Posted by Jana Melpolder on May 31, 2019 in the categories: News
Originally posted in a local Administration in Margibi County, Liberia.
There is a new development project in town where some government facilities are to benefit from a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded ICT capacity development and WIFI improvements to Margibi County. In an effort to strengthen the Liberian Government, USAID and Inveneo, an international NGO and USAID implementing partner, has partnered with the Ministries of Education, Internal Affairs and Health to improve WIFI technology and local ICT capacity in five counties. Inveneo is working with its certified ICT Partners (ICIPs) and local ICT small businesses to install high speed WIFI networks and train government ICT Coordinators at the beneficiary locations to help them do their jobs better and provide better service to our community.
FJ Cava, (left) Senior Program Manager of Inveneo, with several members of the Ministry of Education of Liberia and Inveneo staff member Eric Zan, (second from right) Senior Project Engineer of Inveneo.
Speaking on Friday, February 15, 2019 to the Margibi County Information Officer, Mr. FJ Cava, Inveneo’s Senior Program Manager, said “the Recover.IT Project is a USAID funded pilot project that is targeted to benefit five of Liberia’s fifteen Counties: Margibi, Bong, Nimba, Lofa and Grand Bassa. We hope that if these five counties are successful we can expand into the last ten counties and bring better WIFI technology and ICT training to all the counties of Liberia.”
Eric Zan (second from right) supports local ICT technicians and learns from their experiences and expertise.
Six beneficiaries of the Recover.IT Project are in Margibi County. Mr. Cava told the Margibi County Communication Center that the targeted beneficiaries to be served are: Margibi County Service Center (MCSC), C.H. Rennie Hospital, Ministry of Education County Office in Kakata, Kakata Rural Teacher Training Institute (KRTTI), and the District Health Team in Mamba-Kaba, along with minor improvements to the National Reference Lab.
Left to right: Eric Zan, Senior Project Engineer of Inveneo and Robert Marsh, Executive Director & Co-Founder of Inveneo.
Mr. Cava hoped that upon successful completion in the five counties Inveneo’s Recover.IT Project would be extended in order to serve the remaining counties of Liberia. For more information about the Recover.IT Project please visit: www.usaid.gov/liberia or more information about Inveneo please visit: www.inveneo.org.
Inveneo, a Silicon Valley nonprofit that works to increase Internet connectivity in the developing world, is pleased to announce its newest project in partnership with USAID. Inveneo has been contracted by USAID to expand affordable, sustainable, and reliable rural Internet connections throughout Liberia, which was tragically hit with an Ebola outbreak starting in 2014. Known as Recover.IT, the new project will connect or improve 37 different sites in Liberia, many of which are in remote, rural areas. In addition, Inveneo is pleased to partner with Orange Liberia, a subsidiary of the Orange Group.
Not only will these Internet connections help facilitate the work of healthcare workers, clinics, and development organizations already working at the local level, but they will also improve the information and communication technology (ICT) capacity of Liberians and local entrepreneurs. It is estimated that connecting 37 sites with affordable, sustainable, and reliable high-speed Internet access will directly assist almost 3,000 public officials and humanitarian workers.
FJ Cava, Recover.IT’s Project Manager, explains further, saying “it’s been proven that each incremental 10% penetration of Internet into a country increases the GDP of that country by 1%. The hope is that this capacity building allows agencies like the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Education to be able to better respond to possible national crises in the future.”
Recover.IT is a spinoff of the original ERCI (Ebola Response Connectivity Initiative) project that Inveneo implemented in 2015. During the Ebola epidemic emergency Inveneo partnered with Facebook, NetHope, Cisco, and others to deliver 100 Internet connections in Sierra Leone and Liberia in under five months.
The Inveneo team has gained many valuable insights from over 10 years of experience that it will apply to this new project. For example, Internet providers do not always have an accurate view of the market demand for high speed Internet, and that has prevented them from risking the capital that is necessary to be able to support the expansion of high-speed Internet. Recover.IT will be working on the ground with local contacts to overcome this challenge, as well as others, in the months ahead.
Inveneo’s Mission and Worldwide Impact
Inveneo is a 501c3 nonprofit social enterprise. Its mission is to deliver the tools of information and communications technologies (ICTs) — sustainable computing and better access to the Internet — to those who need it most, people and organizations in rural and highly underserved communities of the developing world. Inveneo has over 10 years experience transforming lives in 31 countries through better education, healthcare, economic opportunities and faster emergency relief, impacting over 3,250,000 people in more than 1,900 communities.
On a sunny morning, BATI (Bati Anfòmatik Teknisyen yo ak Inveneo) participants reached an important milestone as they looked out over the hills of Pétion-Ville: the BATI Forum. This was the first major national meeting of the members of the program. Its goal was to give an overview of efforts of their colleagues across Haiti – and to coordinate them.
Nineteen BATI technicians from four different regions of the country attended the inauguration of the Forum on November 15 at the new headquarters of Inveneo Haiti in Juvénat, a suburb of Port-au-Prince. Until that point, a total of 36 BATI members had been trained, and since then another 15 participated in a training in Cap Haïtien.
The expansion of BATI personnel is assuming a growing importance for the continuity of the Haiti Connected Cities program with the approach of Inveneo’s depart from Haiti, projected for April 2012. Inveneo is a non-profit social enterprise whose mission is to get the tools of information and communications technologies into the hands of organizations and people who need them most, and which has worked in Haiti since the January 12, 2010 earthquake.
The assembly was organized by Emmanuella Stimphat, CEO of Connet’Em and BATI for Grand-Goâve, and Jerry Joseph, CEO of JigabIT Plus and BATI for Léogane. The opening presentation of the event was made by FJ Cava, Director of the BATI program at Inveneo, after which Ralph Étienne, CEO of Central Point Inc. and BATI for Mirebalais, gave a brief overview of the day’s program.
Each BATI presented a “sound byte” on his or her role in their territory and their small business. The participants had the opportunity to share their experiences and also pass on their complaints. They also learned important new skills from Inveneo technical volunteers Eyleen Chou and Andrew Dupree.
Distinguished guests, Mr. Jonas Dumersain and Mr. Yves-Fils Stimphat spoke about accounting and legal issues, respectively, which provoked stimulating discussions.
The participants also set in place standards for identifying themselves to clients and each other such as standard IDs and uniforms, registration with the Haitian Chamber of Commerce and a diagram of the board of management. Overall, the gathering provoked a range of discussions on the big picture of the organization and functioning of the BATI program.
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Un matin ensoleillé sur une terrasse qui donne sur les collines de Pétion-Ville, le programme Bati Anfòmatik Teknisyen yo ak Inveneo (BATI) a atteint un jalon important : le Forum BATI. C’était la première grande réunion nationale des cadres du programme, avec le but de donner une vue d’ensemble des efforts de leurs collègues à travers Haïti — et de les coordonner.
Dix-neuf techniciens BATI de quatre différentes régions du pays ont assisté au lancement du Forum le 15 novembre au nouveau siège d’Inveneo Haïti à Juvénat, une banlieue de Port-au-Prince. Jusqu’au moment, un total de 36 cadres avaient été formés, et depuis ce temps-là à peu près 15 davantage ont participé dans une formation à Cap Haïtien.
L’augmentation du corps de personnel de BATI prend une importance croissante pour la continuité du programme « Haiti Connected Cities » à l’approche du départ d’Haïti d’ Inveneo, prévu pour avril 2012. Inveneo est une organisation non-gouvernementale dont la principale mission est de connecter les plus nécessiteux à Internet, et qui a travaillé en Haïti depuis le tremblement de terre du 12 janvier 2010.
La rencontre a été organisé par Emmanuella Stimphat, PDG de Connet’Em et BATI de Grand-Goâve, et Jerry Joseph, PDG de JigabIT Plus et BATI de Léogane. L’intervention introductive de la réunion a été faite par FJ Cava, Responsable du programme BATI à Inveneo, suite à laquelle Ralph Étienne, PDG de Central Point Inc. et BATI de Mirebalais, a fait un “briefing” du programme.
Chaque BATI à son tour a présenté son “sound byte” sur sa rôle dans leur zone d’activité et sa Petite ou Moyenne Entreprise (P.M.E). Ce fut également l’occasion pour eux de partager leurs expériences aussi bien que communiquer leurs doléances. Ils ont aussi fait le point sur des matieres élucidés par Eyleen Chou et Andrew Dupree, deux bénévoles techniques d’Inveneo.
En outre, des invités de marque, tels que M. Jonas Dumersain et M. Yves-Fils Stimphat ont apporté des conseils d’or et des principes dans différentes disciplines.
Les participants ont aussi mis en place des normes sur comment s’identifier aux clients et aux autres BATI tels que des cartes d’identité et des uniformes, la registration avec la Chambre de Commerce d’Haïti, et un diagramme du conseil de gestion. En somme, la rencontre a occasionné tout un panel de discussions concernant grosso modo l’organisation et le fonctionnement du programme BATI.
Not only will these Internet connections help facilitate the work of healthcare workers, clinics, and development organizations already working at the local level, but they will also improve the information and communication technology (ICT) capacity of Liberians and local entrepreneurs. It is estimated that connecting 37 sites with affordable, sustainable, and reliable high-speed Internet access will directly assist almost 3,000 public officials and humanitarian workers.