NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Monday, April 15, 2013

The telecommunications industry and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have teamed up to use mobile phone technology to save lives in Sierra Leone.

Using an innovative location-targeted SMS system called the Trilogy Emergency Relief Application (TERA), the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS), with support from the British and Icelandic Red Cross Societies, will be able to reach 36,000 people an hour at the touch of a button with warnings of impending fires, floods, or outbreaks of disease.

Sierra Leone is only the second country in the world to launch the TERA SMS system, where it is being delivered in partnership with the country’s largest mobile operator Airtel. The project has been given the full backing of the country’s Vice President, Office of National Security and Ministry of Health and Sanitation.