Press Room

NetHope Summit Brings Together IT Leaders from 22 International NGOs

May 06, 2008 SAN JOSE, Calif. - Technology leaders from 22 of the largest international NGOs, all members of NetHope, Inc., a new-generation collaborative consortium, are being hosted this week at Cisco Systems Inc. headquarters to make progress against the challenge of closing the "humanitarian productivity gap." The summit, co-sponsored by Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corporation, brings together chief information officers (CIOs) and other technology leaders from the nonprofit sector and from leading technology companies to share their expertise and insights in order to develop and deliver technologies that can dramatically improve the overall effectiveness and efficiencies of the member nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). "We're thrilled that Cisco, Intel, Microsoft and other leading technology companies have committed to working with us to improve the degree to which the NGO sector can take advantage of technology to improve the effectiveness of their important programs. Our member agencies work in some of the most extreme environments on the planet, facing some of the toughest challenges - reducing poverty and hunger, improving health and literacy, and meeting conservation challenges," said Bill Brindley, CEO of NetHope. "By collaborating together and by partnering with the private sector and forward-thinking foundations and private donors, the NetHope members believe that we can deliver dramatic improvements in program service efficiency across the NGO sector. We are also committed to continuing our work in developing innovative technologies, such as the NetHope Network Relief Kit, that are specifically targeted for the unique needs of NGO field workers operating in extreme, remote environments." "The members of NetHope are all facing the same information and communication technology challenges," said Ed Granger-Happ, chairman of NetHope and CIO of Save the Children. "The private sector has been seeing huge leaps in productivity for decades because of advances in communications and information technology; it's time to ensure we're all working together to deliver these same types of productivity benefits to the NGO community and the hundreds of millions of people they serve." "Cisco collaborates with members of the global NGO community to leverage the power of the Internet and communication technology to create scalable, replicable, sustainable solutions to maximize social benefit around the world," said Michael Yutrzenka, director, Cisco Public Benefit Investment. "We believe NetHope acts as a catalyst for applying the benefits of technology across the NGO sector to support the millions of individuals in need that NetHope member organizations serve." "At Microsoft we are committed to helping improve global humanitarian efforts through technical resources, financial donations and the volunteer efforts of our employees worldwide," said Akhtar Badshah, senior director of Community Affairs at Microsoft. "That is why Microsoft is working with industry leaders like Cisco and Intel to provide the technology resources needed to support and further the good efforts of NetHope." "Engaging with NGOs in this conversation provides Intel an opportunity to help meet a common objective: to enable people to lift themselves out of poverty in emerging markets," said Karen Spencer, director, community solutions, Intel Corporate Affairs. "At Intel we're focused on connecting people to opportunities through ICT and the Internet — especially through education and by maximizing the effectiveness of NGOs that serve these regions of the world." ######### For more information, press only: Melissa Harris Thirsk, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide for NetHope, (425) 638-7180, mharris@waggeneredstrom.com Rapid Response Team, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide for NetHope, (503) 443-7070, rrt@waggeneredstrom.com Robyn Jenkins-Blum, Cisco Systems Inc., (408) 853-9848, rojenkin@cisco.com