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OpenNMS and Inveneo in Haiti

THE OPENNMS GROUP AND INVENEO PARTNER TO BUILD AND MONITOR WIRELESS NETWORK FOR HAITI

NetHope’s Aid Organizations Connected Through Inveneo Network and Monitored by Open Source Software OpenNMS

PITTSBORO, NC AND SAN FRANCISCO, CA – February 8, 2010 – Open source network management services company, the OpenNMS Group, has been tapped by social enterprise organization Inveneo to help monitor a wireless network that Inveneo set up to support NetHope’s Haiti relief efforts. In addition, the OpenNMS Group has donated a year’s worth of 24/7 support services to Inveneo to help manage the rebuilding of wireless networks in Haiti.

“Connectivity is the lifeblood for NetHope’s organizations in Haiti,” said Kristin Peterson, co-founder and CEO of Inveneo. “Technology partners like the OpenNMS Group demonstrate that every member of the technology community can contribute to saving lives and rebuilding Haiti.”

“We had to roll out a multi-node network in a disaster environment in a matter of days,” said Andris Bjornson, Inveneo project engineer. “The support of the open source community has been fantastic.  OpenNMS’s speed to deployment, stability and flexibility, as well as the responsiveness of its support team and the community has been critical to our success. We compared OpenNMS to many other solutions, and every day I’m here in Haiti I’m glad we are using OpenNMS.”

“The OpenNMS Group is delighted to be able to support Haiti earthquake relief efforts in such a tangible way,” said Tarus Balog, founder and CEO, OpenNMS Group. “Technology companies can make a difference in helping to rebuild Haiti and we are proud to support Inveneo, NetHope and the Haitian people in this life-saving effort.”

Disaster Relief Network

The challenges to building the network have been immense. Besides moving heavy equipment through a disaster zone, the team has had to identify stable rooftops to set up the antennae and create a network that could handle interference from other rescue operations communications. The network is composed of three redundant connections (one VSAT and two terrestrial) connected through long-range WiFi in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. There are approximately ten sites, each supporting between twenty and a hundred people. Radio systems are provided by Ubiquiti Networks, Inc.

The network supports Internet access in and out of the country, carries voice communications and allows for collaboration and sharing of resources among NGOs.  Inveneo’s goal is to design this network to be a backbone of a wireless infrastructure for Haiti‘s future IT economy and to integrate it with local technology capacity-building efforts. Establishment of networks like this is a cornerstone of Inveneo’s core competency and provides an avenue for the organization to deploy additional information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and participate in longer-term capacity building and reconstruction opportunities in country.

Organizations using the Inveneo network in Haiti include: CARE, Catholic Relief Services, the IRC, MercyCorps, World Vision and many others.  Details on NetHope can be found at www.NetHope.org.

ABOUT THE OPENNMS GROUP

The OpenNMS Group maintains the OpenNMS Project, the world’s first enterprise-grade network management platform developed under the open source model. They provide commercial services such as training, consulting, support and custom development around the OpenNMS application. This allows their clients to get all of the benefits of open source coupled with more security and accountability than they can expect from commercial software companies. OpenNMS Group consultants have years of experience with commercial management products from companies such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM, BMC Software and Computer Associates and they use this experience helping clients in over 18 countries to improve their management capabilities while reducing costs by migrating to OpenNMS.

ABOUT INVENEO

San Francisco-based Inveneo is a non-profit social enterprise whose mission is to get tools of information and communications technology (ICT) – computing, Internet access, and telephony – to the more than 2 billion people living in rural and underserved areas of the developing world. To do this, Inveneo identifies, develops, tests, certifies, delivers and supports affordable and sustainable ICT solutions for organizations that serve these rural communities with vital services, such as education, healthcare, economic development, relief, and telecenters. In order to make these technologies sustainable, we are developing an ecosystem of technology companies that provide skilled and cost-effective installation and support services for organizations in need of life-impacting ICTs.

Since 2006, Inveneo and our growing network of local partners have deployed solutions in 22 countries throughout Africa. These projects reach over 400 communities and more than 1,060,000 people with life-impacting ICTs.

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Media Contacts:

Margaret Gifford, OpenNMS Group

margaret@opennms.com

+1.919.929.5681 (o) or +1.646.245.4959 (m)

Joel Pliskin, Senior Program Officer

Email: joel.pliskin@inveneo.org

Office: +1.415.901.1969 x1265

Mobile: +1.415.939.3038

Skype/Yahoo IM: joel_pliskin