster Management Platform and deployed it around the world to assist organisations and emergency services to record, coordinate and share their disaster management information.

It was first developed during the 2004 tsunami and since then has been deployed as a Resource Management System by the International Red Cross, for tracking relief goods in the Philippines, a Community Resilience Mapping Tool in Los Angeles and a Maritime Common Operating Platform in Puget Sound.

Michael will be discussing these deployments and how Sahana has become a leading internationally recognised platform for disaster management and extreme events. He will also talk about the Sahana Software Foundation, which relies mostly on corporate sponsorships and volunteers internationally and how interested people can become engaged.

This presentation will be of interest to those involved in disaster research, software development, open source solutions, geo-science, social media, or the management of disasters and extreme events.

Michael Howden (Sahana Director, President & CEO): Michael has worked on delivering Sahana solutions to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in the Asia Pacific Region (the Resource Management System), the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (DRR Projects Portal), the City of Los Angeles (Give2LA), the Helios Foundation (HelioShare) and other organizations.  He trained as a software engineer from New Zealand and has worked  with humanitarian organizations throughout the world since 2005.  He has served as a member of the Sahana Eden Project Management Committee and the Sahana Community Development Committee for several years, and leads our facilitation team for our SahanaCamp program. Prior to becoming CEO of the Sahana Software Foundation, Michael was the Managing Director of AidIQ, a social enterprise that provides intelligent business solutions to the humanitarian and development community with the Sahana platform.  Michael has also served as the Sahana Eden coordinator for the Sahana Google Summer of Code Progam (2010-11) and as SSF Coordinator of the Sahana Google Code-In Program (2010/11 & 2011/12).