I’m no engineer or computer scientist. I’m a translational leader. I’ve worked across multiple disciplines and across a wide range of emerging technologies to drive positive social change. I thrive when collaborating with leading experts in other fields like artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous systems, complex systems, ethics, data protection, disaster response, public health, climate science, sustainable development and reforestation, for example. I’ve led, co-led and supported multiple product management efforts as Executive Director, Program Director and consultant. Some of these are listed below:
Artificial Intelligence for Digital Response
The Grand Prize winner of the Open Source Software System Challenge, this free and open platform automatically filters and classifies social media messages, text messages, and multi-media content related to emergencies, disasters, health and humanitarian crises. AIDR does this by combining human and machine intelligence to make sense of Big Data. As Director of Social Innovation, I co-led the product management of AIDR and collaborated with leading experts in:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Machine Learning
- Deep Learning
- Social Computing
- Crisis Computing
- Big Data Analysis
- Disaster Response
Facebook Real-Time Disaster Maps
This product leverages real-time data from Facebook to produce high-resolution, real-time maps for disaster preparedness, response and recovery. I created strong engagement with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to ensure these maps were privacy-preserving and fully in-line with established humanitarian principles. I co-led the very first development of this product during the early R&D phase to co-produce Facebook’s first crisis maps. These early efforts may have paved the way for the launch of CrisisReady several years later. I worked directly with leading experts in:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Real-Time Data Analytics
- Remote Sensing
- Geospatial Analysis
- Geographic Information System
- User-Interface Design
- Disaster Response
- Data Protection and Security
WeRobotics Drone and Release Systems
Our drone technology upgrades repurposed leading industrial drones into fully operational cargo drones that were used by Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and others to delivery essential medicines including life-saving vaccines. The drone-based autonomous release system was optimized to enable the precision release of seeds and beneficial insects for the purposes of reforestation, food security and public health. I co-led the development of the upgrade and supported the work on the release systems. I thus worked closely with leading experts in:
- Robotics
- Autonomous Systems
- Software Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Dengue and Zika
- Reforestation
Ushahidi & Crowdmap: Crowdsourcing Crisis Info
Winner of numerous international awards and prizes, this open source source platform was the first to quickly enable the crowdsourcing of real-time maps. As Director of Crisis Mapping, I co-led the product management of the platform specifically in the context of feature developments for the applications in disaster management, civil resistance and election monitoring. In so doing, I collaborated with leading experts in:
- Software Engineering
- User-Interface Design
- Geospatial Data
- Data Visualization
- Disaster Response
- Search & Rescue
- Election Monitoring
- Civil Resistance
- Digital Activism
TweetCred: Real-Time Credibility Scoring
This experimental real-time system assigns a credibility score to tweets in a user’s timeline. TweetCred thus enables users to quickly identify and filter out spam, rumors and fake content on Twitter during sudden-onset events. We developed a Chrome plugin for TweetCred, which was used to automatically score the credibility on 5+ million tweets. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first applied-research effort to develop a real-time system for credibility on Twitter. I co-led the product management of this platform and collaborated with leading experts in:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Machine Learning
- Crisis Computing
- Information Forensics
WeFly: Rapid Response Coordination for Drones
This digital solution was developed to improve the coordination of drone deployments by streamlining drone flight permissions and complaints mechanisms, particularly in the context of humanitarian crises. The platform included a dedicated website optimized for mobile communications using Twilio. WeFly was designed in partnership with disaster responders and officers from civil aviation. I co-led the product management of this platform whilst Nepal Flying Labs led the software development. I collaborated with leading experts in:
- Software Development
- Mobile Technology
- Disaster Response
- Civil Aviation
- Ethics and Data Privacy
MicroMappers: Multi-Media Microtasking
This free and open source platform uses human computing to rapidly create training data relevant for a wide range of social good efforts including disaster response and nature conservation. I co-led the product management of this platform and collaborated with leading experts in:
- Human Computing
- Crisis Computing
- Crowdsourcing
- Computer Vision
- Disaster Response
- Search & Rescue
- Nature Conservation
Verily: Crowdsourcing Evidence Verification
This experimental platform was developed and used to crowdsource the verification of user-generated content posted online during humanitarian disasters. The platform was inspired by, and developed with, the winners of DARPA’s Red Balloon challenge. I co-led the product management of this platform and collaborated with leading experts in:
- Human Computing
- Crowdsourcing
- Information Forensics
Planetary Response Network
As the name implies, this was more a network that combined existing products developed by Planet Labs, Zooniverse and QCRI to combine global satellite imagery coverage with large-scale citizen-science crowdsourcing and social innovation. The purpose: to accelerate disaster damage assessments requested by established humanitarian organizations in the immediate aftermath of major disasters. I co-led the development and launch of this network and worked closely with experts in:
- Remote Sensing
- Satellite Imagery
- Imagery Analysis
- Crowdsourcing
- Citizen Science
- Disaster Response
iRevolutions 