High-Tech Leaders Step Up For Haiti

Take World Vision, a Christian non-governmental organization that works in some of the most beleaguered countries in the world. The NGO is stepping up its disaster relief efforts in Haiti with the direct help of the high-tech industry.

"The last mile of work with our beneficiaries is still analog, meaning it's paper-based, filling out forms," said David Owens, vice president corporate development for World Vision, at a recent meeting with Intermec and FieldWorker, two technology companies helping the NGO digitalize that process at the "last mile."

World Vision is currently running pilot programs in Kenya and Lesotho, two of the 98 countries the NGO serves, using Intermec's CN50 rugged mobile computers and a backend software solution from FieldWorker to eliminate the paperwork and get food and medicine to beneficiaries quicker.

"Helping World Vision was an easy pitch to our board," said Peter Neve, president of Toronto-based FieldWorker, an independent software vendor focusing on mobile technology platforms. "We like challenges that have never been done before."

Now World Vision is planning to expand its successful pilot projects to other countries, and nowhere has more immediate relief needs than earthquake-stricken Haiti. Intermec, headquartered in Everett, Wash., has donated 30 CN50 units to the NGO to get that effort underway, said CEO Patrick Byrne.

Intel is another tech vendor working closely with World Vision. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip giant has built a modular data center to be used as an emergency telecommunications cluster that World Vision will manage for Haiti Aid, a collection of organizations directly delivering aid within Haiti, an Intel spokesperson said.

"It was prepared for shipment in New Mexico [on Feb. 12] and will ultimately land in Miami, where it will be fully outfitted before it departs for Haiti," Intel's Gail Dundas told CRN. That's on top of the $2.5 million raised for Haitian relief by a combination of employee donations and Intel Foundation matching funds, she said.

Programs like Intel's that match employee donations have proven popular with many high-tech companies seeking ways to help Haiti.

Microsoft, for example, has pledged to match its US-based employees' donations up to $12,000 per employee, while separately committing $1.25 million to Haitian earthquake relief through humanitarian aid consortium NetHope. Hewlett-Packard will match up to $250,000 in donations from its employees, while also separately giving $500,000 to the American Red Cross International Response Fund.

Some companies have supplemented their direct monetary contributions to the relief effort in creative ways. Advanced Micro Devices, for example, had donated $100,000 to relief agencies through employee donations and corporate matching funds as of mid-February. But AMD was also working with custom system builder Maingear PC on a special edition of the flagship Maingear SHIFT high-performance gaming rig -- with 100 percent of sales proceeds going to Save the Children.

For a sampling of the dollars and technical assistance that some IT companies have contributed to the relief effort in Haiti, click here.