Development of Siti OSS has been led and stewarded by Disaster Map Foundation under the leadership of Nashin Mahtani and, since 2019, in partnership with Deepthi Chand and CivicDataLab. All contributors are publicly recognized on the project’s GitHub repository, providing a transparent record of the community shaping Siti OSS.
Yayasan Peta Bencana (Disaster Map Foundation) has introduced Situational Intelligence Open Source Software (Siti OSS) as the new identity for its open-source platform—signaling a system that has evolved “far beyond its origins” to meet urgent, real-world disaster challenges.
Originally developed through academic research at the Smart Infrastructure Facility, University of Wollongong (2013–2016) and the MIT Urban Risk Lab (2016–2017), the software—formerly known as CogniCity OSS—was formally transferred by MIT to Disaster Map Foundation in 2017.
A pivotal 2019 development partnership with CivicDataLab followed. Since then, Disaster Map Foundation and CivicDataLab have re-engineered the code into an enterprise-level disaster response coordination system, built for users and partners operating in risk-prone regions.
A pivotal 2019 development partnership with CivicDataLab followed. Since then, Disaster Map Foundation and CivicDataLab have re-engineered the code into an enterprise-level disaster response coordination system, built for users and partners operating in risk-prone regions.
RELEVANT SUSTAINABLE GOALS
Built With—and For—Frontline Communities
Since 2017, Siti OSS has been shaped by frontline needs and by teams embedded in disaster-prone areas. Through active engagement with first responders, local governments, and at-risk populations, the platform has been continuously refined to meet the complexities of on-the-ground coordination.
Iterative development has produced a significantly expanded platform:
- Broader hazard and geographic coverage
- Automated notification systems
- Logistics coordination tools
- Expanded feature sets and refined localization parameters for different geographies and scales
- A complete system architecture overhaul to handle event-driven usage spikes while maintaining top-tier energy efficiency
This code now powers the award-winning platforms PetaBencana.id (Indonesia) and MapaKalamidad.ph(Philippines), as well as pilot platforms AafatInfo.pk (Pakistan) and Mapeatudesastre.com (Panama).
Why the Name Change Now
As the software has grown and diverged from its initial foundation, a new name clarifies its current state and future direction. More than 95% of the code has been completely re-engineered, leaving only minimal elements of the original CogniCity OSS. The update prevents confusion between Siti OSS and the legacy codebase from which it was forked.
Development of Siti OSS has been led and stewarded by Disaster Map Foundation under the leadership of Nashin Mahtani and, since 2019, in partnership with Deepthi Chand and CivicDataLab. All contributors are publicly recognized on the project’s GitHub repository, providing a transparent record of the community shaping Siti OSS.
Beyond Disasters to Crowd Intelligence at Scale
With this rebranding, Disaster Map Foundation reaffirms its commitment to Siti OSS as a tool for situational intelligenceand community-led information sharing. The software is evolving to cover broader aspects of crowd intelligence—including crowd logistics, volunteer coordination, accessibility, and scalability to multiple geographic locations—and is generalizing to domains outside disasters where crowd intelligence adds value.
The foundation invites the global open-source community to explore ongoing work and contribute to Siti OSS. Details, contributor lists, and the latest developments are available at: https://github.com/petabencana.
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