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Ruckus Wireless brings paperless hospitals to India

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SevenHills Health City near Mumbai is now India's first paperless hospital, helped by 802.11n Wi-Fi from Ruckus Wireless. The new network will support a wide range of critical-care applications within a three-million square-foot “health city” spanning 17 acres...

Volcanic Ash the Pain? Video conferencing the gain!

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For a whole week, air travel in Europe was paralysed by the effects of volcanic ash belched into the atmosphere by a volcano on Iceland. There had been more disruption since the tragedy of 9/11. While, in one case, the USA struggled to bring 40,000 of its citizens home, the telecoms sector has been trying to make the best of a particularly challenging and difficult situation...

Orange joins the mHealth alliance to develop West Africa

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In a partnership aimed at advancing mobile technology to improve public health, healthcare systems and patient care in the developing world, Orange has joined the mHealth Alliance to develop mobile health solutions in West Africa...

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ITU further strengthens Haiti’s communications networks

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ITU has signed an important Cooperation Agreement with Singapore-based smartBridges Solutions, a leading provider of wireless broadband equipment, to provide WiMAX and WiFi systems to strengthen ITU’s on-the-ground disaster response capabilities...

M-giving For Haiti Is a Snap At Mobile World Congress

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 In what is believed to be the world's first m-giving campaign powered by 2-d barcode technology, delegates at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona are able to donate money to Haitian relief efforts by simply snapping a barcode with their mobile phones...

Clickatell provides free SMS services for Haiti aid organisations

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Clickatell has extended its free SMS services to organisations providing aid to Haiti. The versatility of SMS has made it the communication channel of choice in the aftermath of the recent earthquake, and Clickatell’s move is sure to be welcomed not just by aid workers and residents in Haiti, but by those donating to the numerous charities providing aid to the country...

Andrew launches “world’s first” location protection server

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Andrew has launched what it describes as “the world’s first” location protection server, the GeoLENs Policy Server. Developed in collaboration with operators, it ensures that access to location information is limited to those who are authorised. In fact, one timely scenario where Policy Server would not restrict location information is in emergency situations when public safety workers are attempting to locate users in distress...

Haiti disaster - a telecoms success story...?

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While the final death toll from the earthquake on Haiti has yet to be established, it is clear that many of the world’s leading organisations, public and private, have supplied emergency equipment and food and drink on a massive scale. This article by Michael Schwartz looks at the early help given by the telecoms sector...

Bridging the digital divide - less technology, more understanding

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Customer awareness of broadband technology or rather the lack of it accounts for the Digital Divide in broadband rather than any lack of availability of the relevant technology. The Ovum consultancy makes this claim in its recent report Bridging the broadband divide: challenges and solutions...

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Distance learning in conflict zones: tales from the African Virtual University (AVU)

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Somalia's collapse into civil war in the early 1990s has led to a generation without an education and with none of the safeguards expected under the rule of law in a normally functioning country. Distance learning has come into its own, and so has the African Virtual University. Sidiki Traore, who has been with the AVU for over ten years, tells us how...

How can Internet usage become a basic human right?

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How do we ensure access to the internet is a human right enjoyed by everyone? This is one of the critical questions asked by an annual publication that highlights the importance of people's access to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure - and where and how countries are getting it right or wrong, and what can be done about it.

Emergency Co-ordination Workshop Launched

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The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) has been adopted as ITU Recommendation X.1303 and become the foundation standard for all media public disaster and emergency warning. WMO is hosting a 2-day Workshop on 9-10 December 2008 in Geneva for people responsible for CAP implementation...
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China quake hits telecom networks hard

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Telecoms facilities in China have not been exempt from the damage inflicted by the recent earthquake. Among the victims is Western China's economic powerhouse, Chengdu.

ITU satellites reconnect victims of Myanmar cyclone Nargis

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Controversy has marked the relief efforts in Myanmar's recent cyclone tragedy. One encouraging sign is that ITU satellite terminals are restoring vital communications links. The International Telecommunication Union has deployed 100 satellite terminals to help restore vital communication links in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis which hit Myanmar on May 2 with devastating effect in Yangon and the low-lying Irrawaddy delta region...

Zain, Ericsson and GSMA combine to save lives on Lake Victoria and boost local economy

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The 200,000 fisherman that work on Lake Victoria will soon be using mobile phones to call for help if they get into trouble on the world's second largest inland lake. In an initiative coordinated by the GSMA's Development Fund, mobile networks will be expanded to cover Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake, fuelling economic and social development of the lakeside communities and potentially reducing the number of fishing-related deaths each year...

Zambia flood victims enjoy reconstruction via ITU satellites

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The ITU has deployed 25 satellite terminals to help restore vital communication links in the aftermath of severe floods that have inundated low-lying districts across Zambia. A total of 3,418 homes and 44 schools collapsed as a result of heavy rainfall, and ensuing floods have destroyed roads and communication links, hampering the coordination and delivery of assistance...

UN-Vodafone Partnership to aid emergency communications

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The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), The Vodafone Group Foundation, and the United Nations Foundation announced today a ground-breaking "global partnership for emergency communications". The partnership will increase the effectiveness of the information and communications technology (ICT) response to major emergencies and disasters around the world...

2008 Aid + Trade Conference takes place in Geneva

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The 2008 International Aid + Trade Event brings together the global humanitarian relief, aid and development community to share knowledge and experience, improve coordination and communication, increase the effectiveness of aid response and humanitarian relief and embrace the challenge of integrated aid and development...
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