Robert Kirkpatrick is Chief Technology Officer at InSTEDD and Chair of the Open Mobile Consortium. He is an expert in the design and use of technology to facilitate cross-organizational collaboration in low-capacity and post-disaster environments. Robert has spent more than 12 years in collaboration technology, developing systems for health data collection, disaster relief, NGO field security, telemedicine, conflict mediation and civil-military cooperation. His work with technology industry partners, government agencies, and international humanitarian organizations has explored ways that the design of virtual interaction environments may influence trust-building, information sharing, and joint decision making across technical, organizational, and cultural boundaries. Prior to joining InSTEDD, Robert co-founded and led solutions development for two pioneering humanitarian technology teams, first at Groove Networks, and later at Microsoft, where he served as Lead Architect for Microsoft Humanitarian Systems. He has done relief and development technology work in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir, post-Katrina New Orleans, and Cambodia.

Robert is a member of the Highlands Forum, the Global Humanitarian Forum, CrisisMappers, TED, BIL, and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, and he sits on the Executive Committee for the Strong Angel series of disaster-response demonstrations. He is very proud to be a part of the OMC.