Inveneo

A Plan for Haiti ICT Capacity Rebuilding

Looking beyond Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Now that the first stage of our work in Haiti is nearly complete, there is a clear need for a second stage: reconstruction and capacity building in secondary cities and other underserved areas.

Ongoing ICT Need in Haiti

The post‐earthquake migration of populations from Port‐au‐Prince to rural areas has put an additional strain on already under‐resourced regions. These places also suffered severe damage to their infrastructure and yet have not seen the level of rebuilding or responsiveness from the international community as in the capital.

We have already begun receiving and evaluating ICT requests for computing and alternative power systems from a number of NGOs including a multinational healthcare organization, an educational computing group, a rural hospital and others. The need is great. One request specified:

"Needing wifi capabilities in Leogane. [which is] a rural community. [Infrastructure] is completely nonexistent, so logistics and [the prospect of] getting proper help is basically zero."
-Camejo Hospital, Leogane, Haiti

These groups are doing important development work in a variety of sectors but are hampered by the difficulty of connecting to the Internet and to other organizations and communities regionally and internationally.


Partnering with Haitian ISPs

For most Haitian ISPs it hasn’t been a priority to extend their services into more rural areas; the lack of a viable and stable customer base coupled with a dearth of trained staff in these regions has made rural infrastructure development an unattractive business proposition. This is a common problem in many of the regions in which Inveneo works around the world and part of our mission is to help fill this void.

Inveneo has begun discussions with several Haitian ISPs in order to establish Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with them; by doing so we can partner with them to provide reliable Internet connectivity for rural-based international and local NGOs. Inveneo’s expertise and support can make ISP expansion into rural areas feasible and profitable through the use of lower cost hardware, open-source software and business models tailored to the needs of resource-poor environments.

Building Local Capacity

We also recognize an urgent need to assist in Haiti’s longer-term reconstruction, mainly through the support and promotion of the local small and medium enterprise (SME) sector. We intend to work towards our proven model, building the skills of local ICT entrepreneurs, in addition to our role in helping to build the ICT infrastructure so vital for NGOs and other organizations serving Haiti’s citizens, as outlined above.

• By engaging with the Haitian ICT community to build long‐term capacity, we will empower local entrepreneurs to bring solutions to organizations in under‐resourced environments.
• By supporting and partnering with entrepreneurial Haitian ICT businesses – like the type we had intended to work with pre‐earthquake – we envision an environment in which local engineers and technologists will be the primary agents of operation in the rebuilding efforts.

Inveneo will continue to work alongside these local partners in an advisory or project management role. We will consult on projects as necessary, providing appropriate computing, hardware and network equipment recommendations. In short, this next phase of Inveneo’s work in Haiti will entail:

1. Fielding requests for connectivity (including solutions identification and deployment) in 5‐6 communities outside of Port‐au‐Prince, for example: Carrefour, Gressier, Jacmel, Leogane, Petit Goave or Grand Goave;
2. Vetting ICT requests for computing and alternative power systems for NGOs operating in the above regions;
3. Extending wireless broadband networks using long‐distance WiFi connections and managing this bandwidth with a combination of staff in Port‐au‐Prince and in California. This could involve collaborating with a select group of local ISPs for their backhaul capacity, or with local/regional ICT experts to provision this connectivity;
4. Identifying and involving Haitian ICT entrepreneurs with both local and technical knowledge and beginning to build up Haitian ICT capacity to respond to NGO technical needs and also rebuild their own independent businesses;
5. Developing local capacity through targeted, tactical trainings with the focus on providing appropriate ICT solutions for use in rural areas.

How You Can Help

We are now seeking financial commitments to support this work in Haiti over the next ten months so that we can continue providing critically important connectivity and sustainable skills development. This effort is lead by Stephanie Seale. – please contact her if you can consider providing support for this important period of transition in rural Haiti.

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