14 Dec RFRC celebrated as one of the world’s 100 most inspiring examples of tech for good
14th December 2016, London: Nominet Trust, the UK’s leading tech for good funder, has named Refugee First Response Center (RFRC) in the 2016 NT100 – a global celebration of this year’s 100 most inspiring social innovations using digital technology to drive social change around the world.
NT100 plays a valuable role each year in inspiring those with the influence and resources to accelerate the adoption of tech for social good. It brings together entrepreneurs, innovators, NGOs, charities, technologists and others to share knowledge, experiences and skills to introduce social change on a global scale. Projects featured in the NT100 have wide-ranging purposes, from those determined to democratize access to quality education and healthcare, to those connecting minority communities and evoking empathy.
Following a global call for nominations earlier this year, RFRC was selected by a judging panel of tech and charity experts in recognition of its work. The Refugee First Response Center is a medical first aid clinic in a connected shipping container that features telemedicine and on-demand translation service via video terminals to enhance the quality of medical exams in migration hot-spots.
Harald Neidhardt, CEO, MLOVE and Co-Creator, RFRC commented: “We are proud about the recognition of our RFRC initiative. We take the NT100 Award as an inspiration to continue our dream to scale for good and bring 100x RFRC clinics to refugee hotspots where help is needed most. The NT100 Award honors a fantastic year of achievements, with installing 10 container clinics in Hamburg and the pilots in Samos, Greece and Beqaa Valley, Lebanon.”
Mirko Bass, Business Development Evangelist, CISCO and Co-Creator, RFRC stated: “What has been drafted on a piece of paper by our team of tech pioneers & friends in Hamburg has reached international recognition and moved far beyond what has been initially imagined. We are all deeply humbled, that our RFRC project is recognized as a vital solution to address health as one of the global grand challenges. We will continue to further apply exponential technologies for a greater good while extending our impact partnerships to scale.”
Vicki Hearn, Director of Nominet Trust said: “In this, the fourth year of the NT100, it is truly humbling to see so many remarkable people from all walks of life embracing digital technology as a force for social good. We hope RFRC well deserved inclusion in the 2016 NT100 provides a valuable stepping-stone for their inspiring example of tech for good.”
“With a bright idea, the right tech tools and a powerful desire to change the status quo, everyone has the potential to make a stand against the world’s most pressing social challenges. The NT100 seeks to champion the pioneers doing just that, in the hope that it inspires others to follow in their footsteps.”
As part of the 2016 NT100, RFRC is standing shoulder to shoulder with other innovative ventures such as Matternet – a drone network that delivers critical goods over long distances; Hand Talk – a Brazilian virtual interpreter that translates between spoken languages and sign language; Disrupt Disability – which has created the world’s first open source wheelchair designs; BraveMind – a virtual reality therapeutic game that supports those recovering from PTSD; and Mine Kafon Drone – an airborne drone for detecting and removing unexploded landmines in communities trying to rebuild after conflict.
The 2016 NT100 was selected from 700 projects discovered this year through a combination of research and public nomination. Shortlisted projects were reviewed by Nominet Trust and a panel of partner organizations including: Big Lottery Fund, Cancer Research UK, Comic Relief, Nominet, Oxfam, Telefonica O2 and Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship.
The 2016 NT100 projects are hosted on the Social Tech Guide (http://socialtech.org.uk/nominet-trust-100/2016), the world’s largest interactive database of tech for good, which now showcases almost 1700 ventures.
About RFRC
Refugee First Response Center (www.rfrc.eu) is a mobile health clinic in a shipping container that provides ad hoc video translation services to connect doctors and patients with over 750 live interpreters that are fluent in more than 50 languages just at a press of a button.
The RFRC pilot was co-created by Mirko Bass, a business development evangelist at US tech multinational Cisco and Harald Neidhardt, CEO of innovation agency MLOVE. In just 6 weeks, the idea became a reality with the first installation in Hamburg and the support of local partners avodaq and SAVD. In just five months, over 5,000 medical exams with live interpreter sessions were successfully completed with the medical staff of the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE).
The project creates significant savings in operational costs and provides treatment rooms with privacy and telemedicine services. After the first pilot donated by Cisco, the Dorit and Alexander Otto Foundation provided the funding of $1million for 10 more RFRC units for the City of Hamburg. They are in operation by the German Red Cross in the largest refugee accommodation centers in Hamburg and have served more than 14,000 medical exams.
Two international RFRC installations have launched recently in Samos, Greece and Beqaa Valley, Lebanon – piloting local use cases including telemedicine, translation services, family re-unification, asylum application and others. These pilots are part of the RFRC mission to scale for good and grow to 100x RFRC clinics to be installed in hotspots and along the migration routes of the Syrian refugee crisis.
The RFRC team hopes to inspire others to join us to scale to 100x RFRC clinics or engage in meaningful innovation projects with social impact – whether as entrepreneurs, startups or corporate leaders.
About Nominet Trust
Nominet Trust is the UK’s leading social tech funder. It provides full grant funding, mentoring and business support to organisations using the internet and digital technology to address significant social challenges including health and wellbeing, economic empowerment and sustainability. Since 2009, Nominet Trust has invested more than £25m in projects harnessing technology to deliver real social change. Through partnerships and campaigns such as the inspirational NT100, Nominet Trust mobilises new approaches that will influence and accelerate the use of tech for social good. For more information about the Trust, please visit: www.nominettrust.org.uk.
Nominet Trust was founded in 2008 by Nominet. Nominet is a public benefit company with 20 years’ experience of running the .UK internet infrastructure. Building on that expertise, Nominet is actively involved in connecting devices as well as people, helping people be safe and networks stay secure, and supporting the next generation of ideas and talent. With the proceeds of its successful registry business, Nominet set up and funds Nominet Trust, its charitable foundation. www.nominet.uk
Media contacts
Harald Neidhardt MLOVE +49 (160) 944 77 555 harald@mlove.com
Mirko Bass CISCO +49 (175) 260 0081 mibass@cisco.com