LFH Programs

Crowdsourcing emergency response Pt. 3 - Crowdsourcing in Action

January 2011: This is the last post in a three-part series focusing on crowdsourcing in relation to emergency response during a crisis. The idea of accruing large amounts of data from the public during an emergency, or sending data out to be crunched by the masses, is at the heart of this actionable information and situational awareness relationship: from crisis mapping to handling the incredible amount of data during an emergency.

Crowdsourcing emergency response Pt. 2 - Crisis Mapping and Crowdsource Response Organzations

January 2011; In the previous post, crowdsourcing was shown as a way of collecting, analyzing and disseminating information. The challenge of crunching huge amounts data in real time from various media has always presented a problem for emergency response personnel, but with crowdsourcing, information processing has become much easier, actionable and faster. Taking that information and overlaying it onto real-time mapping is the purview of crisis mapping, an emerging emergency response discipline. And there are organizations who use crisis mapping as their primary focus for humanitarian aid.

Crowdsourcing emergency response Pt. 1

January 2011: One of the largest hurdles facing emergency responders is how to handle the amount of real-time information during a crisis. In order to get a clear picture of what is happening right after an earthquake, during a hurricane, in the aftermath of a terrorist attack, or before a flood hits, emergency response personnel and officials are increasingly turning to crowdsourcing as a way to digest large amounts of data and turn that data into actionable intelligence. Through social networking, text messaging and video crowdsourcing allows for multimedia information to be amalgamated and synthesized.

Phase I: Communications Uplinks

Many populations in remote areas are without dependable communications to support humanitarian on-site programs, or distance contact with remote supporters. LFH partners will develop an easily installed and operated robust communications core utilizing a satellite uplink to facilitate telemedicine, educational, commerical and artistic programs.

Phase II: Community Infrastructure

LFH partners will contribute their expertise, wealth and capabilities to develop micro-community centers that include vocational schools, arts/cultural centers, medical clinics built around LFH communications centers. Working with private sector partners and NGOs, LFH will help finance infrastrucure and support on-going partnerships to create markets for art and music, goods, training and other vital connections.

Phase III: Build-Out

Each project undertaken by LFH will anticipate a build-out stage, where private sector partners can build and sell homes, shops and other commercially attractive enterprises that use sustainable building materials and create jobs for the local population. LFH arranges investment insurance, both government and private, to make the investment attractive to potential partners. LFH will also help create locally governed credit cooperative to administer the titling, lending and administration of land/home sales including Sharia-compliant models.

League for Hope Programs

There are three basic programs to bring together the stakeholders and partners to form community cooperatives:

* Core Community Hubs ('CommHubs') constructed using environmentally sensitive methods that have potable water, sanitation and reliable off-grid back-up power; and employ affordable, practical and readily available Internet, satellite and telecommunications broadband technology to provide a hub for micro-finance, distance education, telemedicine and cultural exchange capabilities;

* Credit for Hope micro-finance cooperatives that provide micro-loans for local small businesses, sustainable job creation, consumer micro-lending and mortgage financing for environmentally sensitive housing using local resources.

1. cooperatives are locally governed and accountable for profits and losses

2. micro-loans are targeted to minorities, handicapped and special needs populations

3. mortgage lending is structured to provide sweat-equity down payments

4. sustainable job creation by financing environmentally-friendly, low energy consumption factories producing building products from local materials

* Distance Education, Telemedicine and Cultural Services provided through public/private partnerships between governments, humanitarian and faith-based groups and maintained at the Community Hubs.

1. high-speed satellite capabilities provide platforms for medical diagnostic and educational equipment and cultural exchanges;

2. provides outreach groups the facilities needed to undertake continuing missions;

3. expands connections and opportunities for local populations;

Each of these three programs will create a reasonable economic incentive for private sector partners to continue providing their expertise, technology and equipment, leased to the local community cooperative to be repaid from credit profits. LFH locates individual, governmental and institutional donors to provide the seed funding for a guarantee fund for each community cooperative that back-stops any losses. The goal is to have each community cooperative repay the seed funds in order to establish additional guarantee funds for new cooperatives.