Computers and the Flu

I was reluctant to enter this media frenzy about H1N1 flu (or whatever we end up calling it…), but only 8% of telephone respondents are “not concerned at all” about these events, so I thought I’d say something more than nothing.

Information technology’s main contribution so far has been the rapid spread of misinformation: for example, eating pork is no less safe than usual, despite rumors to the contrary twittering around the globe.

But there is an opportunity for IT to shine a little bit, too. I’m optimistic about Ushihidi’s web2.0 approach to “crowdsourcing crisis information”. Definitely something I can spend too much time looking at.