The new program provides on-site and online learning for relief workers to improve technology skills and increase emergency response capacity.

Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) Carnegie Johnson has delivered training for over 20 years – from serving as troop leader for the Boy Scouts of America to providing consulting services to the American Red Cross. Recently, Johnson was asked by Microsoft to travel to Nairobi and help launch an information and communications technology (ICT) training program for humanitarian relief workers. Increasing the accessibility of ICT training worldwide is one of the fundamental goals of Microsoft Unlimited Potential, an ongoing commitment to help bridge the digital divide that builds on the company’s technology expertise and private-public partnerships around the globe.

“I’m thrilled and delighted to be traveling to Africa as a Microsoft Certified Trainer, " Johnson says. "As an African-American male, it’s a great opportunity for me to contribute to African growth and connect directly with the people.” Given his experience working with the American Red Cross, Johnson is quite familiar with the devastation caused by natural disasters, in which survivors are left in need of all of life’s basic necessities, as well as long-term help to rebuild their lives and communities.

Today, delivering such support – even in the remotest regions of the world – requires many of the accoutrements found in a typical business IT environment. And just as businesses require efficient operations, so do non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which take on the most important relief response efforts in the hours, days and weeks following an emergency.

Joining Forces to Increase Response Capacity

For this reason, Johnson will help represent the community of more than 11,000 MCTs in 140 countries as he works with Microsoft to help build the skills of relief workers and IT staff on behalf of NetHope, a consortium of 19 NGO agencies. Through partnerships with NGOs like NetHope, Microsoft Unlimited Potential aims to bring the benefits of relevant, accessible and affordable technology to every person on the planet, reaching the next one billion people underserved by technology by 2015. Pamela Passman, Microsoft vice president of Global Corporate Affairs, underscores the importance of this work. “We believe that by empowering and connecting the communities of the world through technology, we can give everyone an opportunity to achieve their unlimited potential,” she says.

Bill Brindley, CEO of NetHope, emphasizes that regardless of the scenario – whether logistics staff members are monitoring supplies, medical personnel are tracking the spread of disease, or security personnel are locating family members – responding to a disaster requires tracking and sharing information via e-mail, databases and software applications.

This reality is central to the founding of NetHope. As Brindley puts it, “the primary reason for NetHope’s existence is to help CIOs and directors of information and communications technology pool their resources, share best practices and learn new skills to address the challenges they face – all so they can support humanitarian relief efforts in the developing world.”

Microsoft has a long-standing commitment to partnering with humanitarian organizations – because technology can make a difference in the effectiveness of disaster response. Last year, Microsoft announced a donation of US$41 million in cash and software to NetHope and the Interagency Working Group on Emergency Capacity Building Project (ECB), intended to enable efficient and rapid communication among NGOs during times of crisis. Continue At Source

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