NetHope Cloud Services Portal: A platform for collaboration around ICT
Connecting with the global social sector just got a lot easier thanks to the NetHope Cloud Services Portal, a new platform for West African Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), entrepreneurs and innovators to collaborate around impactful ICT solutions with CSOs from around the world.
The CSP is a space where CSOs can access a growing inventory of ICT solutions and collaborate and connect with peers via ratings, comments, case studies, discussion boards and blog posts. The globally shared resource showcases initiatives that serve as inspiration for others in the social sector and international development communities, simultaneously providing organizations with a valuable opportunity for exposure and support. Content is intended to spark conversation around technology and its impact in the developing world as well as shed light on IT-related challenges, trends and successes currently felt in the field in an effort to better the ways in which we reach and impact targeted beneficiaries.
Designed to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for ICT, mobile & cloud solutions and services, the portal hosts more than 500 products and technology resources to address challenges in the field and at headquarters. In addition to exploring the solutions inventory, users can use the forum as a resource to initiate discussions, pose questions, share information and gain useful insight on a wide variety of subjects.
Since the portal caters to civil organizations, users can navigate product solutions and case studies by sector – making it easy for organizations focused on healthcare, agriculture, education and the like to find suitable solutions. Information can also be browsed by solution type or NetHope program; popular searches include mobile data, collaboration & communication, education, health and payment innovations.
Each technology solution or product posting outlines key features, functions and program alignment as well as identifies related implementation and operational resources to help guide interested organizations. Users are encouraged to report back to the portal to share lessons learned with others, which helps other organizations make informed decisions on prospective solutions. What’s more, entrepreneurs and technology providers are able to receive valuable feedback on what’s working and what’s not.
In this way, the CSP serves as a resource to mobilize and engage a broad community of CSOs, technology providers and donors around the positive impacts of ICT and accelerate the use of cloud services in humanitarian development, relief and conservation; it is a valuable source for education, discovery, collaboration, sharing learning and documented impact of ICT tools, and it is a community that all West African CSOs should take part.
About NetHope
Acting as a catalyst for collaboration, NetHope brings together the knowledge and power of 38 leading international humanitarian organizations so that the best information communication technology and practices can be used to serve people in the developing world. In recent years, NetHope has focused on advocating the power of cloud computing in achieving the development sectors’ objectives. Under the Cloud Services Initiative, NetHope and its member NGOs, key donors and supporters introduced the NetHope Cloud Services Portal in November 2012.