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About us

Uwazi means “openness” in Swahili and is developed by HURIDOCS.

Uwazi is a versatile open-source web-based database application for those who need to capture, organise, analyse and structure collections of information.

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Built with purpose

Ethical and values-driven infrastructure

Collaboration

We listen, ask questions and co-create solutions with our partners, because contextual knowledge is as crucial as effective documentation.

Purpose

Information management is not an end in itself. We support partners to define clear goals and ensure each project serves real-world impact.

Safety

Often people work with sensitive information or in risky environments. We guide threat assessments and recommend appropriate safety measures.

Humanity

We believe technology is most valuable when designed with people’s goals and behaviours in mind. It exists to support people, not the other way around.

Adaptability

We iterate to find solutions and adapt to changing conditions.
By incorporating new information and lessons learned, we improve our work.

Uwazi is Open-source

Open-source development for transparency and community

Open-source development

Our in-house software engineers openly document the development of Uwazi on the GitHub platform. At HURIDOCS, we believe that any technology being developed for human rights work needs to be open source.

The open-source software development model embraces values such as transparency, collaboration, inclusivity and community. Open-source development does not guarantee utility or security, but it does facilitate input from a wide selection of people: from human rights defenders and civil society to developers and security experts, all whose expertise is fundamental to a successful product.

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OSS

WHO IS BEHIND UWAZI?

Our team

Uwazi is developed and maintained by HURIDOCS, an international NGO bases in Geneva, Switzerland with decades of experience supporting communities with information management tools and strategies. Our team of developers, designers, documentalists, and programme works across regions and time zones, guided by a shared commitment to justice and accountability develop an application that helps changemakers use well-structured information to make a positive difference in the world.

Learn about HURIDOCS

Uwazi in numbers

The chosen solution for documentation initiatives

350+

Partners

Custom support to a wide range of organisations and groups

550+

Databases

Bespoke and user-friendly information collections

5200+

Users

Collaboration and effective workflows across teams

3.4m+

Records

Accessible records visualised and linked in different ways

Awards and recognition

See how Uwazi is recognised for accelerating impactful change

Uwazi is certified as a digital public good

In August 2022, Uwazi was reviewed and found to be a digital public good in alignment with the Digital Public Goods Standard. Digital public goods (DPGs) are open-source software, open data, open AI models, open standards and open content that adhere to privacy and other applicable laws, use best practices, do no harm, and help to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Uwazi recognised as a finalist in Fast Company's 2022 World-Changing Ideas Awards

In May 2022, Uwazi was recognised as a finalist in the AI and data category of Fast Company’s 2022 World-Changing Ideas Awards. The winners, finalists and honourees in the AI and data category, are all projects that harness the power of data, machine learning, or artificial intelligence to understand the world and empower change.

Uwazi named the winner of the CogX's 2021 Peace and Justice Strong Institutions Award

In June 2021, HURIDOCS has been named the winner of the Peace and Justice Strong Institutions Award at the 2021 edition of CogX, a UK-based festival of AI and emerging technology. The Award recognises HURIDOCS' machine learning work, such as some of the smart features that are available in Uwazi. Among other things, these features can automatically fetch information from an online source, extract the basic elements of a document, and make highly accurate suggestions for how to categorise it.

HURIDOCS selected as a Google AI Impact Challenge grantee

In May 2019, Google announced that HURIDOCS is one of 20 organisations that will share 25 million US dollars in grants from the Google Artificial Intelligence Impact Challenge. The grant was used to develop and use machine learning methods to extract, explore and connect relevant information in laws, jurisprudence, victim testimonies, and resolutions. In 2023, HURIDOCS received another grant from Google.org time to continue with this impactful work.

"Through Uwazi and its responsible integration of AI, HURIDOCS provides essential infrastructure for human rights defenders overwhelmed with data and under pressure to act fast. Google.org is proud to stand behind this work and excited to see how these tools transform the way human rights defenders access, document, and act on the information that drives justice forward.”

Ricki Meyer

Program Manager, Google.org

A brief historic overview