OREANDA-NEWS. BT today announced its participation in the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting for the third consecutive year and its Commitment to Action, “Prepare, Respond, Recover”, in partnership with the British.
Red Cross in support of a beneficiary program at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

The CGI Annual Meeting, being held this week in New York City, brings together global leaders to share insights and ideas for creating meaningful and lasting change in the world. Each member of CGI is asked to make a Commitment to Action in which the member organization develops an achievable plan to address a significant global issue.

This year, through its partnership with the Red Cross, BT will fund the development of three Beneficiary Registration Kits (BRKs), used by the humanitarian organization’s field teams administering aid in disaster struck areas to give more control to individuals affected by crisis.

Each kit is equipped with 20 mobile devices, 10,000 plastic cards, one barcode printer, a back-end server and associated supplies.

The Red Cross teams can register people’s basic information through mobile devices with data collection taking place in real-time to a single, centralized database. The plastic cards issued to beneficiaries include all the relevant information, such as the support, services and items they are entitled to.

With a beneficiary card approach, the Red Cross puts more control into the hands of those affected, which has been shown to improve survival chances. It is estimated that the BT funded program could benefit up to 150,000 people next year.

“BT has already helped us improve our telecommunications infrastructure to support our response following disasters around the world. Now, with this mobile device-based system of collecting information and allocating relief, we will be better able to provide effective humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people during times of disaster” said Pete Garrett, Disaster Response Manager, British Red Cross.

“This global effort is a fantastic expression of this year's CGI's theme - Mobilizing for Impact,” said Bas Burger, President, US and Canada, BT Global Services. “We're proud to support the Red Cross as they work to assist people in crisis around the world. Harnessing the potential of technology to deliver faster relief to those in need is a very true example of our Better Futures program and the power of communication to improve lives".
“Prepare, Respond, Recover” ties into CGI’s “Response and Resilience” track which focuses on bringing companies together to solve global issues. It aims to highlight positive trends and innovations in an effort to identify how nongovernmental organizations, governments, corporations and civil society can effectively prepare for and reduce the impact of conflict and disaster through increased coordination.