The United Nations Foundation and Vodafone Foundation Partnership, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest association of technical professionals are announcing the launch of a new initiative called The Humanitarian Technology Challenge (HTC).  HTC is a project that is designed to identify and help develop technology-based solutions to current challenges facing humanitarian workers and others working in resource-constrained environments. They are matching humanitarian professionals and technologists who are interested in contributing their time and expertise to help develop technological solutions to challenges that aid workers and development experts face working in the field.

Stay tuned for a list of keynote speakers and panelists selected from among the humanitarian and technology communities, and a complete agenda covering the two-day event. We expect this event to create challenge working groups and set in motion a process for facilitating web-based collaboration on solution development that will continue after the conference closes.

We invite you to register your interest in attending the Humanitarian Technology Challenge Conference, June 1-2, 2009 in Washington, DC, where top three top ‘humanitarian challenges’ identified by aid organizations will be presented and the solutions process will begin. The challenges are:

• Reliable Electricity – Availability of power for electronic devices in resource-constrained environments.
• Data Connectivity of Rural District Health Offices – Capability of exchanging data among remote field offices and central health facilities.
• Patient ID Tied to Health Records – Availability of consistent patient records, including when patients visit different clinics and when they relocate.