This blog is part of a NetHub series that looks at technology trends that will help to shape a bright global future.
Cloud technology is revolutionizing how we are able to share, deploy and maintain solutions across the world. Cloud solutions are built on lean infrastructure that can be scaled up and down as needed, yet they require significantly less cost.
We will keep you posted as we hear stories about how these young students and aspiring IT professionals are taking advantage of the program.
For instance, NetHope member organization Catholic Relief Services implemented a cloud-based education and training platform in East and Central Africa to teach farmers about the Cassava crop disease, which had caused famine in the region and devastated farmers’ crops. The occasionally connected cloud solution allowed NGOs to train farmers using a rugged laptop about how to manage the disease and grow disease-resistant strains of Cassava. The underlying components of the cloud-based solution were so successful that it is now being replicated and customized for other field programs, including Child Fund International’s child sponsorship programs and the World Vision/Catholic Relief Services/Child Fund cloud-based Shared Content project.
NetHope and its members have created the NetHope Cloud Services Initiative to accelerate humanitarian organizations’ access to successful cloud-based applications that can be leveraged for many different problem sets in the developing world. Applications will be shared through a marketplace, which will provide additional information including an NGO rating, case studies, technical requirements, pricing and service level agreements that will make it easier to use and re-use key services.
I look forward to this week of discussion and dialogue in Davos on the topics have the most weight in shaping our future. Join the conversation on Twitter by following @NetHope_Org, and using the hashtag #WEF.
