Dealing with disasters
As Mark Pesce’s keynote already made clear, technology shapes everyones lives, not only here but in the third world too. Technology is transforming humanitarian relief—and is shifting the balance of power between donors and recipients, as outlined in this the Economist article:
Now, when an emergency occurs, the first people on the ground are often computer geeks, setting up telephone networks so other aid agencies can do their stuff.
Télécoms sans Frontières (TSF), a French voluntary agency (total staff: a dozen), goes in with the UN team that does the first needs-assessment in the hours after disaster strikes.