SEATTLE – Philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen, in conjunction with the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, is shipping more than 10,000 specially programmed smartphones to West Africa to help in the fight against Ebola.
The smartphones, acquired through a combination of gifts from companies as well as purchases by the Foundation, will enable government workers and humanitarian aid volunteers to gather reliable data about the effectiveness of relief efforts in affected areas. This data will be used to help government and private aid organizations to more effectively assess the pressing on-the-ground needs and deploy the right resources to address them.
Additionally, Allen is providing a grant to NetHope to further connectivity throughout Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The donation will allow for the establishment of a Connectivity Accelerator Fund to increase existing connectivity at 45 locations, deployment of up to 10 Very Small Aperture Terminal satellites to support communications in an additional 30 locations, extend mobile capacity by funding multiple short-term private sector projects, and engage mobile network operators to connect new capacity to existing mobile networks.
"We need reliable data to understand what is going on in impacted areas to get ahead of the Ebola crisis," said Allen, in the announcement. "NetHope is working closely with the UN and all of the large response organizations to identify the gaps in communications capacity. Today, we are committing resources to boost communication and data collection capabilities to more effectively fight Ebola in West Africa."
This initiative is part of Allen’s $100 million commitment to tackle the Ebola crisis.
