--- title: Tech Giants Leading Disaster Relief Efforts | TIME description: Major tech companies are pioneering new and innovative ways to support natural disaster relief. canonical: https://time.com/video/RGORd0o2/ og:title: Tech Giants Leading Disaster Relief Efforts og:description: Major tech companies are pioneering new and innovative ways to support natural disaster relief. og:url: https://time.com/video/RGORd0o2/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RGORd0o2/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tech Giants Leading Disaster Relief Efforts twitter:description: Major tech companies are pioneering new and innovative ways to support natural disaster relief. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RGORd0o2/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Tech Giants Leading Disaster Relief Efforts > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Tech Giants Leading Disaster Relief Efforts [Watch (HLS stream): Tech Giants Leading Disaster Relief Efforts](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RGORd0o2.m3u8) (3:00)  _Published 2018-09-19. Major tech companies are pioneering new and innovative ways to support natural disaster relief._ --- Jul 28, 2023 12:34 AM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [From Brett Kavanaugh to Better Disaster Relief Efforts: Let’s Break Down Everything You Need to Know This Week](/video/VhHmsbMW/) ### From Brett Kavanaugh to Better Disaster Relief Efforts: Let’s Break Down Everything You Need to Know This Week [President Trump Says "Congress Will Be Generous" With Disaster Relief From Hurricane Florence](/video/9guh2sFK/) ### President Trump Says "Congress Will Be Generous" With Disaster Relief From Hurricane Florence [What Is Slowing the Relief Effort in Haiti?](/video/9VqUd7gj/) ### What Is Slowing the Relief Effort in Haiti? --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Natural disasters it seems are the new norm. From fires to hurricanes, the frequency and severity of these events is increasing, and so are the effects. It's estimated that in 2017, natural disasters cost the United States more than $ 300 billion. It's no surprise then that the way people and organizations respond to natural disasters is also evolving. Rapid technological advancements in a number of fields means both emergency response crews and citizens are better equipped to tackle the immediate challenges disasters present. Technology's really changing logistics, I mean, the same way that we order up an Uber, a Lyft today, or anything else. We can find assets, we can find people, we can pair them and quickly get them together. That same effect is happening in disaster relief. In 2017, when people could not reach 911 dispatchers during Hurricane Harvey, They turned to social media to reach authorities. Social media giants continue to build out disaster response features, such as Facebook's Safety Check, which allows users to mark themselves safe during a crisis. Even apps like One Concern offer emergency responders resources like realtime damage assessment and population data to track and adjust rescue strategies. Historically it's been difficult to get governments to develope the type of technology needed for disaster response. But in recent years, tech giants have stepped in to fill that void. One month after Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico in October 2017 more than half the island was left without power and internet connectivity. Google's parent company, Alphabet, and telecom giants AT & T and T- Mobile teamed up to launch Project Loon. The project brought internet to more than 100, 000 unconnected Puerto Ricans through helium air ballons. IBM Chief Digital Officer Bob Lord elaborated on the importance of developing disaster tech, saying this. We cannot attempt to prevent earthquakes from happening or prevent hurricanes from happening, but what we can do is unleash our tools and help geographic regions get prepared for those natural disasters that happen. It's a wonderful thing when the public and private sectors team up because they bring different things to the table. The government has knowledge of the area, the private sector has resources the government doesn't. But at the same time, We can't over index to one or the other. If we over extend to the private sector too much well then we get privatization and you know we can't exactly help everyone, that's what government exists for. So what's the next frontier in disaster tech? I think the most opportunities are in funding, if you look at you know how people give to disaster relief whether that's the Red Cross or and any number of organizations You can see today on Facebook for example. You can click a button and give. That's revolutionary and you should also be able to track where that money goes and there's still a long way to go there. But clearly technology can help. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Tech Giants Leading Disaster Relief Efforts","description":"Major tech companies are pioneering new and innovative ways to support natural disaster relief.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RGORd0o2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-09-19T21:09:09.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RGORd0o2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/RGORd0o2/","duration":"PT3M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/RGORd0o2/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```