ICTworks by Inveneo

Medair International provides emergency relief and rehabilitation to the most vulnerable and difficult-to-reach regions in Africa and Asia in natural disasters, conflict areas, and other extraordinary crises. Medair HQ in Lausanne, Switzerland is seeking an ICT Specialist to help provide operational guidance for country programs and activities, along with technical support for relief workers in the field. The ideal candidate should have a strong IT background in order to provide technical support to HQ staff and country program activities, as well as experience in international relief work and a strong Christian identity.

Eligibility is limited to Swiss or EU citizens, or those with a valid work permit. Deadline is January 31. See here for more information.

The International Executive Service Corps is a Washington, DC-based not-for-profit with a focus on private sector growth. IESC is recruiting for an experienced Jordanian or Jordanian-American ICT Venture Capital Specialist for the anticipated USAID Jordan Competitiveness Program. IESC is a subcontractor, responsible for the Access to Finance component of the program, to a large prime contractor that is submitting a proposal to USAID Jordan. The ICT position will likely be based in Irbid, Jordan.

The individual in this position will be responsible for venture capital financing with an emphasis on the ICT sector, and will set up effective angel networks. Deadline is January 27. More details here.

UNDP’s OCHA is looking for an ICT Associate to be based in Nairobi, Kenya, who would implement ICT systems and strategies, provide daily technical support to users of information management tools and technology infrastructure, including provision of daily technical support to OCHA Somalia systems, network infrastructure and corporate productivity tools, and support and training of business applications and new technologies.

The candidate should have a strong background in IT in order to provide helpdesk services as well as experience in ICT for development. Deadline is January 27. More details here.

Aquaya, based in San Francisco, is dedicated to improving global child health by increasing access to safe drinking water. Aquaya believes that innovative ICT systems have the potential to improve the efficiency and accuracy of data reporting and management in the water sector and to strengthen institutional linkages between field staff and their managers at various administrative levels.

The organization is seeking an ICT Program Associate to manage the technical aspects of its field deployments in South America, Africa, and Asia and to expand its ICT project portfolio. More information about this unique opportunity here.

In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, like the earthquake in Haiti, the need to communicate is immense. From the search for loved ones, to coordination of humanitarian relief, to simple messages of "I'm alive," between family members.

In fact, Secretary Clinton mentioned the three highest proprieties for the US government efforts will be communications, electricity, and transportation.

But much of the telecom infrastructure in and around Port-au-Prince was severely damaged or destroyed by the earthquake. And the resulting information vacuum is hampering vital emergency relief operations and recovery efforts.

Into this gap, several ICT solutions are arriving:

• Ushahidi's crisis mapping is identifying places of need
• The Inventorisation Wiki and Sahana are coordinating relief efforts online
• Inveneo will be bringing Internet connectivity to local NGOs

Establishing networks like these are a cornerstone of good disaster relief, and will support additional ICT infrastructure and facilitate long-term ICT capacity building and reconstruction. Yet the task is not easy.

Just to send two staff and equipment, Inveneo worked through the weekend to prepare:

Learn more about Inveneo's response, by subscribing to their RSS, Twitter, or Facebook feeds.