It comes as to no surprise that when people are asked to give an example of effective use of telecommunications technology, many point out the recently coordinated efforts to help out the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Thanks to SMS, Twitter, blogs and the internet, many people found themselves able to easily take part and contribute to the relief efforts.

The nature of the internet is that it provides real time, near-instantaneous updates of information. Combined with mobile phone technology, this can prove to be a very powerful tool in coordinating the efforts of thousands all over the world towards a single point of interest. This is what happened with Haiti and in many other events prior.

Back in 2007, Kenya had a very eventful election that saw many reports of violence. These reports would have been forgotten in time if not for the efforts of a certain Ory Okolloh who used her blog, the Kenyan Pundit, to keep track of all the reports. However, her blog alone was not able to sustain the task at hand; thanks to the combined efforts of developers and other bloggers in Kenya, they were able to establish the Ushahidi, a web based crisis information hub.

When used as a tool for coordinating efforts, the Ushahidi proved to be invaluable as it allowed people to instantly see when and where trouble spots would appear. Emergency response personnel are able to coordinate their efforts more efficiently, saving them precious time and effort in getting to the people who need help the most.

The site also tracks wildlife in Kenya, crime rates in Atlanta, various elections in many countries as well as major conflicts such as wars and xenophobic attacks.

Learn more about the impact of the internet and modern technology in major human events at the Guardian UK.

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