Nethope Selected as Grand Prize Winner of Cisco's Growing with Technology Awards 2006

DATELINE — Oct. 30, 2006 — NetHope Inc. was named a Grand Prize winner in the Non-Profit Category of the Cisco Growing with Technology Awards 2006. Winners were announced during a ceremony at the Hotel Valencia in San Jose, Calif.

NetHope is a new generation Information and Communications Technology (ICT) consortium of 18 leading international non-governmental (NGO) organizations, which serves millions of end-beneficiaries in over 100 countries by providing conservation, humanitarian development and disaster response services.

The Cisco Growing with Technology Awards was created to recognize small and medium-sized organizations that demonstrate how networking technology solutions can effectively address business challenges. The winners of the program serve as role models and best practices for other businesses that want to use technology to fuel growth and compete more effectively. A panel of 10 judges selected 15 winners in five categories from more than 400 applications.

“We are thrilled and honored to receive the Cisco Grand Prize award,” said Dr. William A. Brindley, NetHope’s CEO. “It represents an affirmation that global NGO collaboration can solve developing world connectivity challenges, while delivering tangible benefits to those in need.”

This year’s panel of judges is composed of a diverse, cross-section of experts in the field of small and medium business operations. Members include: Ken Bast, vice president, Ingram Micro; Ray Boggs, vice president of small and medium business research, IDC; Andy Bose, chief executive officer, AMI-Partners; Joslyn Faust, principal research analyst, Gartner; Mika Krammer, director of Windows Client Mobility Marketing, Microsoft Corp.; David Morgan, president, D.W. Morgan; Elspeth Jane Murray, assistant professor, Queen’s University (Canada); Joni Podolsky, director of community programs, Entrepreneurs Foundation; Mark Quinn, district director, U.S. Small Business Administration; and Joe Diodati, senior director of small and midsize business marketing, Cisco Systems.

“This year’s winners have proven that there is a correlation between a company’s investment in networking technology and success,” said Peter Alexander, Vice President, Commercial Marketing, Cisco Systems. “NetHope was selected because they stood out as an organization that uses a network to create sustainable, competitive differentiation, while improving operational efficiencies and effectiveness.

About NetHope:
NetHope is a new generation Information and Communications Technology consortium of 18 of the international community’s leading non-governmental organizations. NetHope is dedicated to the best use of available technology resources by its member agencies in order to improve their ability to deliver community benefit in the developing world. It does this by working as a highly collaborative team, sharing ICT knowledge, solving common problems, creating industry relationships to support the public benefit work of all of its members, and educating members as well as the wider community of NGOs

William Brindley, NetHope
Email: WBrindley@NetHope.org
Phone: 703.388.2845