Collaboration benefits humanitarian relief efforts
As a member of the emergency relief network for Europe, CARE Canada belongs to a diverse community of worldwide, not-for-profit charitable organizations. In 1997, CARE extended its commitment to the global relief community by launching Information to Knowledge (I2K), a Web-accessible knowledgebase of best practices.The initiative was shaped by the idea that regardless of organization or specific project, members of the not-for-profit community share common experiences in the field, and that a mechanism for documentation and sharing would radically alter how workers approach an emergency situation.
"It is traditionally an orally-based industry, characterized by travel, dispersed information and the constant relearning of lessons," said Gerard van der Burg, managing director of I2K. It is also an industry where faster access to data, improved communication with support personnel and reuse of lessons learned translates to lives saved.
"We started to look at the most effective ways to share at a global level," van der Burg said, knowing that it was imperative to build from a Web architecture. The organization selected Open Text Livelink, based on its open structure and the fact that it could simultaneously be used as an intranet and extranet.
I2K runs on a Microsoft Windows NT Server and provides users with a password protected, three-tiered work environment comprised of personal, team/project and enterprise level workspaces.
The system has been an integral part of CARE's efforts in the Kosovo crisis. It was rolled out on an intranet basis as a way to organize the information being shared by 63 countries in the rescue efforts headquartered in Albania.
Mark Dubeau, a member of I2K's technical support team, was on location to set up the preliminary system and train local IT staff.
"Using the Web, we located available services in Albania, found ISPs and connected via satellite to the Internet and I2K," said Dubeau. All information necessary to create an emergency relief virtual office was posted to I2K: requests for supplies, statistics, daily reports on refugee movements and land mine alerts, and reports filed by the security director. Worldwide access to that information by those supporting the Kosovo effort has meant streamlined rescue operations, faster delivery of supplies and a means to educate the world to activities within Kosovo.
The information technology arm of CARE Canada has provided a vehicle to elevate the organization's mission of "providing, through excellence in programming, a measure of security and well-being for the poor in developing regions" to an entirely new level of preparedness.
"You must be able to move the 'office' at the drop of a hat," said van der Burg. I2K makes that possible, by creating a "corporate memory and emergency memory to better prepare for the next crisis.