AvePoint Develops Platform for Combating Human Trafficking with International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Microsoft

The first ever crowdsourcing portal fights against human trafficking in ASEAN countries by using AvePoint and Microsoft technologies to provide aid for victims’ journeys home

Jersey City, New Jersey — July 15, 2015 — AvePoint, the established leader in enabling enterprise collaboration across platforms and devices, announced the launch of 6degree.org, a portal to help human trafficking victims in ASEAN countries with the help of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The portal was developed in conjunction with Microsoft and was originally announced at United Nations' regional conference in Bangkok discussing Combating Human Trafficking in Asia.

More than half of the estimated 21 million people worldwide living in slavery comes from ASEAN countries. Less than 3,000 cases are reported in Asia annually. Through the use of technology, traffickers are effectively luring victims and selling them into slavery. AvePoint and Microsoft’s work with IOM harnesses the same technological power to fight back.

6degree.org is the first ever crowd funding platform to fight against human trafficking. The solution utilizes technology to crowdsource funds to aid victims – including costs for safe accommodation, medical or legal assistance, the return travel, education or skills development, job placement, or help establishing a small business. Users can also follow the journey of each trafficking victim through an interactive map built on top of Microsoft’s Bing Maps.

“The use of technology has enormous potential in this cause, and combining Microsoft’s deep expertise in deploying cloud computing technology to support public sector endeavors inspires confidence in our efforts to aid human trafficking victims,” said Stefan Sjöström, Vice President for Public Sector, Microsoft Asia. “Through our work with IOM and AvePoint, we hope to better the lives of these trafficking victims during their travels home, as well as the years following.”

Built and deployed on Microsoft Azure, AvePoint created the platform using the AvePoint E311 – Citizen Services solution, which allows citizen service organizations to better serve their constituents. With E311 - Citizen Services, government agencies or citizen-support non-government organizations (NGOs) now have the ability to automate case management, which allows field officers, operational centers, and the citizens they support to input and manage requests from any device, anywhere, at any time. Key features include:

• Self-register, submit requests, view the status of open cases, read announcements, follow social media feeds, and search a knowledge base repository for information used to resolve issues quickly – all without the need for agent assistance.
• Upload photo attachments and provide precise locations via integrated mobile device services to help validate requests and drive service improvement.
• Chat live with government staff to provide details or get more information directly through the portal.

“Human trafficking is an issue that reaches every corner of the world and needs a simple, yet effective solution to end it within our lifetimes,” said Dux Raymond Sy, Chief Technology Officer, AvePoint Public Sector. “AvePoint is honored to be chosen for this initiative and hopes to utilize technology solutions and services to tackle even more of the problems plaguing our society in the future.”

The portal does not use photographs of victims' faces and modifies information, such as names and exact details of the journey that could compromise the victims' safety or chances of a normal life.

For more information on 6degree.org and IOM, please visit the initiative website. For additional information on AvePoint and its products to better serve governments and non-government organizations, please visit our website.

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