Connections are lifelines in a crisis
In moments of crisis, most of us instinctively seek human connections. We reach for the phone to call friends and family, and we scour the internet looking for help and advice. The same goes for governments and response teams. Following a humanitarian crisis, contact and coordination between charities, NGOs, and emergency services is critical. Healthcare and service providers meanwhile depend on contact with user data and connectivity to manage provision of aid and support.
This means that a reliable, secure and usable system is required and required quickly.
From networks, satellites and base stations, to call centres, hardware and even the training required for users: technology is a fundamental element of any disaster response and that is obvious. What is equally important is the emotional, psychological human impact of this technology which is often overlooked.
And yet, in moments of crisis, establishing and maintaining human connections is one of the biggest challenges NGOs and service providers face. Transporting physical assets like telecoms and IT equipment into a disaster zone is difficult enough. Now imagine having to establish connectivity, set up new toll-free numbers for those affected to call, navigate local licensing laws and telecoms regulations, as well as generating electricity to power operations. Complicated in every aspect of providing the service.
It’s challenges like these that Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) has been facing head-on for over two decades. Founded as the world’s first NGO focusing on emergency-response technologies, TSF works to deliver and secure that basic, instinctive human need for connection in some of the world’s most challenging and inhospitable environments.
The need for the human connections doesn’t disappear when the emergency teams leave, if anything they are more important. What’s needed are partnerships to build on the fantastic work that organisations such as TSF do to ensure those highly valued connections are maintained and continued.
