ALKHOBAR, 18 January 2005 — Weeks after the initial waves struck, tech firms are still moving to do more for tsunami relief efforts. Kuwait’s Wataniya Telecom has begun sending 24 tons of medical and humanitarian aid to the Maldives, one of the Asian countries that suffered a large number of casualties and much infrastructure destruction in the disaster.

Wataniya stated that its initiative came as part of its role in contributing to humanitarian aid needs, whether in Kuwait or outside, and its commitment to the requests of the state, as per the recent request from Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

“We offer our sincere condolences to the nations who were struck by this tragedy and pray that their suffering is eased,” said Faisal Al-Ayyar, chairman, Wataniya Telecom. “Wataniya is keen on taking the initiative to respond to the council’s request and to offer medical and humanitarian assistance as the only support we can provide to the people of Asia at this time.”

He added: “Kuwait has always stood beside its fellow nations, providing the necessary means of aid and Asia is no exception. This is the only way we are able to express our sadness and distress at what has happened and we call on all Kuwaiti companies to join us in this initiative.”

Wataniya Telecom was awarded the second GSM license for the Maldives in November 2004 and the company stated that today it is ready to stand by the country in its time of need, playing a role in fulfilling its social commitments.

From Tokyo on Friday, electrical and electronic equipment manufacturer Mitsubishi Electric announced its contribution to the Tsunami disaster effort. Its President and CEO Tamotsu Nomakuchi has decided that the Mitsubishi Electric Group will donate a total of approximately 50 million yen in aid to various relief organizations working in the disaster area.

The breakdown of the donations in part are: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Headquarters) will give 15 million yen to the Rajaprajanugroh Foundation (Thailand), the Indonesian Embassy (Japan), the Indian Embassy (Japan) and the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations. Mitsubishi Electric Group (Asia) will give 20 million yen to the Thai Red Cross and various organizations in Indonesia, India and Malaysia. Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation will give 10 million yen to the American Red Cross and donations will continue based on a matching system where Mitsubishi will match its employee donations. Mitsubishi Electric Group, Europe will donate four million yen to the British Red Cross.

Mitsubishi Electric’s CEO said all employees from the Mitsubishi Electric Group companies “sincerely hope for a quick recovery from this devastating disaster.”

With over $350 million donated over the Internet to tsunami disaster relief efforts to date, nonprofit fund-raisers are observing four trends in online giving, reports GetActive Software, a company that provides web-based services to nonprofit organizations.

Charities involved in tsunami relief have found that:

• A large percentage of relief agency financial support is coming via the Internet;

• The vast majority of gifts to relief agencies are from new donors;

• More than half of new online donors are asking not to be contacted again by relief agencies;

• Nonprofits of all sizes are collecting relief funds online.

The most notable of these online giving trends is that a large percentage of relief agency support is coming via the Internet. Three GetActive clients — Save the Children USA, CARE USA and Oxfam America — are reporting that 31 percent, 38 percent and 80 percent respectively of total tsunami giving has come via their websites.

Save the Children USA, in Westport, CT, has raised $31 million for its relief efforts, with $9.5 million from the web. CARE USA, in Atlanta, has collected $16 million for its relief efforts, with Internet gifts accounting for $6.1 million of that total. Oxfam America, out of Boston, has raised $19.5 million, $13 million of which has come in online. Oxfam International affiliates have together raised more than $73 million for relief efforts.

“For this emergency, we’ve needed a whole new yardstick to measure the volume of donations that we’ve received online,” said David Moore of Oxfam America. “People are sending us unsolicited donations via every means — online and by phone. For a few days between Christmas and New Year, our website was taking in over $2 million a day. Donors are able to make an immediate online donation for relief and we are then able to send them e-mail updates about our long-term efforts to help rebuild these devastated communities.”

Save the Children USA has had a similar experience.

“At the peak, our online giving was coming in at the rate of $89,000 per hour, with traffic to our website over eight times the normal rate for December — a typically heavy month,” said Ed Granger-Happ of Save the Children USA. “The bottom line — we were able to get more resources to the field faster to assist with our relief efforts for children.”

The trend of donors asking not to be contacted again is disturbing to some charities, but they are making the best of it. “We usually hope to obtain donor information,” said Toby Smith, an Internet strategist with CARE USA, “but we’re looking on the bright side and are happy to see the donations when they’re most needed.”

And it’s not just the large international relief organizations that are collecting for tsunami relief efforts online.

Entrepreneur Pete Kirkwood, who is now based in Phuket, Thailand, got involved in tsunami relief with his family foundation, The Shawnee Institute. He was in the US when the waves struck Asian shores and quickly built an online donation campaign before returning home to Thailand. “We were able to get up and running very fast,” he explained. “Within five days we had gone from no organization with no list or funds to a full-blown online campaign. So far, we’ve raised over $71,000, with over $30,000 coming via our website, and expect ultimately to raise significantly more.”

As for preventing tsunami disasters in the future, according to Reuters, an Israeli inventor, Meir Gitelis of Avtipus Patents and Inventions Ltd., is planning to distribute free to Asian countries hit by the tsunami, a device he claims could save lives by warning holidaymakers directly that a tidal wave is coming.

The system, developed by Gitelis, uses land and water sensors, each smaller than a shoe box and costing $170, to measure seismic activity and wave motion. Like other systems already in operation, the sensors can send alerts in seconds by satellite to governments anywhere in the world. Unlike others, this system can also relay warnings directly to private subscribers over cell phones, pagers or dedicated receivers, spreading the message more widely. Seaside hotels could install a satellite receiver to pick up warnings broadcast over the system seconds after an earthquake hit that could cause giant waves. Local cell phone or pager networks could do the same and send SMS messages to their subscribers.

“The sensors determine the tremor’s intensity as well as the height and speed of the waves above it,” said Gitelis. “The system can then analyze all the data and predict if and when a tsunami will come, where it will hit and how big its impact will be.”

If these low-cost devices had been installed earlier, one can only wonder how many lives might have been saved.