GLOBAL HELP DESK WELCOMES PARTNERS
The Global Help Desk Initiative is pleased to announce that we have added three key strategic partners as we build out a secure online resource center for the world: Mei Lin Fung, Marko Russiver, and Nicholas Rhodes. They join the team at Indais in developing an open-source online network that identifies situations and facilitates the delivery of goods, services and information to those in need.
Mei Lin Fung is the cofounder and Chair of People-Centered Internet, Chair of Impact Network, Chair of the IEEE’s Industry Connections Social Impact Measurement, and cofounder of the California Health Medical Reserve Corp. Mei Lin is a long-time champion of the use of digital tools and services to improve people’s lives. She instigated the Digital Cooperation and Diplomacy Meeting series, and previously served on the World Economic Forum’s Digital Economy and Society Global Future Council.
Marko Russiver is a cofounder of Guaana, a hackathon and ideation platform headquartered in Estonia, and one of the initiators behind both Hack the Crisis and The Global Hack. In the last five years, Marko has worked closely with research organizations and government entities including CERN, ESA, the European Commission and United Arab Emirates government, exploring practices that empower researchers and as a result designing a centralized platform for funding open research globally. He is also part of a European Commission Next Generation Internet roundtable.
Nicholas Rhodes is the founder and CEO of Steady Goods, a hyper-local, community-sourced ecommerce platform that serves creators whose businesses have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. At launch, all goods will be created by New York City makers, manufacturers and artists with 15% of all profits going directly back into the community in the form of COVID-19 financial relief.
The goal of the Global Help Desk is to harness the hackathons and other local initiatives to respond to the crisis and provide a set of tools for responsible interoperability. Governments, NGOs, research groups, businesses and anyone else in need can tap our open-source, easy-to-navigate digital resource that can be used to identify issues around the globe and facilitate the delivery of goods, services and information through a network of partners in local markets and ensure that all interactions are safe and secure.
My team at Indais participated in Marko’s recent Global Hack along with Mei Lin, where we met many extraordinary thinkers with innovative solutions to hack the world’s problems. As part of our partnership with Marko, the GHD will continue to participate at upcoming hacks so that our open-source solution can benefit from the ideas born out of those local markets but the people closest to the situation.
When the United Nations proposed 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, it set forward a target date of 2030. Unfortunately, wide-spread events such as the COVID-19 crisis can derail those efforts. What this crisis has shown us is that problems like the pandemic do not recognize geopolitical borders and their solutions likely cannot as well. Even so, we still need to work within the sovereignty of every nation to help coordinate in a safe and secure way to that goods, services, and information can flow to where it is most needed — whether it’s receiving needed medical supplies orlocating shelter during a catastrophic weather event or escaping an abusive home. Harnessing the power of responsible interoperability on a digital platform can connect the world in an unprecedented way and we are working every day to deliver just that.
If you would like to join us, please Email info@indais.com
