NetHope

NetHope

Founded	2001
Founder	[Edward G. Happ and Dipak Basu]
Type	Non-governmental organization
Focus	Connectivity,[1] Field Capacity Building,[2] Emergency Response,[3] Shared Services[4]
Location	McLean, VA, U.S., USA, ), UA
Area served	180 countries
Method	Collaborating across members, solving common technology problems, fostering strong relationships with private industry, and educating members and the wider community of humanitarian organizations worldwide.
Key people	Lauren Woodman (CEO)[5] Vincent Richardson (Chairman)[6]
Revenue	US$1.75 million (2009)[7]
Employees	10
Slogan	Wiring the Global VIllage.
Website	www.nethope.org

NetHope, Inc., founded in 2001, is an American consortium of 50 ^[8] American non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that specializes in improving IT connectivity among humanitarian organizations in developing countries and areas affected by disaster. The organization has partnerships with Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Intel, and Accenture. Its humanitarian development, emergency response, and conservation programs are in place in 180 countries worldwide.^[9]

Founding

In March 2001, Edward G. Happ, then CIO of Save the Children, authored a paper entitled "Wiring the Global Village" that discussed two hypotheses:

1. International nonprofits could solve the connection problem better, faster, and cheaper if done together rather than reinventing the wheel as individual organizations; and
2. Nonprofits would be in a better position to partner with corporate sponsors as a group rather than as individuals.

This paper was presented to Cisco's corporate philanthropy group and became the basis upon which NetHope was created. Shortly thereafter, Cisco fellow Dipak Basu coined the name "NetHope."^[15]

Work

Former Winrock employee Gary Garriott showing Wounaan Indians the Internet for the first time in their community in Panama

Places of operation

NetHope members operate in over 180 countries around the world. NetHope also operates four regional chapters in the following areas: East Africa, West Africa, Sri Lanka and India. Future chapters will be launching in South Africa, Bangladesh and Panama. NetHope Headquarters are located in McLean, Virginia.^[15]

NetReliefKit

Working with Cisco Systems and British satellite firm Inmarsat, NetHope developed the NetReliefKit, which is a solar powered wireless router that can connect users to the Internet via a satellite uplink. They were distributed for use with nonprofit organizations such as Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, Oxfam, and Mercy Corps. The kits are meant to be used for relief agencies to coordinate their response efforts.^[16] The device was deployed to provide Internet connectivity after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.^[9][17]

Disaster response

2013 Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines

On 8 November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan (known in the Philippines as Typhoon Yolanda), the largest typhoon in recorded history cut across the Visayas area of the Philippines. Over 14.1 million Filipinos were affected by the disaster and over 1.1 million houses were damaged either by strong winds or the storm surge that followed.

During the immediate disaster response, NetHope worked as part of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) to coordinate and establish connectivity in the worst affected areas.^[18] Members of the ETC worked together to provide connectivity to international and local response organizations in each location regardless of which ETC member provided the equipment and bandwidth.

NetHope, along with its partner British Telecom,^[19] established VSAT data services and VOIP voice services in Borongan, Roxas, and Estancia. Furthermore, NetHope acquired six Ku-Band VSAT terminals and received donated satellite bandwidth from AsiaSat, Speedcast, and SES. These were used to provide connectivity in Bogo City, Concepcion, Bantayan Island, Maya, Carigara, and additional connectivity in Estancia. The donated bandwidth and services were scheduled to an end at the end of February 2014 when broadband or mobile data connectivity was scheduled be reinstated in most of these areas.

The following NetHope member organizations responded to Typhoon Haiyan: AmeriCares, Canadian Red Cross, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, ChildFund International, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Direct Relief, Habitat for Humanity, Heifer International, International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent (IFRC), International Medical Corps (IMC), International Rescue Committee (IRC), Islamic Relief, Mercy Corps, Oxfam International, Plan International, Relief International, Save the Children, SOS Children’s Villages, and World Vision International.

2010 Haiti earthquake

NetHope Global Connectivity Programs Director Joe Simmons in Haiti

Within days of the 7.0 earthquake that destroyed much of Haiti, NetHope responded by setting up telecommunications links among a dozen relief groups, thanks largely in part to a $1.25 million donation from Microsoft and its partnerships with Cisco and Intel.^[20][21] The 10 megabyte local network provided Internet connectivity and extensions to voice over Internet protocol (VoIP)-style phones so that NetHope's members could coordinate the delivery of supplies in Haiti and send need assessments to the rest of the world.^[22]

However, the temporary network came under criticism a month later from local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who said that this temporary network was taking away their business. Inveneo, the company that NetHope tapped to build the network, defended the action by saying that in the days after the earthquake it was critical for NGOs to have reliable connectivity in order to coordinate their actions using resources such as Google Maps. Local ISP wired networks appeared to remain functional in the aftermath of the earthquake, but had lost electricity to their wireless base stations. An agreement between Inveneo and the local ISPs was to be made so ISPs would start receiving money from NGOs using their bandwidth.^[23]

2004 Asia tsunami

NetHope had already been developing the NetReliefKit with Cisco and Inmarsat, but when the tsunami in the Pacific hit, they saw it was necessary for NGOs to communicate with each other immediately, as many had lost this capability.^[24]

References

Further reading

• Fundamentals of Information Systems
• Information and Communication Technology for Peace
• The Retirement Activities Guide
• Principles of Information Systems
• Nonprofit Guide to Going Green
• PC World
• The Irish Times (subscription required)
• The Irish Times (subscription required)
• Stanford Social Innovation Review (subscription required)

External links

• Ed Granger-Happ. "Wiring the Virtual Village". Retrieved 2014-08-08. 
• "NetHope Secures Technology and Innovation Grant from The Rockefeller Foundation". rockefellerfoundation.org. November 3, 2010.