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In a previous entry, I blogged about how mobile technology has been used to address some governance issues.  Crime denunciation was among the activities mentioned in which mobiles have empowered people by giving them a tool to report crime and violence outbreaks as they happen. 

Because a video is worth more than a thousand words, I'll share with you the case of CiviRep, an application that will allow citizens of Caracas to report crime via SMS.  Very similar to Ushahidi's platform, CiviRep aims at capturing on-the-go feedback from citizens to then map it with the help of Google Maps (see here Ushahidi's original example in Kenya).

CiviRep Team Video Spring 2009 from nextlab on Vimeo.

The combo citizen reporting + mapping of information can be very powerful tool for both citizens and local authorities.  However, the success of this type of application will ultimately come out from commitment that authorities have to react quickly to the information generated.  As useful as citizen-generated data is, actions must be taken.  A good example of this is "Alerta Miraflores," a crime report system in the municipality of Miraflores in Lima, Peru.  In a period of a few years, Miraflores experienced a significant decline in crime.

What is also interesting about an application such as CiviRep is that it can be used for other purposes that go beyond crime reporting.  I can imagine these web and mobile-based applications being used to generate and visualize data on water supply, teacher absenteeism or corruption in service delivery, just to mention a few. 

Actually, Ushahidi's platform has been used for purposes that are different from its original goal of tracking reports of violence during Kenya's post electoral violence.  A few examples include electoral monitoring in India and Mexico as well as tracking stockouts of medical supplies in Kenya, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia.

The tools are out there, empowering active citizens and committed governments.  Hopefully, they can help in bringing change and good governance to many in the world.  Meanwhile, share with me and our readers your thoughts about what citizens can do with the power of the internet and mobile phones.