USA (MNN)
— In an effort to better be the hands and feet of Christ in an emergency, World
Hope International recently enlisted the help of Purdue University's
technology department.
The system they created eliminates much of the paperwork and
allows quick response in the first crucial 48 hours of a crisis. Emergency management typically deals with
preparing, supporting, and rebuilding a society or community when natural or
man-made disasters occur.
In that first window, chaos generally rules the area, and
infrastructure is unreliable. A quick
response can make a life or death difference in many survivors' lives.
That said, the team developed a new web-based disaster
management software program that will streamline crisis response. It allows WHI to keep track of supplies,
volunteers, and command sites.
In an effort to create a more effective means of managing
the daily operations of a disaster command center, WHI sought a technological
solution from Purdue
University. Through
Purdue's academic resources, a student team offered WHI this critical tool as a
gift of intellectual property.
Ten students designed the software during a spring semester
course under Kyle Lutes, Associate Professor of Computer and Information
Technology. Over 1,370 hours were spent on application development, resulting in a product value that Purdue estimated at over $68,000.
