Member Spotlight: Samaritan’s Purse

The NetHope team eagerly welcomes Samaritan’s Purse to the NetHope membership and looks forward to partnering with the organization to help it use information communication technology (ICT) to be more efficient and effective in the pursuit of its mission.

Below are a few comments from Josh Overby, Samaritan Purse ICT Field Systems Manager about the role of technology within Samaritan’s Purse and the benefits of being a member of NetHope.

Q: What role does technology play at Samaritan’s Purse?
A: Information Communication Technology (ICT) is key to Samaritan’s Purse’s operations. Whether it’s basic Internet at International HQ or VSAT internet in the field, it plays a crucial role within the organization. Samaritan’s Purse uses a variety of ICT tools including

• BGAN’s SAT Phones and HF
• VHF radios.
• CRM technologies
• Techno Brain’s HRM software
• Serenic financial software

Q: What are the benefits of being a NetHope member?
A: The main benefit of being a member of NetHope is the collaboration of major players in the international development space. While at the 2013 NetHope Global Member Summit in Chicago , Samaritan’s Purse was able to strike a great partnership with EMC for VSAT technologies.

Other important aspects of NetHope membership valuable to Samaritan’s Purse include

• Collaborating with partners during disasters and using the expertise of Gisli Olafsson, NetHope Emergency Response Director.
• Sharing knowledge with NetHope Member NGOs and hearing how other NGOs work through or around technology limitations in the field.
• Having NetHope represent a collection of leading NGOs to get deals from major technology companies.