NetHope collaboration ensures support for battle against Ebola in West Africa
- ravinambooricisco
- Jan 2, 2015
- 3 min read
Davos, Switzerland– NetHope, an umbrella organization of 42 leading charity organizations, announced on Jan 21 that it would partner with Cisco, Inveneo, Facebook, EveryLayer and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation in order to extend their support to improve effective communications to fight the Ebola hemorrhagic fever epidemic and help in its recovery initiatives in West Africa.
Commenting on this initiative, Cisco evangelist Ravi Namboori said a joint Ebola Response Connectivity Initiative (ERCI) will provide broadband Internet access at high speeds to people, who are most susceptible to this pandemic in numerous Ebola treatment facilities, NGO offices, and other help centers located in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
Effective communications are vital to organizations responsible for battling Ebola, which has claimed more than 8,600 lives – the figure arrived at by the World Health Organization.
Lack of fast, reliable access to the Internet continues to deter the coordinating efforts for relief efforts of Ebola. Reliable information dissemination capability, community mobilization, case management in real-time, sharing of information, supply and logistics management outbreak recording, and so on are vital to mitigate the damage being caused by this virus.
The ERCI will garner support by coordinating with humanitarian organizations' for speeding up installation of communications’ solutions, which were delivered in late 2014 in West Africa to cope with immediate requirements in sensitive areas, added Namboori.
Facebook will donate 100 satellite terminals that will provide immediate connectivity to the most sensitive locations in the countries affected by Ebola.
The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation provided connectivity accelerator funds to heighten existing connectivity at 45 locations, most of which would be connectivity distribution sites for ERCI.
Initially deployed solutions are said to have empowered emergency communications abilities of more than 25 NetHope member NGOs and other charity organizations having more than 3,000 staff and volunteers working on location.
The scope of the challenge for Ebola interventions are huge and, therefore, communications ability is mandatory for every virus related involvement, according to NetHope CEO Lauren Woodman.
The collaborative initiative is expected to grow the scope and support the communications capacities of thousands of response workers.
Installation and operation of additional infrastructure and equipment in the impacted countries, which will be supported by Facebook and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, would depend on the priority requirements of NGO members of NetHope and other organizations. Facebook’s Data Science Team conducted data analysis on connectivity in the Ebola sensitive countries. This would require working closely with NetHope and mobile network operators to zero in on locations that required Internet connectivity and the technological expertise to offer it.
Cisco Meraki provides hotspot equipment in locations and financial support that ensures response workers to access phones, laptops, and tablets to better all communications related to the relief initiatives.
Designed by EveryLayer and installed by Inveneo and its certified partners, the broadband solution works on expanding satellite technology and bolstering existing service operators with a dependable Wi-Fi technology. It is possible to deploy the network at a lower cost and quicker time compared with traditional mobile networks.
Collaborations with local mobile network service providers and enhancements to local infrastructure will see to it that people in the sensitive areas have access to connectivity even after the Ebola relief works are over.
One of the collaborators said that an additional gain from ERCI's strategy is that after the battle against Ebola is complete, the broadband infrastructure and collaborations will continue and offer high-speed Internet to local businesses and customers and to improve the quality of life of people in these areas.
Comments