Free Information Service Launched for Disaster-Struck Population in Haiti: Text Your Location 4636 To Register

Port Au Prince, Haiti (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Thomson Reuters Foundation puts in place first-of-its-kind Emergency
Information Service ('EIS') in Haiti
- The EIS is exclusively operating for and on behalf of earthquake
survivors, using local languages, French and Creole
- The service is free and global. People in Haiti and families and
friends around the world can register via a simple text message
- Survivors will receive critical news and information direct to their
mobile phones

The Thomson Reuters Foundation has today launched a first-of-its
kind, free disaster-information service for the people of Haiti. The
service allows survivors of Haiti's earthquake to receive critical
information by text message directly to their phones, free of charge.

To register, survivors subscribing to the Digicell network, the
largest in the Caribbean, simply text their location to the SMS
shortcode 4636. By return, up-to-date, reliable, actionable
information will be sent to them wherever they are in Haiti, helping
them to reach shelter, aid and loved ones. The service will cost them
nothing.

The service also acts as a news and information gathering
mechanism, whereby survivors can report information directly into the
EIS team of specialist journalists. The EIS team will collate this
information and it will by made available to agencies, emergency
teams and local media.

People outside of Haiti and the quake zone can register their
loved ones' cell phone numbers on their behalf.

TO REGISTER FOR THE SERVICE:
- If inside Haiti: text your location to 4636 directly from your own
phone
- If inside Haiti and registering someone else's phone number: send a
text with REGISTER or REGISTRE and the loved ones' number and
location, to 4636
- If overseas: text REGISTER or REGISTRE and the loved ones' local Haiti
number, and location to +4673-749-4535
- Note: The SMS shortcode is dependent on local telecom infrastructure;
if the infrastructure fails, the local SMS service will not work

The EIS also aims to get critical information to survivors via
local media, especially radio, and the Thomson Reuters Foundation
already has a team of expert humanitarian journalists in Haiti
working around the clock to collect and disseminate information.
Working with technology partner InSTEDD and aid agencies including
the Red Cross, the Thomson Reuters Foundation aims to help Haitians
with practical information to help them take control of their own
recovery.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation CEO, Monique Villa, said this
morning, "In times of major natural catastrophes, information itself
is aid, as crucial as shelter or blankets. All forms of communication
in Haiti have been impaired and the EIS team will help fill the
communication void providing reliable, actionable information to the
disaster affected population. We only launched our new service in
December on the fifth year anniversary of the Asian Tsunami and
whilst you never want or anticipate significant natural disasters, I
am pleased that our service is now up and running so that we can come
to the aid of the people of Haiti."

About The EIS

The Emergency Information Service is a first service of its kind,
launched by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in December 2009. The EIS
will be deployed when major natural disasters strikes communities
around the world, leaving them with no reliable communication
infrastructure. EIS Action-Units will be deployed within hours of a
disaster and upon arrival in the disaster zone will seek out, collate
and disseminate life-saving information to disaster-hit populations.
Key to the EIS if the use of local language for the affected
population.

Thomson Reuters Foundation has developed groundbreaking
technology to allow the EIS team and other groups to assimilate and
process multiple information streams in an emergency. The tools let
the EIS Action-Units generate information services for dissemination
in local languages via SMS, email and web page. When all
communications are down, the EIS will turn to low-tech means such as
leaflets, community notice boards and even megaphones. The Thomson
Reuters Foundation joined by the Red Cross to act as a key delivery
partner in disaster zones.

About Thomson Reuters Foundation

Established in 1982, Thomson Reuters Foundation is a registered
charity in Britain and the United States. The charitable arm of
Thomson Reuters, it leverages the skills and expertise across the
corporation to increase trust and access to the rule of law, to save
lives through the provision of trusted information and to improve
standards of journalism.

Following the acquisition of Reuters by Thomson Corp in 2008, the
Foundation's resources and programmes were expanded and a new
leadership team was appointed. The Thomson Reuters Foundation
website, trust.org, is a portal which integrates the Foundation's
three key areas of focus and brings together the Foundation's
community of partners.

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Contact:
CONTACT: Thomson Reuters, Victoria Brough, Head of External Affairs,
EMEA,+ 44(0)207-542-8763, victoria.brough@thomsonreuters.com ; Tom
Gilbert,Corporate Communications Manager,
+44(0)207-542-4214,tom.h.gilbert@thomsonreuters.com