CIOs Without Borders

Rwandan hands

Rwandan Hands
Image: CIAT via Flickr

Having access to medical knowledge can change the world. Here in the United States, and in other developed nations, we are blessed enough to be able to get to that information. We have the Internet and friends who are doctors or nurses, and we remember the lessons learned during elementary school: wash your hands frequently, don’t drink water from possibly contaminated areas, cover your mouth when you cough, and many more.

Not all places have that luxury. There is only one doctor for every 25,000 people in Rwanda, for example. Those people living in rural areas are almost certainly out of luck when it comes to finding medical care—they are too far away from medical facilities, and the cost of care is just too much for most.

But CIOs Without Borders is a program that’s bringing the simple gift of medical knowledge to these types of people—all across the world. It’s “a global, non-profit organization that uses technology to provide education, healthcare and infrastructure services to underserved areas around the world.”

Atefeh Riazi of NYCHA is the founder and Executive Director of CIOs Without Borders. She started the organization after traveling the world as a CIO and realizing that access to medical benefits and services was extremely limited. People were regularly suffering from simple illnesses and diseases—for which we have the medical technology to cure or prevent.

Through CIOs Without Borders, she hopes to bring technology to these countries and help alleviate some of their medical struggles. This is the type of education that can, quite literally, change the world.