http://crisiscampbos02132010.e…
On Saturday, February 13th, 2010 CrisisCamp will bring again together volunteers in Boston, MA to collaborate on technology projects which aim to assist in Haiti’s relief efforts by providing data, information, maps and technical assistance to NGOs, relief agencies and the public.
The Buckminster Fuller Institute is preserving and continuing Fuller’s work and OS Earth runs corporate and student simulations based upon the World Game.
There are disaster preparedness and humanitarian assistance training simulations online. There is even a community resilience software package, Bright Neighbor, marketed to city and town governments.
One game designer, Jane McGonigal has built a number of real world problem solving games, including SuperStruct for the Institute for the Future in 2009. She has a new game, Evoke, due to start on March 3, 2010. The first challenge in that game is a famine in Tokyo ten years from now. There are ten challenges to be completed in ten weeks. McGonigal’s writings are at http://www.avantgame.com/writi… and a recent interview is at Worldchanging
John Robb of Global Guerrillas theorizes about “a real world company that operates like a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game. One reason I believe that this type of venture would work (and that my dream wasn’t purely a fantasy) is this simple insight: MMOs with persistent environments (aka ‘worlds’) have proven an ability to incentivize tens of millions of players to do billions of hours of work….”
Those incentives are
“Improvement in status (level).
Gain new capabilities (new tools) and skills.
Earn in-game faux money (to purchase new tools and status enhancing items).”
In-game faux money becomes real money all the time these days.
Additional Links:
The Cost of Life is a game of rural life in Haiti (Ayiti) from UNICEF. The object of this game is to follow one family for four years. It is not an MMO.
http://permaculturehaiti.org and http://transitionhaiti.ning.com/ are both sites trying to compile permaculture and transition town information as it applies to Haiti
Enersa is a Haitian group doing solar as a cottage industry.
For more information contact Richard Komp, PhD, Director of Skyheat Associates. His report on a 2007 visit is at [pdf alert]
http://www.mainesolar.org/Hait…
Solar Cottage Industry in Haiti
http://www.dailykos.com/story/…
Solar Water Disinfection
http://www.dailykos.com/story/…
crossposted at dailykos, eurotrib.com, globalswadeshi.net
