Mercy Ships, Presidio and Cisco partner at the intersection technology and purpose – SiliconANGLE

I’ve seen many digital transformation efforts, but one recent example was unique: At the recent Cisco Systems Inc. Partner Summit event, I sat down with Grady Nichols, senior director of information technology operations at Mercy Ships, and Rob Kim, chief technology officer at Presidio Inc., and discussed how the two organizations are partnering with each other and Cisco to transform the way healthcare is delivered in underserved areas.

Modernizing IT on a ship presents unique challenges

Mercy Ships has embarked on a journey to modernize healthcare with most of it happening on the water. The humanitarian organization operates two large hospital ships serving low-income communities in Africa: Global Mercy in Sierra Leone and Africa Mercy in Madagascar. These ships are like floating cities with more than 800 people on board, including medical staff, families and volunteers.

Given the scale of these vessels, the technology must be able to support the complex environment of…