The company which specialises in software development and collaboration tools, has announced that Mercy Ships, which has an Australian support office on the Queensland Sunshine Coast, is the recipient of its first ever Community Award. The award of $10,000 will benefit the people of Togo, West Africa, through the charity's program of plastic reconstructive surgeries onboard the hospital ship Africa Mercy.
Crew member Anne Barker, who coordinates the charity's intranet which is supported by Atlassian's Community Licence Program, submitted the winning entry. Since October 2005 Atlassian has been donating software through the program to Mercy Ships, a gift estimated by the charity to be worth $30,000. With such cost savings, volunteer surgeons working with Mercy Ships can remove 60 facial tumours from patients ostracised by their communities, OR perform 120 cataract surgeries to restore sight to young or old, OR correct 120 cleft lip/palates in children seen as cursed, OR correct 60 obstetric fistulas for women usually abandoned by their husbands and families, OR offer 600 free dental procedures in areas where there is no dentist.
Sam Smith, Mercy Ships CEO, says the partnership with Atlassian, and Confluence in particular, has helped to increase the efficiency of our organisation. "Mercy Ships has been fortunate to increase our capacity to serve the poor with the addition of the new flagship Africa Mercy. This ship more than doubled the capacity of all the ships in our history. We combine this with partners like Atlassian, and we are positioned to increase the impact we can make on the world," he said.
Daily, more than 400 crew members from 40 nations onboard the ship and hundreds of land-based support crew working internationally in remote locations benefit from Atlassian's wiki program through interaction with the charity's intranet. CIO Chris Gregg says Mercy Ships Information Services began using Atlassian Confluence as a wiki to enable information between the charity's 15 offices and ship in Africa to be shared easily, commented upon and edited, regardless of different geographical locations and time zones.
"They use Atlassian JIRA to manage issues for IT projects, systems and services. Procurement offices in the US, Holland, Germany and UK are able to use the resources to collaborate on restocking items for the ship's hospital and community. Additionally, the ship's Marine Operations is able to publish business management documents to a standard that satisfies certification conditions to operate the Africa Mercy at sea and in port."
Co-founder and Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes said, "Thank you so much for taking the time to share the impact of our software development and collaboration tools are having on your charity. In the eight years since Atlassian has been in business, licences for our collaboration and software development tools valued at more than $34 million have been donated to thousands of non-profit organisations and community causes. This award attempts to address the question of how that value translates into a real impact within the world that we share."
Mercy Ships uses hospital ships to deliver free, world-class health care services to those without access in the developing world. Founded in 1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens, Mercy Ships has worked in more than 70 countries, providing services valued at more than $808 million, directly impacting more than 2.5 million beneficiaries. More than 1200 crew worldwide, representing more than 40 nations are joined each year by 2000 short-term volunteers. Professionals including surgeons, dentists, nurses, health care trainers, teachers, cooks, seamen, engineers, and agriculturalists donate their time and skills to the effort. www.mercyships.org.au