Growing with Technology Awards

NetHope, Inc.

URL: www.NetHope.org
Location: McLean, Va.
Employees: 1 FTE, 4-5 contractors
Executive Sponsor: William Brindley, CEO
Cisco Products: C32521 Mobile router, 7960 IP Phone, 3201 Wireless interface 1760 router, C3550 switch, AP1220 wireless base station, VG2000 gateway, 7960/40 phones, MCS 3.1 Call Manager

Not too long ago, former Citigroup executive William Brindley found himself in an unlikely locale for someone who'd spent 20 years on Wall Street — in the town of Lochichoggio on the northeastern border of Kenya near the Sudan. In a rustic camp — which at least had tents and mattresses — he found himself witness to refugees coming out of the Sudan, fleeing religious battles, starvation, and drought.

The surprising part is that Brindley loved every minute of it. As current CEO of NetHope, an information and communication technology consortium for 17 leading international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), he was seeing close hand the work of as many as half of his group's members, each there to deal with some facet of the strife in the Sudan.

These groups include both humanitarian groups such as CARE, Oxfam, Save the Children, and WorldVision, as well as environmental groups such as the Nature Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Society. "NetHope enables members to collaborate with one another and extend their communications infrastructure and leverage Internet-based applications no matter where they may be, in as many as 100-plus developing countries around the world," says Brindley.

If there is one abiding desire among the world's charities, he says, it is to get the most out of the money they spend on support systems, and thus better serve their goal. That's especially relevant when it comes to spending money on technology. Unfortunately, many charitable organizations face the challenge of serving beneficiaries not from their offices, but where their clientele need them. That location could be a war zone, a disaster area, or the middle of a jungle.

That's where NetHope comes in. When its groups go into an area that's remote or ravaged (or both), they need quick and reliable communication. "If you're doing relief work in Somalia, you need to figure out a way through both technical solutions and governmental solutions," says Brindley, because broadband networks and ISPs are nowhere to be found. Collaborating with its member groups, NetHope supplies not only satellite devices for communication, but negotiates the contract pricing and the service-level agreements with provider Skylogic so that the charitable organizations can maximize their time and money.

NetHope's contribution doesn't stop there; it tests many new connectivity technologies for adoption by its members., For instance, it developed and tested a device called the Network Relief Kit (NRK), designed to be a "network-in-a-box" for easy deployment in areas of crisis. "Our members said it would be valuable to have some ruggedized equipment that they could throw into a truck and take to places like Banda Aceh in Indonesia in the first wave of a crisis," says Brindley. "When disaster strikes, coordination is key for these groups so they optimize resources and don't duplicate efforts." With the connectivity they get to the Internet — whether for data, voice, or video, they can transmit information back to their headquarters. The faster they can get information out, the faster the rest of the world can respond with aid.

The NRK equipment is built into a large suitcase, designed to be easily assembled and plugged in to generators or car batteries. "When their first forces arrive, they can open it up and not only get instant connectivity to the satellite, but also set up a network for relief workers so they can collaborate wirelessly on-site and collect valuable information," says Brindley, adding that NetHope volunteers train field staff on the technology so they know how to use the kit. The kits were tested during relief efforts for both the Pakistan earthquake and the South Asia tsunami.

The early demonstration pilots cost around $20,000 per device, but with the newest version called Pick and Go NetHope plans to get the price down to one-tenth of that so that organizations can have them at the ready when they need them. NetHope calls the new device PICK & GO. Portable Individual Communications Kit Global Operations as in Pick it up and go ( catch the flight). He also says that future iterations of the this model are being designed to incorporate a broadband mobile office in minutes include data, voice, streaming video and text — and weigh a fraction of the current 50 pounds, and fit into a backpack. Eventually, no site on earth will be too remote or too ravaged to serve.

The first versions cost around $20,000, but NetHope hopes to get the price down to one-tenth of that so that organizations can have them at the ready when they need them. Future iterations of the device, called PICK and GO (for portable individual communications kit for global operations) are being designed to incorporate a broadband mobile office with data, voice, and streaming video. It will weigh a fraction of the current 50 pounds, and fit into a backpack. Eventually, no site on earth will be too remote or too ravaged to serve.