Mesh4x

The goal for the project is to provide libraries, tools and applications that simplify using standards-based data meshes.

Data meshes have some interesting properties:

• Symmetrical: They allow data to exist in a concurrent multi-master environment where updates can be applied at any node in the mesh.
• Asynchronous: They allow offline updates to information and synchronization with other nodes without requiring data locks, essential for occasionally connected applications.
• Dynamic: The synchronization can happen even in constantly changing connectivity topologies. I can sync to a server and later the sync can be done between my client and another client, who could then sync with another server if the first one is there, and so on.

These properties make them very suitable for humanitarian, crisis, and health care environments, where information sharing, data system integration, and technologies that assist politically neutral solutions are beneficial. For example:

• Symmetry allows you to have two audiences work on the same data through different applications, with no application being the 'master'.  You can also have data sharing of sensitive information between countries or organizations with no country hosting more or less data than the other. See Mary Jane's post about the NGOs in Cambodia, to understand how important this symmetry and neutrality can be. It also allows data to move around a user independently of the device it's been created on.
• Asynchronicity allows work to happen in environments where data connections are unavailable, bandwidth is low, or the only 'transport' is a USB stick.
• Dynamism allows the field teams to share data amongst themselves and servers as early as possible. Unlike email, there is no need to wait for connectivity to a specific server to let the information free.

Our contributions will be based on the requirements observed in global health, community development and humanitarian aid.

See the main content for the project at:http://code.google.com/p/mesh4x/

Intro blog post: http://edjez.instedd.org/2008/04/mesh4x-new-open-source-project-for-data