Excellent New Site-Resource for all Relief Workers
The most comprehensive, live, up to date assessment from up to 4,000 affected villages devastated by the Earthquake. A Resource for all aid agencies to cull up to date information.
http://www.risepak.com/
The website aims to give the latest up to date information on some 4,000villages affected by the earthquake - providing their pre-earthquakedemographics and infrastructure such as roads and schools. And in an innovative move, it's designed to allow the government, army,
also to supply information on relief efforts on the ground at thevillage level.
It will allow relief workers on the job in villages to text message thestatus of damage in the village, as well as the needs of the affectedpeople, and supplies given by any organization with the information toappear within hours on the website."This has been an amazing spontaneous effort that's taken on a life ofits own," says Tara Vishwanath, a lead economist in the South-AsiaRegion.
Vishwanath was one of the four people initially behind the idea of thenew website. The others were her Bank colleague, Jishnu Das, aneconomist with the Development Research Group, and two experts,Professor Asim Ijaz Khwaja of the Kennedy School of Government atHarvard University in Boston and Economics Professor Tahir Andrabi ofPomona College in California.However the collaborative effort has stretched far beyond the UnitedStates.The website was designed by Pakistan's largest internet provider, WorldOnline, which operates under the brand-name WOL. www.risepak.com . In many disasters coordination is the biggest obstacle. We have thetechnology that can change that. We can get this right." says AamerManzoor, co-founder and Vice-President of World Online."An information chain that starts on foot might connect to a reliefworker with a cell phone and then appear on the RISE portal. Information from a remote village can now reach the internet in less than eighthours."Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority has also supported the website by supplying geographical data.
That is then donors and non-government organizations not only to access the data butalso to supply information on relief efforts on the ground at thevillage level. It will allow relief workers on the job in villages to text message thes tatus of damage in the village, as well as the needs of the affected people, and supplies given by any organization with the information to appear within hours on the website.
There is no system which allows people to figure out which specificvillages have been reached or how they're affected," Das says. "Most ofthese affected villages are in rural areas - this help ensure that allvillages are on everyone's radar screens."This new website is like a command center information tool for donors."Donors, non government organizations as well as the government and armyrelief workers are being urged to supply information to ensure the newwebsite is up to date.Professor Tahir Andrabi of Pomona College says there are various means
"People can provide information by directly uploading the data on www.risepak.com, sending us text messages, faxes,emails, or even by phone," he says.Vishwanath says the website has support from the Government of Pakistan,as well as from the Bank's Country Director for Pakistan, John Wall."This spontaneous collaboration has become much bigger than just a few people," she says. "People came together and everyone quickly realizedthe promise of such a website."
http://www.risepak.com/
The website aims to give the latest up to date information on some 4,000villages affected by the earthquake - providing their pre-earthquakedemographics and infrastructure such as roads and schools. And in an innovative move, it's designed to allow the government, army,
also to supply information on relief efforts on the ground at thevillage level.
It will allow relief workers on the job in villages to text message thestatus of damage in the village, as well as the needs of the affectedpeople, and supplies given by any organization with the information toappear within hours on the website."This has been an amazing spontaneous effort that's taken on a life ofits own," says Tara Vishwanath, a lead economist in the South-AsiaRegion.
Vishwanath was one of the four people initially behind the idea of thenew website. The others were her Bank colleague, Jishnu Das, aneconomist with the Development Research Group, and two experts,Professor Asim Ijaz Khwaja of the Kennedy School of Government atHarvard University in Boston and Economics Professor Tahir Andrabi ofPomona College in California.However the collaborative effort has stretched far beyond the UnitedStates.The website was designed by Pakistan's largest internet provider, WorldOnline, which operates under the brand-name WOL. www.risepak.com . In many disasters coordination is the biggest obstacle. We have thetechnology that can change that. We can get this right." says AamerManzoor, co-founder and Vice-President of World Online."An information chain that starts on foot might connect to a reliefworker with a cell phone and then appear on the RISE portal. Information from a remote village can now reach the internet in less than eighthours."Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority has also supported the website by supplying geographical data.
That is then donors and non-government organizations not only to access the data butalso to supply information on relief efforts on the ground at thevillage level. It will allow relief workers on the job in villages to text message thes tatus of damage in the village, as well as the needs of the affected people, and supplies given by any organization with the information to appear within hours on the website.
There is no system which allows people to figure out which specificvillages have been reached or how they're affected," Das says. "Most ofthese affected villages are in rural areas - this help ensure that allvillages are on everyone's radar screens."This new website is like a command center information tool for donors."Donors, non government organizations as well as the government and armyrelief workers are being urged to supply information to ensure the newwebsite is up to date.Professor Tahir Andrabi of Pomona College says there are various means
"People can provide information by directly uploading the data on www.risepak.com, sending us text messages, faxes,emails, or even by phone," he says.Vishwanath says the website has support from the Government of Pakistan,as well as from the Bank's Country Director for Pakistan, John Wall."This spontaneous collaboration has become much bigger than just a few people," she says. "People came together and everyone quickly realizedthe promise of such a website."
posted by Aisha at
10/19/2005 04:51:00 PM
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