War breaks out over Kosovo aid agency information services

Software developed by Melbourne business LanCom Technologies may keep an electronic connection to missing relatives and loved ones scattered by the escalating conflict. The Kosova-help.org Web site, backed by open source Kosova Crisis Management server software, is building into a portal for all information about the war, with the aim to assist refugees. It is one of about a half-dozen similar sites that have opened in recent days, aid agencies claim. The Fitzroy software developer has offered to donate the site, source code and all documentation to the Red Cross, WorldVision, CARE Australia and the UN High Commission on Refugees, but aid agencies contacted by I.T. are less than impressed. According to a report last Wednesday in the Seattle Times, the UNHCR and the Red Cross have instead adopted a $2.5million solution sponsored by a consortium of international business interests led by Microsoft. A UNHCR spokeswoman in Canberra said LanCom_s offer had been relayed to its Geneva headquarters. UNHCR Geneva spokeswoman, J. Kumin, thanked LanCom, but said the agency had been ``overwhelmed' with ``dozens' of similar requests. To date it has been decided to develop the Microsoft offer, but the others are being kept on standby in the event that some supplementary assistance is needed. Microsoft, which is supplying the software, will also donate $600,000 cash and $500,000 of services, while the William H. Gates Foundation will give another $600,000. Compaq and Hewlett-Packard will donate hardware, and Securit World in London and ScreenCheck B.V. in the Netherlands will provide free ID-card systems. Refugees will be pre-registered prior to aid workers being issued with digital cameras, laptops and communications equipment early next month. LanCom_s solution allows authorised aid workers to register with the site to place details of displaced persons, which can then be searched to find missing friends and family. Details are stored in firewalled and encrypted databases. News and current events are relayed from major sites around the world.