[Ssc-dev] (Amnesty, OpenIDEO and SecureSmartCam)

Thu Mar 22 07:53:48 EDT 2012

Hi all,

Sorry not to get back earlier Nathan, I'm away from Amnesty emails a 
couple of days a week. Owen covered your questions, just thought I'd 
follow up to confirm time. Things are looking good for Thurs 29th and Fro 
30th this end. Between GMT 1-6 pm would be best with time zone.

Let us know what suits you? 

Thanks for the links to latest SecureSmartCam posts - progress looking 
good! I'm particularly interested in Informa and how it might feed in to 
what we're aiming for. Look forward to chatting more.

Best,
Tanya

-- 
Tanya O'Carroll
Project Officer, Technology and Human Rights
Amnesty International

mobile: +44 (0)7511 370 350
email: Tanya.OCarroll at amnesty.org
twitter: @tanyaocarroll | @amnestyonline
www.amnesty.org

-----Owen Pringle/I.S./Amnesty International wrote: -----

To: Nathan of Guardian <nathan at guardianproject.info>
From: Owen Pringle/I.S./Amnesty International
Date: 03/21/2012 01:22AM
Cc: harlo at guardianproject.info, "ssc-dev at lists.mayfirst.org" 
<ssc-dev at lists.mayfirst.org>, Tanya.OCarroll at amnesty.org
Subject: Re: (Amnesty, OpenIDEO and SecureSmartCam)

Hi Nathan (and thanks for making the connection, Tanya). Really pleased we 
can have an initial discussion regarding ways in which we might be able to 
collaborate. As Tanya noted, it's a departure for Amnesty, in that we're 
an organisation known for our work in observing and reporting on human 
rights violations, though not necessarily for direct intervention of the 
same. Our use of technology for human rights, as such, is an area we feel 
we need to broach in order to better-serve those we work for and with, but 
we're mindful of the fact that there are ongoing efforts we should not 
duplicate. 

I'll attempt to answer some of your queries. Regarding the timetable of 
six months we've set ourselves, this is with a view to getting one or more 
of the prototypes that we now have (as a result of the Make-a-thon) to a 
stage where we feel comfortable enough to release it into the open market 
for use by activist groups or individuals. The product will not be 
'complete' at that point - indeed, in many ways, it should be in a state 
of permanent beta, since, by its very nature, it will need to evolve, 
constantly. At this stage, I have only a vague idea what 'it' will be, but 
it categorically will not be an exercise in brand extension and will, of 
course, be free of charge.

This work is an initial pilot, which we'll use as a template for 
mainstreaming the use of tech into the DNA of the organisation. With this 
in mind, we're very keen to add value to existing efforts, or innovate 
where there are known gaps. I'd also like to hear from you as to what you 
feel is being neglected in this space and if/how we might be able to 
assist. Looking forward to our discussion.

Speak Thursday,

OVP

--
Owen Valentine Pringle
Director of Digital Communications
Amnesty International
International Secretariat
1 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DW
United Kingdom

T: +44 20 7413 5980
M: +44 7983 527726
E: owen.pringle at amnesty.org

www.amnesty.org
@amnestyonline

From:        Nathan of Guardian <nathan at guardianproject.info>
To:        Tanya.OCarroll at amnesty.org
Cc:        harlo at guardianproject.info, Owen.Pringle at amnesty.org, 
"ssc-dev at lists.mayfirst.org" <ssc-dev at lists.mayfirst.org>
Date:        20/03/2012 03:55
Subject:        Re: (Amnesty, OpenIDEO and SecureSmartCam)

On 03/19/2012 01:21 PM, Tanya.OCarroll at amnesty.org wrote:
> I am currently working on a project at AI in London focused on
technology and human rights and am reaching out in case there is overlap
with some of the work you're doing at Guardian Project.

Great to hear from you Tanya, and glad to know the lineage from WITNESS
to Amnesty!

>  the past 6-9 months, Amnesty's Director of Digital, Owen Pringle (cc'd 
here) 
> partnered with OpenIDEO to run an open innovation challenge to generate
> concepts for platforms/apps that would support human rights defenders

Yes, we are very aware of the partnership, and think that it is a great
idea.

>  the next few months, we'll be developing the concepts towards launching
>  a product in September.  

I would love to learn more about your thoughts or plan on moving from a
"make-a-thon" model to an actual product in six months, and also what
you mean by product (an app, a system, something for sale, awareness
campaign, etc). As you know, we've been working on SSC for about a year
and a half, entirely as an open-source endeavour, partly with the goal
of building actual apps, and partly as an awareness raising campaign.

> This work is a relatively new departure for 
> Amnesty and as such, we're keen to discuss with 
> experienced organisations in this space. It would be 

Great to hear!

> great to have a chat with you about our work to scope out where our
>  prototypes overlap with work already being done and if so, to see if 
there is any room for collaboration. It would also be great in general to 
get your feedback,
>  particularly on the security/risk side. 

There is bound to be overlap, but there are so many angles on this
issue, that there is plenty of room for all to engage. Mostly what we
hope for is that where there are areas that our work, ideas or code can
merge or be usefully extended, we try to make that happen, as opposed to
creating parallel efforts or code bases just because we did not have the
time to figure out how to merge. Merge (or combine) is better than Fork
(or divide), in developer parlance.

> Thurs 29th & Fri 30th March

These are the best for me. I will confer with the team on our end, and
we can firm up something more specific.

Finally, if you haven't reviewed our latest blog updates, please do:

https://guardianproject.info/2012/03/02/obscuracam-v2-now-with-video-demo-screens/

https://guardianproject.info/2012/01/20/introducing-informacam/

Best,
Nathan

</PRE><BR/>
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