Tech Podcast: Tech aids Haiti relief efforts

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As you might imagine, the show has been preoccupied this week with the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. I was asked to look into a few different tech angles. The results are a couple of segments that I’ve included in this week’s podcast. First, anchor Jeb Sharp and I talk about the central importance of getting telecommunications back up and running, both for aid groups and for locals. We talk about Telecoms without Borders, a group of emergency first responders who go in and establish satellite communications links to allow aid workers to access email, phone service, etc. The group also established call centers that enable locals to make a free phone call to anyone, anywhere in the world. You can read more about them in my post here. We also talk about the online mapping platform Ushahidi. You can check out the work going on surrounding the Haiti relief efforts here. The show also asked me to look into how US aid groups, notably the American Red Cross, are making donations via text message a central part of their fundraising campaigns for Haiti relief. Here are some relevant links:

• More on the Red Cross text campaign
• Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti text campaign
• Mobile Active’s list of text campaigns

We spend the other half of the show talking about Google’s announcement that, following cyber-attacks on Chinese human rights activists using Google, they will stop censoring their search engine in China, and may pull out of the country all together. Here are some relevant links:

• More coverage from the BBC
• Google’s official statement
• Have Your Say: Should Google pull out of China?

Also, for some different takes on what’s going on, you can try here, here, and here. Please post more links in the comments below!

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