This is what really made my Outsiders reference stick in my head. These are a bunch of highly educated people who believe in what they are working on and believe they can make a difference but they are also together because of a common background and because there are not enough resources to go around on their own without each others help. They are trying to maximize productivity for the least amount of money. The Greasers in the Outsiders were a bunch of kids with no one to rely on but themselves and though they didn't know where they were going they knew they needed to stick together and have each others backs if they wanted to survive and thrive as best they could.
This is what I feel like NetHope is doing right now. They are just going, they know the importance of what they are doing and working on and know it will be beneficial even if the higher ups at organizations don't understand it right now or know what to do the with the solutions and technologies they are working on. It all comes down to the five points Mr. Happy talked about: trust, hunger, common need, value, time. The common need is the easy part at this point with everyone on board with NetHope understanding the importance of ICT. The value and the time I feel both contribute to the trust. The trust is what makes them such an efficient and close nit group which is crucial because they have loyalty to each other and their work together over the individual companies. This also leads to the hunger. The budget is nearly non-existent and if one person or project fails it could have a domino effect so everyone must be chomping at the bit and working as hard as they can every second of every day to prove their worth. The worth of their projects and the necessity to fund them better must be a constant motivation.
Honestly, mostly I just wanted a chance to gush a little bit about some people who clearly have their heads on straight. Their are a bunch of companies working together not just for money or money at all but simply for the sake of innovation and to help those in need. They will usher in the future of the Humanitarian system whether the system is ready or not. They may be the Outsiders of the Humanitarian world right now; misunderstood and under-appreciated. On a world scale though it is people like the UN who are falling behind the times because we all know of technologies importance and how ingrained it is on society as a whole at this point so let's "poke them in their eyes," to quote Mr. Happ and make them re-think their system.
I get really excited when collaboration happens for collaboration sake and talking about NetHope made me look forward to the possibilities of what is to come when the rest of the Humanitarian world is ready to join us in the technological age. "Nature's first green is gold," and I think this Robert Frost quote can perfectly describe the direction in which I hope informatics is going, the route of collaboration better be the future. If it isn't I would hate to see what happens. Maybe a tech cold war or an even greater discrepancy between the haves and have nots. Also relief aid would become obsolete because they would be so slow in response times and their data would not be as reliable. Tech and collaboration are the ways of the future.
Not my usual edgy change everything, everything is poo post I know but I gotta keep you on your toes.
I leave you with some more words of wisdom by Robert Frost
Tom, may I first say that it is always a pleasure reading your bog posts. You always have some type of crazy picture, reference, or video that grabs my attention right away every week. In this case you used the Outsiders movie as a reference to humanitarian organizations this week. I thought that this was a brilliant link and I really enjoyed how you bridged the gap between the two. I personally have not seen this movie since middle school and I think it was the perfect choice in this situation. The Greasers from what I can remember from that great movie were outcasts and really had to depend on one another for survival. This made a very good comparison for humanitarian organizations that depend on each other for shared information when one firm does not have enough to get the job done. I am going to try and implement examples like this into my blogs from now on good call Tom.
ReplyDeleteNext, I would like to say that Net Hope seems to me like a very legitimate organization that is leading humanitarian aid into a wave of the future. Tom I agree that they are coming out with new technologies that other passing up others such as the United Nations. The UN really needs to get with it and start upgrading or they are going to be left in the dust. They should in my personal opinion embrace new technologies and techniques. It is only through collaboration that the humanitarian efforts all around the world can work most efficiently. Tom, I feel that you have outdone yourself once again this week with you blog post. You did a very good job of describing the speaker this week and what he was all about. I look forward to hearing what you have to say next week see you in class.
I do have to say that Mr Happ was one of the most interesting speakers of our series. However, there are some parts of his talk where it really made me lose concentration. I like how you use this analogy with looking at the humanitarian world. I agree that these companies probably don’t see this as the most important part of the future of humanitarianism and crisis informatics. I believe that NetHope is becoming more influential than the United Nations. I say this because NetHope has taken 30+ other humanitarian organizations and put them in a group that has excellent collaboration. They are trying to increase the effectiveness of the technologies being deployed into disaster areas.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that these groups band together and become the “Band of Brothers” and help each other out because of the lack of resources. This is critical that these groups are working together to achieve a common goal. Sharing resources make for a more friendly environment because each group needs at least 2, 3, 4, maybe even more other organizations to help them get the job done even better.
Your excitement for NetHope is contagious because I am excited to see the rest of the humanitiarian world join NetHope and those organizations under NetHope. This will get things done once this happens until then the bullshit that is happening right now with the money issue and making money and getting recognition is hindering the process.
Tom, while less controversial than some of your other posts you made some great comments regarding NetHope and the future of the disaster response community. You mentioned that NetHope was trying to forces organizations like the United Nations to change by "poking them in their eyes." Unfortunately, the United Nations remains the 800lb. gorilla in the room that can smash NetHope like a fly while blinded. While NetHope has very noble goals, they cannot change the world on its own. While I wish that it could sometimes, until the United Nations and other large organizations, get fully on board nothing will really change and things will remain in the current state.
ReplyDeleteThis is not to say that NetHope is not slowly swaying the 800lb. gorilla minds with bananas. The efforts of NetHope have helped open the eyes of the United Nations ever so slightly. While the United Nations is still the massive beast slowing progress, they at least seem interested in promoting collaboration and innovation in the future. If NetHope and other organizations continue to feed the gorilla "bananas" the United Nations, will get further on board. Provoking the gorilla will simply make it mad, and cause the United Nations to swat down any ideas before they can be fully developed and promoted.
Finally, you talk how eventually relief aid will become obsolete if these organizations do not evolve. I do not ever foreseeing a situation where organizations like the Red Cross are obsolete. Outside of this class and academia, most people still see Twitter as a way to follow celebrities or update what you ate for breakfast. They probably could not even tell you about Ushahidi or the work they did in Haiti. These non-technologically well-informed people will remain invested in the Red Cross, as it is a name they trust. The Red Cross may provide the worst relief possible, but if people continue to trust the name they will donate.