oin The Fund for Peace (FfP) and BENS for the launch of this year’s Failed States Index (FSI).  The FSI is a leading index that annually highlights current trends in social, economic and political pressures that affect all states, but can strain some beyond their capacity to cope.  Apart from the impact on their people, fragile and failed states present the international community with a variety of challenges. In today's world, with its globalized economy, information systems and security challenges, pressures on one fragile state can have serious repercussions not only for that state and its people, but also for its neighbors and other states halfway across the globe.

The Launch event will include:

Published 14 June 2011 
Researchers have developed a new smartphone application to avoid information overload by processing large quantities of data in real time and presenting it in user friendly clusters; the software is the first to allow a user to make real time adjustments to how information is displayed on a phone as it is acutely "aware" of how cluttered the screen is; the new application can be used in a wide array of instances including natural disasters, monitoring multiple hospital patient's heart levels, and mapping the locations of first responders deployed during an emergency

A paper introducing the Human Security Index for the USA has been published by IEEE Earthzine:
http://www.earthzine.org/2011/05/04/the-human-security-index-potential-roles-for-the-environmental-and-earth-observation-communities/

For those who might be curious about the global HSI, about 1/5 of the way through that paper is a short note on the global HSI.  In the 2nd paragraph of that section is a hyperlink to "global HSI version 2" which goes to a page hosting data, sample maps, and an evolving documentation note on the global HSI.