What We Do

Our mission is to provide assistance in ICT (information and communications technologies) to a broad spectrum of users, and we welcome the opportunity to assist any nonprofit organization. Our mission statement can be reviewed in our Summary.

Dr. Harold Kurtz of Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship calls over
an Iridium satphone from a literacy center in an African village

The HumaniNet network currently numbers over 80 humanitarian and mission organizations.  We have assisted over 150 field teams, a number that is growing every month.

• HumaniNet is, first and foremost, an information resource. We do not conduct field implementations or installations, but we can refer field users to people who do. These HumaniNet Service Providers have experience in working with humanitarian teams and extend discounted prices to nonprofit organizations.
• Our ICT Information Service, accessed through the ICT Support button on our Home page, is our users' primary reference for the ICT areas we research. This section of our Web site is the "first stop" for those seeking up-to-date information.
• We are also able to answer email inquiries in the covered areas, which include global communications generally, global Internet access, and portable communications, to include medical tools and medical libraries for handheld and tablet devices.
• Finally, the HumaniNet team conducts research, often in collaboration with experienced managers in technology companies, on ICT solutions for field users. A recent example is our testing of voice-over-IP (voice over Internet) using the RBGAN satellite terminal (see ICT Features section for this report).

In summary:

We provide services to the humanitarian community by:

1. Actively reaching out to humanitarian organizations of all sizes and missions.
   
2. Demonstrating the value of researching and sharing ICT information with NGOs.
   
3. Facilitating deployment of ICT solutions. We have assisted in the deployment of satellite phones and terminals to over 20 countries, establishing HumaniNet as an informed and capable advisory and support service.
   
4. Helping NGOs to reduce costs through the HumaniNet Service Provider Program. HumaniNet has identified business partners with proven performance in supporting NGOs in the field and which offer excellent pricing and service to humanitarian teams.

Over the coming year, we will focus on the planned new BGAN satellite modem, which will bring greater bandwidth at lower cost to users globally, and on the possibilities of Voice over IP (VoIP) and Web conferencing. In addition, we will continue our investigation of portable (handheld and tablet) computers and medical software for these devices. Finally, we are strengthening our partnerships with qualified providers of VSAT broadband satellite solutions, including wireless broadband.

To review a list of the organizations we have assisted, please see our Field Partners page.