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IT Talent Helping Haiti

Opinion
Jan 19, 20103 mins
CareersIT Leadership

As the Haitian people fight for subsistence, the world is responding with food and medical assistance.  This tragedy wreaked havoc on a victim unsung by the news media – the telecommunications infrastructure.  However, there is a ground-swell in the technical community targeting this need.  George Moraetes is among those that have used their skills to help.

Monitoring events via Twitter, Skype, and the Web,” said Moraetes, “I volunteered and helped a small firm re-establish their communications and what was left of their salvageable computing equipment remotely.”  He pointed out that Haiti’s ISP Multilink is in dire need of network engineers and that interested individuals or organizations should forward their resumes.

Given various economic, political, and geographic challenges, Haiti’s Internet is not well developed.  Carnegie Mellon University’s Jon M. Peha wrote an informative paper on the Haitian Internet Infrastructure which I urge you to study if you wish to help.

Moraetes points out that in the process of helping others, you are developing your own skills and exposure.  “Those of you in transition may want to offer your talents,” said Moraetes.  He cited Crisis in Common as an organization that is leading efforts where IT talent is needed.

The actions of a single individual can save the lives of many.  It is through complacency that we surrender our power.  Below is a list of reputable organizations that are on the ground helping those in need.

steven_fox

Steven F. Fox provides security guidance to ensure compliance with Federal standards and requirements as a Senior Security Architecture and Engineering Advisor for the IRS. Fox contributes to multiple working groups including the IPv6 transition team, Developer Security Testing workgroup and the Security and Privacy workgroup. He brings a cross-disciplinary perspective to the practice of information security; combining his experience as a security consultant, an IT Auditor and a systems engineer with principles from behavioral/organizational psychology to address security challenges. He is a syndicated blogger covering IT Governance, Risk Management and IT-Business fusion topics. He also volunteers his time to the Ponemon Institute and Security BSides Detroit. Follow him on Twitter - http://twitter.com/securelexicon Join his LinkedIn network - http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/251/3a1