I received the Inveneo newsletter and it is not my habit to pass on marketing material but Inveneo is a non-profit organization using open-source VoIP technology for the benefit of the underprivileged as well as to help the survivors of disasters. Here is a recent article on Inveneo for more information. This is worth reading.

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Dear Friends and Supporters of Inveneo.

It's been a big year for Inveneo, starting out as a small team operating out of an apartment in San Francisco with a big goal of bringing telephony and Internet communications to places where it's needed most. In just one year, we've deployed our system to rural villages in Uganda, brought communications to areas of Mississippi devastated by hurricane Katrina and demonstrated our solutions at the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS) conference in Tunis with Intel and ActionAid. You'll see below that we have much more in store next year.

We thank you for your interest and support and we wish all of you happy holidays and a successful New Year.

The Inveneo Team and the many volunteers who help make all our efforts happen....

Contents:
· Inveneo's Impact in 2005
· Inveneo in the News
· Looking into 2006
· How your financial support helps


Highlights of Inveneo's impact in 2005

Inveneo completed its Solar-Powered PC and Communications System, designed specifically for the needs of deployment in rural villages

In partnership with ActionAid International http://www.actionaid.org Inveneo brought telephony and Internet access to five villages in Uganda, each with over 800 inhabitants, for the first time ever. These villagers are now:
o Using email to share market prices for crops
o Coordinating trips to market towns to increase revenue up to 5x
o Calling health clinics for advice, rather than walking for hours
o Checking for secondary school scholarships, so their children can attend
o Checking government Anti-Retro Viral (ARV) medication distribution locations

Inveneo and CityTeam http://www.cityteam.org helped restore communications in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi starting a week after the devastation of hurricane Katrina. This deployment, done in conjunction with several non-profit organizations, volunteers and technology companies, served the needs of the Bay St. Louis area's emergency operations centers, local police stations and firehouses, and local shelters. It has enabled these organizations to better help individuals and families rebuild their lives.

Inveneo participated in Cisco Systems pilot program for the NEPAD schools initiative. This six school deployment of computers, multi-media and the Internet will benefit thousands of secondary school of children across Rwanda.

Inveneo in the news

In Slate: Waiting for the \$100 Laptop? Don't hold your breath.
http://www.slate.com/id/2131201/

In Telecommunications Online: VoIPcycle Spins Conversation
http://www.telecommagazine.com/Americas/Article.asp?Id=AR_1283

In Wired News: VoIP Phones Give Villagers a Buzz
http://www.wirednews.com/news/technology/0,1282,68796,00.html

In San Jose Mercury News: You Have a Call from Uganda
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/12452180.htm


What's coming up in 1st Quarter 2006

Inveneo will be participating in Africa Source II: Free and Open Source Software for Local Communities Workshop, January 8th-15th. For more information:
http://www.tacticaltech.org/

Catch Bob Marsh and Aaron Huslage speaking at the O-Reilly Emerging Telephony Conference in San Francisco, January 26th. For more information: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/etel/

Inveneo will present our Solar Powered Communications System to the participants of the annual Conference for the Advancement of Telemedicine in Arlington, VA from January 30th - February 2nd.

Steve Okay has been invited back in February for his third year of teaching at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. The institute brings together individuals from all over the developing world to provide hands on training in networking. Steve will be teaching at the School on Wireless Networking for Development.

Keep an eye out for announcements from Inveneo as we start to make our Solar-Powered PC and Communications System available as a "solution kit" from our website and as we announce new pilots and deployments around the world.

How can you help?

At this time of year, we'd like to ask that you consider a donation to Inveneo as a way to help make a greater impact with technology for people around the world.

Your donation of:

· \$10 can provide a phone for a village
· \$50 supplies a lightning arrestor to protect the system and the villagers
· \$100 supplies the wiring needed to connect the system
· \$500 supplies outdoor wireless connectivity between two towns
· \$2500 outfits an entire village with a solar powered communications system

You can make a donation through Paypal from our website: http://www.inveneo.org/?q=donate

Or send a check to: Inveneo, 760 Market Street, Suite 859 San Francisco, CA 94102.

If you would like to be added to our newsletter list, please send a request to newsletter-subscribe@inveneo.org

© Inveneo December 2005