Contributors
Siti OSS (formerly CogniCity) was initiated by Disaster Map Foundation [Yayasan Peta Bencana] in Indonesia in 2017. In 2019, Disaster Map Foundation signed a development partnership with CivicDataLab, who became co-maintainers of the code and continue to support PetaBencana.id in Indonesia, MapaKalamidad.ph in the Philippines, and additional urban experiments with the code in Asia and beyond.
At the helm of this collaboration are Nashin Mahtani (Director, Yayasan Peta Bencana) and Deepthi Chand (Founder, CivicDataLab), who have led the software’s growth from a city-scale research pilot to a regionally deployed, multi-hazard, multi-country infrastructure for community-led climate adaptation and disaster response. Since 2017, many researchers, developers, and communities have contributed and shaped the development of the work. All code contributions are documented on GitHub, and all partners are listed at info.petabencana.id. We’re proud of the many hands and minds that shape this work and we also like to keep things transparent!
Siti OSS builds on work developed at the Smart Infrastructure Facility at the University of Wollongong (2013-2016) and the MIT Urban Risk Lab (2016-2017). In 2017, the then-MIT Deputy Executive Vice President Anthony P. Sharon formally and contractually handed over stewardship of the software (then CogniCity) to Yayasan Peta Bencana, ensuring the software’s future as a community-led, regionally governed tool. Since then, Yayasan Peta Bencana has continued to lead all core development, implementation, and international scaling of the software.
Under Yayasan Peta Bencana’s leadership, what began as a city-scale, single-hazard flood reporting tool has evolved into a multi-hazard, multi-country disaster information platform, integrated into the official workflows of national and local governments across Southeast Asia.
Under Yayasan Peta Bencana’s stewardship, the software:
At the helm of this collaboration are Nashin Mahtani (Director, Yayasan Peta Bencana) and Deepthi Chand (Founder, CivicDataLab), who have led the software’s growth from a city-scale research pilot to a regionally deployed, multi-hazard, multi-country infrastructure for community-led climate adaptation and disaster response. Since 2017, many researchers, developers, and communities have contributed and shaped the development of the work. All code contributions are documented on GitHub, and all partners are listed at info.petabencana.id. We’re proud of the many hands and minds that shape this work and we also like to keep things transparent!
History
Siti OSS builds on work developed at the Smart Infrastructure Facility at the University of Wollongong (2013-2016) and the MIT Urban Risk Lab (2016-2017). In 2017, the then-MIT Deputy Executive Vice President Anthony P. Sharon formally and contractually handed over stewardship of the software (then CogniCity) to Yayasan Peta Bencana, ensuring the software’s future as a community-led, regionally governed tool. Since then, Yayasan Peta Bencana has continued to lead all core development, implementation, and international scaling of the software.
Under Yayasan Peta Bencana’s leadership, what began as a city-scale, single-hazard flood reporting tool has evolved into a multi-hazard, multi-country disaster information platform, integrated into the official workflows of national and local governments across Southeast Asia.
Under Yayasan Peta Bencana’s stewardship, the software:
-
Expanded to support forest fires, haze, cyclones, typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other extreme events
-
Used by over 900 organizations to support first response
-
Expanded to support over 350 million people in risk reduction -
Added robust features including multi-language support, automated alerts, government-issued notifications, and social media integration
-
Introduced new reporting channels such as Telegram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, and web apps
-
Pioneered peer-to-peer resource sharing capabilities for mutual aid during emergencies
-
Supported data interoperability, analytics, and visualization tools for adaptive decision-making
The code has received support from USAID, Mapbox, Twitter, Pacific Disaster Center, Mercy Corps, re:arc institute, Asian Venture Philanthropy Network, Prudential, ISIF Asia, American Red Cross, and the Nature Conservatory, through their partnerships with Disaster Map Foundation (Yayasan Peta Bencana).