The disaster response network CrisisCommons announced today that it has been funded to the tune of $1.2 million from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. CrisisCommons is the organization behind scores of CrisisCamps in locations around the world, informal gatherings where technologists have developed mobile, data, analysis, mapping and other tools to use in response to crisis.

What began as an idea at the Government 2.0 unconference in the Spring of 2009, then became a global network of open source crisis response technology hackers aimed at responding to the earthquake in Haiti, floods in Pakistan and the Gulf Oil Spil, is now a formally funded organization.

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CrisisCommons software projects have included the oil spill data gathering mobile application OilReporter and a mobile app for translating English and Haitian Creole.

Hard at Work at CrisisCamp for Haiti, Portland Oregon, January 2010. Photo by Sam Churchill

The group wrote today that the grant will focus on three main objectives.

• To provide community and technology liaison support during and after disasters;
• To facilitate a shared approach to research and innovation; and
• To establish trust and formalize relationships in the crisis response and volunteer technology communities.

CrisisCommons co-founder Andrew Turner had this to say on his blog:

“The community has been amazing, and the response to each and every event and camp unique and compelling – it’s just the beginning. We couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome from a completely emergent and very organic phenomenon.”

Along with the funding, the organization announced today that its technical infrastructure will now be hosted at the Oregon State Open Source Lab, where it will join the Linux operating system, Drupal content management service, Mozilla and many more foundational open source technologies at an institution dedicated to their stability and preservation.

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