Dissecting A Disaster: The White House Calls On Tech Companies To Improve Response And Recovery

Dissecting A Disaster: The White House Calls On Tech Companies To Improve Response And Recovery

Technology is fundamentally changing the way we respond to disasters by giving people on the ground the tools they need to work effectively. We were incredibly humbled and excited to be invited to The White House Innovation Disaster Response and Recovery Demo Day alongside TaskRabbit, NPR, Getaround, AirBnB and others to present ways emergency workers can use tech to improve disaster response.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, and the Philippines Typhoon we saw that volunteers need a ready-made set of communications tools to coordinate operations on the ground. In March, we launched Twilio.org’s Rapid Response Kit, an open source toolkit that gives emergency responders a set of powerful communication tools, ready to use instantly.

From broadcasting a message to hundreds, to conducting SMS surveys, to getting a large group all on one conference line, the Rapid Response Kit is designed to answer responders’ communications needs. This open source tool kit is part of the Twilio.org initiative providing support and resources to nonprofits looking use communications technologies in their efforts.

The Rapid Response Kit is just one area where we need community members and developers to contribute. Visit our Twilio.org Github and if you’re interested in being notified of opportunities to code for good, please email murphy@twilio.com