A content management system (CMS) is a collection of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-based. The procedures are designed to register and maintain individual user accounts within a role-based permission/privilege system, create and manage menus, RSS-feeds, customize page layout, perform logging, and administer the system. Two popular CMS systems are Drupal and Joomla.
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CMS tools
Freedom Fone
Freedom Fone offers the possibility to extend the reach of information to citizens and groups presently excluded from the information loop because of lack of access to resources such as computers and the internet. Freedom Fone makes it easy to build voice menus, run SMS polls, receive SMS messages and manage voice messages.
Freedome Fone is free open source software.
No internet access is required for the users and callers alike.
The leave-a-message functionality opens the door to two-way communication, which means Freedom Fone can be used as a platform for citizen journalism and election monitoring.
Uses
Freedom phone allows for information to be delivered through an audio platform that overcomes barriers associated with literacy and language. It enables users to move past the 160 character limitation of an SMS. Both of these features can be particularly useful in tailoring elections monitoring systems to challenging environments.
Useful Links
Freedom Fone website
Freedom Fone demo
Freedom Fone wiki
Papers and research on Freedom Fone
Freedom Fone on twitter
Wordpress
Wordpress is an intuitive web publishing platform that makes it easy to publish blogs for free. Software can be downloaded for blogs that are self-hosted or Wordpress offers free hosting in the cloud.
Uses
A blog can be used to provide information and build a community around elections monitoring projects. It can provide insight and analysis on data collected, create a forum for discussion, provide instructions to supporters and more.
Numerous election monitoring projects have used blogs to enhance the information flow and communication around their activities. Check out blogs posted by past elections monitoring projects in Sudan and India.
Useful Links
Start your Wordpress blog here
Wordpress website
Wordpress.org blog
Wordpress on facebook
Wordpress on twitter
CiviCRM
CiviCRM is a free, libre and open source software constituent relationship management solution. CiviCRM is web-based, internationalized, and designed specifically to meet the needs of advocacy, non-profit and non-governmental groups. CiviCRM allows organizations to communally manage contacts, segment mailing lists, events, reports, fundraising contacts and more.
Uses
CiviCRM can be particularly useful in large-scale election monitoring projects engaging multiple groups and/or requiring coordination between multiple partner organizations. It can help organize critical contacts and information to reduce overlapping efforts and promote effective communication with supporters.
Useful Links
CiviCRM website
CiviCRM blog
CiviCRM demo
CiviCRM on wikipedia
MySociety.org
MySociety.org is a charitable project which builds websites that give people simple, tangible benefits in the civic and community aspects of their lives. They also run some of the best-known democracy and transparency websites in the UK, TheyWorkForYou and WriteToThem.
Uses
MySociety.org can be hired to improve digital strategies for election monitoring projects. They provide services from basic advice to website development. In many ways they are like any other web development house, giving advice on current sites, new sites or digital strategy in the democratic/civil society market. However, their commitment to civic engagement makes them different and well suited to offer advice on elections monitoring projects seeking to engage civil society.
Useful Links
MySociety.org website
MySociety.org blog
List of MySociety.org projects
MySociety.org on twitter
MySociety.org IRC chat channel
International SMS gateways
An SMS gateway is a device or service offering SMS transit, transforming messages to mobile network traffic from other media, or vice versa, allowing transmission or receipt of SMS messages with or without the use of a mobile phone. Typical use of a gateway would be to forward simple e-mail to a mobile phone recipient. Some popular SMS gateways are FrontlineSMS and Clickatell.
Uses
An SMS gateway is an essential part of democratizing election monitoring projects and/or reducing costs by enabling reporting through mobile phones. The gateway provides the link between the mobile network and computers. It allows project organizers to import and manage SMS messages for analysis, mapping and other uses. SMS gateways can be used to broadcast instructions and updates to mobile monitors.
SMS gateways were first used in election monitoring in the 2007 Nigerian elections (FrontlineSMS). Clickatell has been used in many projects including the 2010 Sudanese elections.
Useful Links
SMS gateways on Wikipedia
Wikipedia’s list of SMS gateways
The Open Directory Project’s list of SMS gateways
Pentaho
The Pentaho BI Suite provides a full spectrum of business intelligence (BI) capabilities including query and reporting, interactive analysis, dashboards, data integration/ETL, data mining, and a BI platform that has made it one of the most popular open source BI suites. It can be deployed on-premise or in the cloud
You can choose the complete suite, or use only the pieces you need to meet specific business requirements. Pentaho BI Suite Enterprise Edition includes:
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Pentaho Reporting – Access data and deliver information to the organization |
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Pentaho Analysis – Explore and analyze data interactively with rapid response |
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Pentaho Dashboards – Get immediate visibility into metrics and KPIs |
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Pentaho Data Integration – Cleanse and integrate data wherever it exists |
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Pentaho Data Mining – Discover hidden patterns and indicators of future performance |
Uses
Elements of the Pentaho suite can be useful in the management and analysis of the data collected through the election monitoring process. It can help organizations assess and act upon the information that is collected.
Useful links
Pentaho website
Product demos
Pentaho wiki
Pentaho community newsletter
SMS Turks
SMS Turks is a system created by the Ushahidi team to help mobile reporting projects parse information out of text messages. It allows for the translation, categorization and basic geocoding of sms messages in a way that keeps them organized and manageable.
Uses
Processing reports during election monitoring can be time consuming and tedious. SMS Turks can help organizations spread the work between many volunteers while keeping information organized under one cohesive system.
SMS Turks was created during the Ushahidi Haiti deployment following the January 2010 earthquake. SMS Turks allowed the SMS request data to be collected and accessed by thousands of workers and volunteers. The workers/volunteers entered English translations of Kreyol and French messages into the unique online form which sorted the information by need and priority, and distributed it to various emergency responders and Aid organizations.
Useful Links
Turks SMS is currently being rewritten. Follow the progress on github or check the Ushahidi blog for updates.
Swift River
Swift River is a free and open source software platform that uses algorithms and crowdsourcing to validate and filter news.
An Introduction to the Swift River initiative from Ushahidi on Vimeo.
Uses
SwiftRiver acts as the verifying filter for information coming through mobile reports, social media and other sources. During highly contested elections being able to assess the veracity of information is important for accurate analysis. Swift River makes it easier to identify and follow mutually trusted sources in election monitoring.
Useful Links
Swift River website
Swift River blog
Swift River on facebook
Swift River public skype chat (need link – link from site not working)
FrontlineSMS
FrontlineSMS turns a laptop or desktop computer and a mobile phone or modem into a two-way group messaging hub. Since it works anywhere there’s a mobile signal, it doesn’t need the Internet, a major advantage for many grassroots NGOs. Once you have the software running on your computer, you can send messages to wide groups of people, and collect responses to any questions or surveys you might want to run, all via text message.
Uses
FrontlineSMS can be used in many ways that improve communication between members of organizations or loosely affiliated groups to enable inexpensive two-way communication during elections monitoring projects.
FrontlineSMS has been used independently and in tandum with other platforms for election monitoring. It was first incorporated into an elections monitoring project in 2007 with the Nigerian elections. Since then Afghanistan, Mozambique and many other projects have used it and most Ushahidi deployments have been integrated with FrontlineSMS.
Useful Links
FrontlineSMS blog
FrontlineSMS Election Monitoring Group
FrontlineSMS wiki
FrontlineSMS on twitter
FrontlineSMS on facebook
FrontlineSMS community
FrontlineSMS on Wikipedia
FrontlineSMS founder’s blog