libSOS

Information Science \ Social Science > social-info literacy solutions

I thought this article might be of interest to the group.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7481914.stm

From the article:

"It is our role to build and coordinate the emergency telecommunications infrastructure.

Although this may not sound like a priority - perhaps compared to food, water and medicine - it is vital.

Without communication it is nearly impossible to co-ordinate the relief effort over such a large and logistically complex area.

These VSAT units provided a critical boost to the bandwidth, allowing the increasing numbers of humanitarian workers reaching the area to transmit key data and statistics on the needs of the struggling villagers who survived the disaster.

Indeed, the World Food Programme's Director in Burma believes these vital links helped facilitate the delivery of thousands of tons of food aid to the worst affected areas.

Statistics like this show the importance of a fast and reliable emergency telecom response."

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Very interesting -- is this the kind of thing the Gatr satellite equipment might be good for?

More on ICT issues at star-tides, (http://groups.google.com/group/star-tides?hl=en), and there is a group focused on Burma there.

So how much does a VSAT unit cost, and how would we get them to the COMS specialists who would know what to do with them?

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