Seeker Blog

I wish that you would help build a global system to detect each new disease or disaster as quickly as it emerges or occurs.

INSTEDD has been very quiet for the past year. Now I think we can say it is really happening. Peter Carpenter has been hired as President and director. Carpenter is the former Executive Director of Stanford University Medical Center.

Below is a brief update on progress, which includes some new scraps of info. E.g., evidently Larry Brilliant was offered the Google.org job on the spot at his TED presentation by Sergey Brin, on a comment card!

UPDATE: TED curator Chris Anderson clarifies the mention of the comment card offer — that was a friendly joke. Larry Brilliant’s appointment was actually announced two days BEFORE his TED Talk. See comments…

As revealed at TED2007:

Larry’s story is that of someone daring to take a journey and then letting the work teach him.

When Larry and his team at Google.org talked to the disaster community about his wish, they told him simply: In a disaster, “We’ve got to be able to find each other.” Their needs broadened his vision. Now, along with early detection, his system will offer disaster-relief agencies a way to communicate and share data, to provide coordinated early response to disasters.

The system is called INSTEDD (International Networked System for Total Early Disease Detection).

In March 2007, the new system undergoes its first pilot project, Working with the Rockefeller Foundation and NTI (Nuclear Threat Initiative), six countries along the Mekong River (Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and the Hunan region of China) will do a tabletop exercise about how they would react to a pandemic flu.

INSTEDD’s goal is to become a trusted source of comprehensive disaster tracking and response tools that enable users to operate more effectively in times of crisis; and, more than that, to foster a community of individuals, nonprofits, companies and government agencies involved in the detection of, and response to, public threats.

How it came together:

Sergey Brin, Larry Page and their colleagues hired Larry as head of Google.org, creating an immensely well-resourced platform for this wish and much more. (Sergey made Larry the job offer on a comment card — which Larry has framed!)
The Silicon Valley Community Foundation provided seed funding to build organization around Dr. Brilliant’s wish — and begin building the system, known as INSTEDD.
INSTEDD received significant pledges of financial support from members of the TED and foundation communities.
TEDster Steven Addis and Addis Creson are providing pro bono naming and branding support.
TEDster Bob Angus and his team at A&R Edelman provided pro bono PR and communications support.
An INSTEDD board was formed: Larry Brilliant: Executive Director, Google.org; Peter Carpenter: President, Managing Director, INSTEDD; David Heymann: Executive Director, Communicable Diseases, WHO; Tara O’Toole: CEO and Director, Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Numerous experts from both the TED and the disaster prevention and response communities donated their time and intellect, including the WHO, Mercy Corps, OCHA, Benetech, Humanity United, the Ethical Globalization Initiative, IBM, ProMed, CDC, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, NetHope, the International Committee of the Red Cross, OxFam America, the Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response, the World Food Programme and UNICEF.

Into the future:

Says Mark Smolinski, Threat Detective at Google.org: “We don’t even have standards on how we collect basic information on human demographics or health info during a disaster. That’s something that an organization like INSTEDD could help promote.”

Technorati Tags: INSTEDD, Larry Brilliant, Public Health