[Ict4devwg] Nonprofit InSTEDD Takes New Approach to Improving Global Health, Humanitarian Efforts, and Disaster Relief

Mon Mar 30 02:22:40 BST 2009

http://instedd.org/news_launch

Nonprofit InSTEDD Takes New Approach to Improving Global Health, Humanitarian 
Efforts, and Disaster Relief

New nonprofit to deliver innovative technologies and services to enhance 
collaboration; initial backing from Google.org, Rockefeller Foundation and 
private donors.

PALO ALTO, Calif. – January 17, 2008 – InSTEDD (Innovative Support to 
Emergencies, Diseases and Disasters), a nonprofit organization focused on 
improving early detection, preparedness, and response capabilities for global 
health threats and humanitarian crises, was launched today. InSTEDD has received 
initial financial backing from Google.org, the Rockefeller Foundation and 
private donors.

InSTEDD (http://instedd.org) will work with the community of relief and response 
organizations, governments, academia and top scientists around the world to 
address gaps in information flow with software and other technology-based tools 
and services. Acting as an innovation laboratory, InSTEDD aims to support the 
humanitarian community in preparing for and responding to global public health 
emergencies, working together towards a safer world.

Google.org, the newly launched philanthropic arm of Google, created InSTEDD as 
one of its first projects within its Predict and Prevent Initiative, announced 
today, which has as its aim to identify “hotspots” of emerging threats and to 
enable a rapid response.  “Our hope is that InSTEDD can serve as a broker for 
bringing multiple technology companies, including Google, together to contribute 
to the greatest needs in responding to global threats in an open, transparent 
and non-competitive space”, said Dr. Mark Smolinski, Director of the Predict and 
Prevent Initiative at Google.org.   “In the case of infectious diseases, for 
example, the time has come to change our usual thinking from responding to 
threats only after they happen, to thinking about what we can do to prevent 
epidemics from occurring in the first place.”

InSTEDD’s first major international initiative is the Mekong Collaboration 
Program in Southeast Asia. InSTEDD staff, supported by a grant from the 
Rockefeller Foundation, will be working with more than 20 partners to enhance 
information flow, collaboration, and data visualization tools for emerging 
infectious disease preparedness. The work crosses governmental, geographical, 
and organizational boundaries in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and 
Yunnan Province in southern China.

“The efforts of humanitarian aid organizations around the world are often 
hobbled by technical and cross-cultural limitations,” said Dr. Eric Rasmussen, 
CEO of InSTEDD. “InSTEDD’s objective is to overcome these limitations with 
durable, scalable and affordable options that can be shared rapidly in even the 
worst environments.”

"We salute the launch of InSTEDD, which has great potential for advancing the 
groundbreaking work of the Mekong Basin Disease Surveillance Network," said 
Judith Rodin, President of the Rockefeller Foundation, which funds the Network. 
  "We're delighted to join with Google.org in this crucial effort as we continue 
to work with a range of outstanding partners to develop global health 
initiatives that benefit poor and vulnerable people around the world."

Another significant InSTEDD project is spearheading the Global Crisis Management 
(GCM) project with UNICEF, which is designed to improve UNICEF’s ability to 
assess and display worldwide crisis information within its Emergency Operations 
Centers in New York City and Geneva.

In its role as innovation laboratory, InSTEDD will investigate the challenges 
faced by humanitarian and public health organizations and develop technology 
solutions customized for their needs. InSTEDD’s software engineers will 
initially look for existing technology, practices and methods and examine ways 
they can be applied, adapted or transformed to address these challenges. If 
needed, InSTEDD’s staff will develop new technology to address a problem when no 
other acceptable option can be found. InSTEDD’s “Field Lab” has already built 
several tools and services that integrate technologies from Microsoft, Google, 
Facebook, and Twitter.

InSTEDD recognizes that the extreme environment of the humanitarian or public 
health worker demands technical designs that are stronger, faster, cheaper and 
more interoperable and mobile than many existing products and services currently 
available. InSTEDD’s knowledge and new technologies will be shared openly with 
the humanitarian community and modified as needed to address future challenges.

Background

InSTEDD was originally conceived as the result of a 2006 TED Conference Prize 
awarded to epidemiologist Dr. Larry Brilliant, who presently is Executive 
Director of Google.org and a member of the Board of Directors of InSTEDD.

Dr. Brilliant said, “History has shown that when we can identify, understand and 
address public health threats and disasters early, our ability to save lives is 
radically improved. My dream for InSTEDD is to fulfill the much-needed role of 
an independent agent bringing the technological, medical and organizational 
skills necessary to help the humanitarian aid community accomplish this, and 
ultimately help them to make the world a safer place.”

In May 2007, InSTEDD was incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit. In October 2007, 
Eric Rasmussen, MD, MDM, FACP, became its CEO.  Dr. Rasmussen is a former US 
Navy Commander with extensive experience in humanitarian efforts. He also is the 
chief architect of the “Strong Angel” international disaster response 
demonstrations.

The name InSTEDD began as a pun on “TED” (the TED conference) and “EDD” (Early 
Disease Detection). But the pun on the word “instead” led it to being adopted as 
the company’s name. InSTEDD is about new and better approaches—instead of doing 
things the way they’re done today.

About InSTEDD

InSTEDD (“Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases and Disaster”) is an 
independent, international 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, chartered to develop 
improved information capabilities for global health security and disaster 
response.  InSTEDD collaborates with partners dedicated to the health and safety 
of the global public.  For additional information about InSTEDD, please visit 
the organization’s website at http://InSTEDD.org.