Welcome back! This Thursday will be the first Change meeting of the winter quarter. We will be introducing new members to the Change group, discussing plans for the upcoming weeks, and hearing a talk from the chief technology officer at InSTEDD, Eduardo Jezierski. InSTEDD is a non-profit that harnesses the power of technology for effective collaboration against global health threats, natural disasters, and emergencies. Below is an overview of the organization’s mission: The Problem: It’s a familiar scene. Following the onset of a major disease outbreak or natural disaster, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and the local community must join forces and act quickly to alleviate suffering. People need to communicate, assemble teams, share information, make plans and coordinate a response. Yet despite every one’s best intentions, a wealth of resources, deep expertise and tremendous effort, there are still challenges in trying to work together. The response once again proves confused, inefficient, and far less effective than it should have been. As a population waits for help, delays mount, resources are wasted, and too little arrives too late. The Collaboration Gap: Effective collaboration requires people to establish a reliable flow of timely, accurate and complete information. Yet the information technologies required often fail in the difficult environments where humanitarian organizations work. Today’s public health and disaster response workers need to have access to the best possible information whenever they need it, including satellite imagery, sensor data, media reports and all of the rich resources of the web. Responders to a crisis need to have powerful tools and services to help them make the right decisions. They need to be able to communicate reliably with headquarters, with community leaders, and with one another at any moment. At InSTEDD we help to ensure collaboration between those who want it, just as soon as they need it. InSTEDD’s Strategy: We work with governments, universities, corporations, international health organizations, humanitarian NGOs and local communities around the world. We go to the field – in rural Asia, urban Africa, the rain forests of Indonesia, and the slums of Haiti – to learn about the challenges that professionals face in those places. Where solutions already exist, we integrate them. If another technology can be adapted to meet the needs we find, we re-purpose it. If a genuine gap is found where no solution exists and no market pressures are driving the necessary innovation, we build it ourselves. Then we give it away, free and open source. We then test, train, and deploy it within the areas of the world we find are most in need. We support humanitarian organizations, local communities, and government ministries by filling the collaboration gaps we find through sustainable innovation – a unique and effective combination of user-centered design, software development, and on-the-job training. Join us for lunch this Thursday to learn more about InSTEDD! What: Welcome to Change and Eduardo Jezierski on InSTEDD When: Thursday, January 6 at noon Where: Paul Allen Center, Room 203