By Fan Junmei
China.org.cn staff reporter

"A kind philanthropic heart needs the support of tough information technology -- they are kin brothers", said Jet Li before the discussion on "Information Technology and Global Philanthropy" concluded on November 2.

Kai-fu Lee, Vice President of Google Inc..[China.org.cn]

All of the IT big names present at the meeting shared experiences of philanthropic activity. Kai-fu Lee, vice president of Google Inc., said that immediately after the May 12 earthquake Google had mobilized its staff to develop an electronic map to facilitate donations. A relative-search engine was also speedily in action. Google set up a special charity fund--Google grants, to provide services both for quake victims and for potential donors.

According to Lee, Google reserves one percent of its annual profits for fund raising; a new program aiming at involving university students in philanthropy is also under way. Tencent's quake relief effort, like Google's, was also quick and effective, said Pony Ma, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Tencent Holdings Limited. The company developed an online donation system through which more than 23 million yuan was collected.

Thomas Lam, vice president of Cisco Systems (China) Networking Technology, noted that besides material help, the IT industry needs to do more to help people rebuild their spiritual homeland, and particularly provide more support to the local officials who constantly battled at the frontline of quake relief.