diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ce8122
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# BRECcIA-Mapper (provisional name)
+
+BRECcIA-Mapper is a web app to collect and explore data about the relationships between researchers and their stakeholders on large-scale, multi-site research projects.
+
+TODO motivations, usage, license
+
+## Technology
+
+This project is written in Python using the popular [Django](https://www.djangoproject.com/) framework.
+
+An [Ansible](https://www.ansible.com/) playbook is provided which is designed for deployment on RHEL7 or CentOS7 Linux systems.  This installs and configures:
+- MySQL
+- Nginx
+- Django + BRECcIA-Mapper
+
+TODO deployment instructions
\ No newline at end of file