To help administer the product grant process, Cisco partners with TechSoup, which distributes small to midsize product grants to many nonprofit organizations, including those detailed on this page. Through TechSoupStock's intuitive shopping cart system, organizations can go online and choose from a variety of prepackaged Cisco Networking Bundles.
Creating a Multiplier Effect: Charity Technology Trust
Charity Technology Trust (CTT) was formed in 2001 to improve the use of information technology by other nonprofit organizations. With more than 150 clients, CTT's activities focus on fundraising management technology, including:
- Online fundraising tools
- Charity payment systems
- Lotteries and raffles
- E-communications
- Mobile applications
- IT strategy
In September 2004, Cisco, in partnership with TechSoup, engaged the organization to develop and manage the Cisco and TechSoup donation program in the United Kingdom. Through this program, Cisco supplies networking technology to small, community-based organizations that provide education, healthcare, and basic needs.
By providing equipment to qualifying organizations, facilitating connectivity, Cisco and CTT have enhanced the internal and external communications capabilities of recipients. CTT has also introduced Cisco to additional strategic nonprofit partners, such as Mercy Ships.
Narrowing the Digital Divide: UNETE
In Mexico, Cisco is using technology to raise the education standards of elementary and secondary schools. Cisco is partnering with UNETE (Unión de Empresarios para la Tecnología en la Educación), a well-known association of businesspeople who have long-standing partnerships with local communities, as well as federal and local governments.
Cisco is providing computer education and equipment. In FY2006, Cisco donated $100,000 in product to UNETE to help close the digital divide between Mexico and more developed countries. Additionally, a systems engineer manager at Cisco's Mexico office is a member of UNETE's Advisory and Technological Council.
Reducing Marginalization: Net@
Net@, backed by a $1.6-million Cisco product grant, trains youth in marginalized communities in Israel to prepare for high-tech professions and to develop local leadership.
Many socioeconomically and geographically marginalized communities in Israel are isolated from the Internet as well as information and communication technology education. The admissions process ensures that classes in each locale represent minority populations living in that area, and 70 percent of the instructors in the program were previously unemployed.
Net@ targets poor, underserved groups, such as new immigrants and Bedouin and Druze minorities. Youth from diverse backgrounds learn together and through this develop a deep understanding of, and respect for, one another. Initiated in 2003, the program is now engaging more than 1,800 students in 21 locations across Israel.
Improving Health Care: Mercy Ships
Mercy Ships is a global charity that operates hospital ships and provides free medical care and relief aid to people in the world's poorest countries. Cisco donated networking technology to Africa Mercy, a ship that, once fully renovated, will have six operating rooms, an 80-bed ward, and hundreds of onboard staff. It will be the largest nongovernmental hospital ship in the world.
Because of its size and the urgency of its work, the Africa Mercy requires complex logistical coordination and effective communication between ship and shore. Volunteer surgeons onboard require immediate remote access to expert medical knowledge to better serve their patients more quickly and with higher quality of care.
Cisco's product grant enables the communications technology backbone for Africa Mercy, allowing:
- The use of modern medical imaging technology and telepathology
- The practice of pathology via remote telecommunications
- Remote instantaneous consultation and diagnosis by experts in the United Kingdom
U.K. Experts Consult on African Patient
Binta, an 18-month-old girl from Sierra Leone, suffered with a huge tumor on her face and neck until it was removed in an operation onboard a Mercy Ship in Freetown. Without this surgery, Binta could have died. Using Cisco technology, expert pathologists from the United Kingdom can provide diagnoses and assistance for patients who are on the operating table on a Mercy Ship in Africa.
