How Broadband is Helping Haiti January 27th, 2010
Portia Krebs

In the wake of Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake, those looking to help have found a considerable disaster-relief resource in broadband.  From fundraising to health care to locating loved ones, here are some of the ways the high-speed Internet is in action in post-earthquake Haiti:

• Restoring Connections—U.S. telecom companies including AT&T and Verizon have announced donation relief efforts, including helping to rebuild Haiti’s communications infrastructure.  Telecoms Without Borders has planned a network enabling Haitians to make free two-minute calls anywhere in the world to relatives, as well as set up satellite facilities for emergency responders.  And NetHope, which unites humanitarian organizations with technology companies, is working to establish Internet connectivity for relief agencies on the ground in Haiti.
• Promoting Donations—Broadband-based technologies also encouraged rapid donations for Haitian relief efforts.  According to reports, the Red Cross raised a staggering $8 million for Haiti through its 48-hour text message campaign – double what the organization raised through similar efforts over the entire year in 2009.  Across the Internet, web pages were updated to connect people with charitable groups, and celebrities used their Twitter feeds to promote donations among their followers.  Meanwhile, Apple enabled iTunes users to make donations to the Red Cross via their accounts at the online music store.
• Up-to-the-Minute Reports—From breaking news to satellite maps and video feeds, the Internet has kept the world apprised of the latest developments in Haiti.  Broadband has also proven to be an invaluable tool for reuniting families or locating missing persons – thanks to sites such as the International Committee of the Red Cross’s FamilyLinks.icrc.org and the Haitian Earthquake Registry’s haitianquake.com.  Facebook’s “Earthquake Haiti” group also helped locate people and attracted more than 267,000 members.
•  Health Care Aid—On the ground in Haiti, Doctors Without Borders is using Internet-driven donations to help the long lines of injured earthquake victims.  The Boston-based Partners in Health, which already had four thousand health workers on the ground in Haiti when the earthquake hit, has continued to maintain communications via satellite-based Internet services. The hospitals and facilities managed by Partners in Health use a web-based electronic health record system for many of its patients, as well as a Web-based medication supply management tool monitoring its medication stock.

With so many in need and the world deeply concerned with the crisis in Haiti, broadband is playing an important role in relief efforts.  To read more about how the high-speed Internet is helping in Haiti, read the recent blog, “Broadband a Critical Component to Relief Efforts in Haiti” on our sister website, NextGenWeb.org.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 3:11 pm and is filed under Benefits of Broadband. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.