Overview &History of Sahana

AAAI Spring Symposium 2015March 23-25, 2015

Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA

Chamindra de SilvaDirector, Sahana Foundation | Director, Virtusa Corporation

Ramindu DeshapriyaMember, Sahana Foundation | Mphil Student University of Kelaniya

Sahana Intro (20 mins) – Chamindra de Silva

• An Overview of Sahana

• A History and Evolution of Sahana (SI -> SIII AKA Eden)

• Deployment Examples and Case Studies

Sahana-Eden Demo (30 mins) – Ramindu Deshapriya

• How to setup Sahana

• Sahana Eden Features

• Building a new module

• How to create a new (structured) data model

• Sahana’s support for Linked Data

• Import and Export options

• Other customization Options & API

Agenda

The Sahana Project:

What is it in a nutshell? Free and Open Source

Global Community Built

Disaster Management

RAD Platform

Foundation Mission To save lives by providing information management solutions that enable organizations and communities to better prepare for and respond to disasters

The Historic Trigger: 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake & Tsunami

☀ At least 226,000 dead

☀ Up to 5 million people

lost their homes, or

access to food and

water

☀ 1 million people left

without a means to

make a living

☀ At least $7.5 billion in

the cost of damages“Facts and Figures: Asian Tsunami Disaster”

New Scientist, 20 January 2005

Government Relief

Local Authorities, Police, Army, Fire fighters, + Authorized coord+ Well trained+ Accountable+/- Big picture relief (e.g. national security)- Procedures create bottlenecks- Overloaded

Local Relief

Spontaneous volunteers, corporate village communities, friends and family+ first responders+ lot of capacity+ instant aid- not trained- focus unknown- not accountable

UN, NGOs

Red Cross, OCHA, CARE, WHO, Sarvodaya, etc+ focused on people+ trusted to accept aid+/- less well trained+ accountable- Donor driven- narrow focus / fragmented

Victims

Effective Collaboration and Coordination!

Relief

Disasters Coordination

Rapid Info Sharing and Collaboration Needed

10s of Orgs 100s of Orgs 1000s – 1 Mill

“Sahana” – Relief in Sinhalese Rapidly custom build for SL Gov to handle Tsunami

“Sahana”

Software

Rapidly Builds

Tsunami 2004

CNO Urgent

RequirementsSri Lankan

IT Community

Sri Lankan IT Community =

LSF/LKLUG + SL IT Industry + Academia

Sahana

Phase I

Sahana first deployed for

Sri Lanka tsunami response for SLGov

Sahana

Phase I

Independent Hazard Info. Center

The First Community

“We just wanted to help our countrymen”

We used our skills to provide a tool

Operational model - “Chaos”

400 IT volunteers

1st week 24hr development

Major releases almost daily

Applications

Missing Person Registry, Organization Registry, Request management System, Camp Registry

Tracking Missing People / Casualties

Shared Bulletin Board of lost / found

Computer based search heuristics

Tracking Family units

Analyzing networks of connections

The Missing People Registry helps track and find missing, people

Who is doing What, Where & When?

Registry of operating relief organizations

Coverage of Services

Self-Allocation and Reporting

Contact Information

The Organization Registry helps maintain data (contact, services, region, etc) of organizations groups and volunteers working in the disaster

Matching Aid to Ground Realities

Estimating Needs

Matching Aid to Ground Needs

Inventories/Catalog

Quantities

Expiration dates

Re-order levels

Tracking Allocation

The Request Management System tracks all requests and helps match pledges for support, aid and supplies to fullfilment

Lessons: Large Scale Disaster Management Systems were rare!

Surprisingly no one had built such a system before! (we had asked FEMA, IBM)

Identified many of the common coordination problems of a large scale disaster disaster and formulated modules to address them

BUT

NEVER build a disaster management system from scratch during a disaster again!!

Learned how I.T. Fail in a disaster

Comms can be saturated or not accessible

Systems have to be able to work disconnected

User familiarity can be low

Systems has to be as intuitive as possible

Data centers can get impacted

Systems have to be resilient (simple), mobile and self-sufficient

Functionality can be inadequate

System has to be quickly customizable

Sahana Generic Platform Rebuild A generic disaster management platform

LSF

Team

(+ SIDA)

Sahana

Software

A Global Need (2005)

Tsunami

Requirements

LSF Team = FOSS Geeks on Fellowships

Builds and Donates

Sahana

Phase II

Slightly different design goals than what we were used to at the time

Typical Enterprise Software Disaster Management App

Network LAN/WAN connected high

bandwidth expected

Intermittently connected, low

bandwidth, most often WIFI

User Interface Highly interactive, Chatty

AJAX lookups, graphics rich

and engaging

Low throughput, Simple,

highly intuitive, low size

graphics if any

Deployment Designed for one particular

deployment environment in

Cloud or Data Center

Designed for any available

environment from cloud,

server, to portable app

Dependencies Dependent on 3rd party

internal and external web

services

Minimize dependencies, and

potential point of failure,

caching when needed

Development Well typed, compiled,

security manager, clear

interface definitions

Easy to pickup and

dynamically modifiable

scripting language

Collaborative Virtual Helpdesk

zone of trust

(legislation)

Peer 2 Peer Pony Express

Started to look at portable

USB Disk / Laptop

Mobile

OLPC

+ Synchronization

Collaborative Situation Mapping

Collaborative Map of

Hazards / Incidents

Shelters (IDPs)

(field) Hospitals

Organizations

Responders

Stores

etc

The Shelter Registry helps track data on all shelters setup following the Disaster

Why does Open Source make this better?This was a natural alignment to Humanitrian Values

Freely Available to deploy No discrimination on access (Red Cross CC #2)

Ability to “leave technology behind” (RC CC #6)

Rapid customization to actual needs with code L10N and integration (RC CC #5)

Building local capacities & self-reliance (RC CC #6) Open system => Transparent and trustworthy

Better acceptance than “foreign” proprietary systems

Countries/NGOs can collaborate to develop Get the best minds from the world to participate in

building the software

This should be a global public good Build on each others work by including it in project

Called Humanitarian-FOSS or H-FOSS

Lessons: Open Source in this domain had tremendous acceptance

The open source community coupled with the humanitarian community sprit provided a strong contributor motivation

“Software Engineers without Boarders”

Acceptance of an Open Source Disaster Management system and HFOSS was tremendous(UNDP IOSN, ISCRAM, AsiaOSS, Govs)

Integration and interop can be achieved by source code empowerment

LSF + IBM + Community

● 2004 - Indian Ocean Earthquake &

Tsunami

● 2005 - Pakistan - Kashmir Earthquake

● 2005 - Philippine - Landslides

● 2006 - Indonesia - Yogjakarta

Earthquake,

● 2007 - Peru - Ica Earthquake

● 2007 - Bangladesh - Cyclone Sidr

● 2008 - China - Chengdu-Sitzuan

Earthquake

● 2008 - Myanmar - Cyclone Nargis

● 2008 - India - Bihar Flooding

Sahana Open Source Phase Global Open Source Incubation Phase

LSF Team +

Global Community

Sahana

Software

Builds + Refines

Attracts + Grows

Disaster Incident

Urgent

Requirements

The importance of Community

The system is nothing without community

Expand the community to as many organizations as you can trust with the data

More capacity builds more resiliance

Creates pre-existing relationships and trust

Which a software takes to another level of efficiency

Use MoUs if needed

Don't forget there is a global community to help as well

The Community Spreads (2007)

An Open Global Community (300+)

The 4 Sub-Communities of Sahana

H-FOSS

Free & Open Source

Community

HumanitarianCommunity

(NGOs)

EmergencyManagement(Gov, UN)

AcademicResearchCommunity

Different Perspectives of the elephantSahana became a melting pot of innovation

SAHANA

“Cool Open SourceDevelopment

Platform!”

“Grass Roots: By the Community

for the Community”

“Rapidly CustomizableEM System”

“A great CrisisResearch Platform”

A Community Support Example

Multiple local groups reach out to Sahana

Call out made in Sahana community

One initiative progresses further

L10N / Promotion, QA, Deployment

IBM-China for Chendu Gov and then Police (China)

24x7 Technical Support

LSF (SL), Trinity College (US), Community Individuals

Funds and Sponsorship

IBM-Foundation (US,China)

40+ Families reunited within first few days

A Community Response Example

Lessons: Community

The diversity of our community both by geography and role created a tremendous melting pot of best practices

We had not perfected the best model

Apache “by developer for developer” was a good baseline but it was not the right model for us

We needed a model that supported “By developer, for user in ultimate benefit of victim”

Respect the meritocracy of contribution and the community will grow

When we did not respect the meritocracy we lost community

LSF + IBM + Community

● 2004 - Indian Ocean Earthquake &

Tsunami

● 2005 - Pakistan - Kashmir Earthquake

● 2005 - Philippine - Landslides

● 2006 - Indonesia - Yogjakarta

Earthquake,

● 2007 - Peru - Ica Earthquake

● 2007 - Bangladesh - Cyclone Sidr

● 2008 - China - Chengdu-Sitzuan

Earthquake

● 2008 - Myanmar - Cyclone Nargis

● 2008 - India - Bihar Flooding

We received a lot of endorsements

New Free Software Foundation (FSF) award for“Social Benefit” won and inspired by Sahana

Sourceforge Project of the Month, June 2006

Software 2006, CA USA Good Samaritan Award

One of the top 10 Open Source Project to keep an eye on – Network World article

Recognized by forums such as:

US WSIS, ISCRAM, UNDP IOSN, StrongAngel, AsiaOSS Symposium, Emergency Communications Asia

Sahana is not just Software Global Community Incubation Phase

LSF Team +

Global Community

Sahana

Software

Builds + Refines

Grows

Disaster Incident

Urgent

Requirements

GSoC, Global FOSS

First Preparedness Deployment: NYC Office of Emergency Management (OEM) for Shelter Management

NYC Sahana Shelter Management

NYC Sahana Intake Based on Official Paper Forms

NYC OEM Situational Awareness

The community spreads so much that people want to do new projects

The Sahana Eden is Founded

• Sahana Eden is founded

• Stronger GIS and Reporting capabilities

• Extremely Theamable

• Object Oriented (CRUD) Rapid Application Development Platform

• A structure is established to govern projects and standards

A new structure to handle multiple disaster management projects is needed

Sahana

Phase III

Sahana Software Foundation gets Established

● In 2009 a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization what

established to help promote Sahana internationally

● A Board is created to govern Sahana

● A common set of standards to run multiple projects

● Help guide vendor growth

● Membership is a Meritocracy on Contribution

● Mission: To save lives by providing information

management solutions that enable organizations and

communities to better prepare for and respond to

disasters

SSF replaced LSF as the custodian Global Community Incubation Phase

SSF + Partners

Global Community

Sahana

Software

Builds + Refines

Attracts + Grows

Disaster Incident or

Preparedness

Requirements

Preparedness Deployments● 2007 - USA - Sahana Emergency Management System

● 2009 - USA - NLM: People Locator

● 2011 - Asia Pacific - Red Cross Resource Mapping System

● 2011 - Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Project Portal

● 2012 - Africa - EUROSHA Humanitarian Mapping Platform

● 2012 - Philippines - Relief Goods & Inventory Management

● 2013 - Timor Leste - Disaster Risk Management System

● 2013 - USA - Community Resilience Mapping Tool

● 2013 - Sri Lanka - Disaster Preparedness & Response Division

● 2011 - USA - Give2LA

● 2014 - Caucasus and Central Asia - Humanitarian Data Platform

● 2014 - USA - Maritime Common Operating Platform

● 2014 - Italy - Shelters & Evacuee Management

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Project Portal

www.drrprojects.net

Asia Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC)Asia Pacific Region - 2010-present

Resource Management System

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

Global - 2011-present

Red CrossResource Management System (RMS)

● Developed for the International Federation of Red Cross Societies

(IFRC)

● Used by multiple National Societies & Branches

● Manages Information on

○ Staff

○ Volunteers

○ Members

○ Warehouses

○ Assets

○ Projects

○ Assessments

Disaster Management Portal

National Disaster Operations CenterTimor Leste

Disaster Risk Management Information System (DRMIS)

● Used by multiple stakeholders in Timor-Leste

● “News Feed” for sharing situational awareness

● Profile Pages for

○ Organisations

○ Locations

○ Disasters

● Maps of Risk & Hazard Assessments

● Responsive Web Design

Community Resilience Mapping Tool

Los Angeles Department of Public HealthUSA - 2013-present

(Under Development)

Disaster Response Deployments●2010 - Venezuela - Floods

●2010 - Mexico - Veracruz Hurricane

●2010 - Pakistan - Floods

●2010 - Chile - Earthquake

●2010 - Haiti - Earthquake

●2011 - USA - Joplin Tornado

●2011 - Japan - Tohoku Earthquake & Tsunami

●2011 - New Zealand - Christchurch Earthquake

●2011 - Colombia - Floods

●2012 - USA - Hurricane Sandy

●2012 - Chile - Wildfires

●2013 - Philippines - Typhoon Haiyan

●2014 - Bosnia - Floods

To Recap: Sahana is

Open Source and pro-Open Standard Strong alignment to Humanitarian Values

Global Community Built A melting pot of global innovation with

shared investment

Disaster Management A leading disaster management system

Platform Rapidly configurable for a disaster response

requirement

● 22 Disaster Response Deployments● 13 Disaster Preparedness Deployments

● 25+ Countries

Community today

● 40 members from 12 countries

● Programs

o Google Code In

o Google Summer of Code

o Sahana Internship Program

o Training program

o SahanaCamp

Lead Partners

TestimonialsFaced with disaster situations, like those lived by [Chile] in the last

days, the need for information becomes imperative. With this Smart

Center, we can significantly reduce response times for the persons that

search, and optimize volunteer work.

Lorenza Donoso, President of the Chilean Red Cross on the Sahana Eden-based Smart

Center solution, used in response to wildfires in early 2012

Sahana [Eden] is blowing my mind. I can’t think of any project we’ve

done that we couldn’t build on this platform.

@CDRP_FSU (Center for Disaster Risk Policy at Florida State University), 2012

No innovation matters more than that which saves lives.

Avelino J. Cruz, Jr., Secretary of National Defense of the Philippines on the use of

Sahana following disastrous mudslides in 2005

The Sahana Software Foundation’s commitment to supporting

grassroots, community-led organizing endeavors has been astounding.

Devin Balkind,, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Sarapis Foundation on the

Sahana Software Foundation’s response to Hurricane Sandy, 2013

☀

Recent Recognition

Computerworld Honors Laureate in Human Services 2013

Gartner “Cool Vendor” in Risk Management & Compliance 2010

Public Private Businesses Inc. Best Practices Award 2010

Ultimately it is about the Human Impact

Thank You

Chamindra de Silvachamindra@sahanafoundation.org

Ramindu Deshapriyaramindu@sahanafoundation.org

Sahana Sitehttp://www.sahanafoundation.org

Eden Development Bookhttp://tinyurl.com/sahanabook