I’ve been taking a look at some of the promises made by technology companies over the last couple months when it came to helping make sure Puerto Rico has access to power and Internet. After Hurrican Maria hit the island, the tech and telco giants quickly moved into help make sure the island recovered.
There is a flood of Internet coverage about the amazing work the tech giants were doing, but just a handful of articles providing information about what was being done on the ground.
- Project Loon - Turning on Project Loon in Puerto Rico
- AT&T - Hurricane Maria: Response & Live Updates
- T-Mobile - Hurricane Maria: Update for Customers
- Facebook (NetHope)
- Cisco
Another area you’ve seen a lot of chatter about, is Elon Musk and Tesla Solar stepping in to help with restoring power, using their solar panel and battery power solutions. I can’t find any official stories, but Elon is pretty prolific on Twitter and Instagram.
There doesn’t seem to be much follow-up to the first couple of waves of press, and as the disaster continues to fade in our memories (obvious not Puerto Ricans), it looks like the details of what happened (or didn’t) is fading as well.
I’m sending some emails, and doing some more research into the subject. If you have any core stories, contact people, or facts about what is really happening on the ground when it comes to Internet and Power, and specifically the promises made by these giants, I’d love to hear from you.
Photo Credit: The photo is from my friend Robert Read who went to Puerto Rico recently to see what is happening first hand.
