We’re delighted to announce that our keynote speaker for the next Social Innovation Sydney Unconference on 13 August 2011 is:

Anthony Baxter from the Google Crisis Response Team

Anthony is a geek who works at Google Australia. Among other things, he works with Google.org’s Crisis Response team on rapid response to disasters. He also tweets @anthonybaxter.

This team has helped out during a number of disasters, for example:

• Japan Earthquake and Tsunami,
• Christchurch Earthquake,
• Brazil Floods and Landslides, and the
• Australia Floods.

Anthony is going to talk about some of the Crisis Response activities, things they’ve learned, and some ways that we can help make the world a better and safer place.

REGISTER NOW FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION SYDNEY UNCONFERENCE 13 AUG 2011

About Google Crisis Response

This is a great example of social innovation. It was setup by Google to focus on technology-driven philanthropy via Google.org.

The Crisis Response team works to make critical information more accessible when natural disasters and humanitarian crises strike.

Ways that the Crisis Response Team help out include:

• Organizing emergency alerts, news updates and donation opportunities, and making this information visible through Google’s wide web presence
• Building engineering tools that enable better communication and collaboration among crisis responders and among victims such as Person Finder and Resource Finder
• Providing updated satellite imagery and maps of affected areas to illustrate infrastructure damage and help relief organizations navigate disaster zones
• Supporting the rebuilding of network infrastructure where it has been damaged to enable access to the Internet
• Donating to charitable organizations that are providing direct relief on-the-ground