Databases rarely engender feelings of excitement or empowerment but Ushahidi, a crowd-sourcing tool developed as an open-source platform to map reports of violence in Kenya, is doing just that.

As described in the New York Times, Ushahidi is being used by the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an advocacy group dedicated to reducing accidents at Louisiana refineries, to collect and log reports of the effects of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  It relies on witnesses to self-report via tweets, texts, e-mails and online submissions spill-related damage.

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As organizations think more strategically about network analysis and networked action, they will find themselves working with a combination of long-term partners and short-term contributors, some of whom might be considered competitors as well as collaborators.

To what extent is trust likely to be an issue, and how can networks effectively overcome the resistance likely to arise from those concerns?