Ashoka: Technology & Invention Blog

Road to Hyderabad: T-3 Days

Danielle Dumm — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:05:01 -0600

That's the team, or at least a small part of it. Our team that has gotten us to this moment, just 3 days away from the Tech4Society event.

It's about 1am here in Hyderabad. A group of us are sitting in our guest house working, on about our 18th hour of the day. You'd think it would be drudgery but its not. Everyone is so tired that at this point, everything is funny. Everything is hysterical. The fact that it was suggested that we have a fortune-telling parrot at our event made us laugh so hard. (The parrot won't be there, just in case you were curious).

Our Keynote speaker, Fernando Flores, arrived tonight and was brought to his hotel safe and sound. We have volunteers and event planners at the airport and a fantastic-sounding line-up of presentations and activities for our Market Place Evening on the 12th.

Our videographer has landed, as has nearly the whole team.

Now is the time when we move from plans to action, from well-thought-out lists to quick-response phone calls.

3 days until a year's worth of work comes to fruition and hopefully something even better.

Can't wait to share the ride with you all!

***

Tune in this Thursday, Friday and Saturday for coverage of the event "live" on the AshokaTECH blog and Twitter (@AshokaTECH). Follow and join in on the discussion in Hyderabad as it happens and all day long using hashtag #tech4soc. See you there!

Alex Brown, the Welfare of Horses and the Effect of Social Media

suyuen — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 06:53:54 -0600

In this interview from Knowledge@Wharton, Alex Brown, owner of the website Alex Brown Racing, dedicated to the welfare of horses (and saving them from the slaughter house), gives us a first hand account of his experience building the website and its popularity using social media tools including Wikis, discussion forums, YouTube Contests and Twitter.

What I really like about this video is how open Alex is about the mistakes he made, the difficulties experienced, and more importantly, how he used these tools to help raise funds for the cause.

If you're a social media veteran, you might find some of the tips Alex shares elementary, but if you're new, this is a video you want to watch to understand the decision-making process involved which led Alex to use the platforms he does today. (And it's not every day that people talk about how they raise funds with these tools.) Enjoy!

By Su Yuen, CHIN (suyuen@gmail.com)

Road to Hyderabad: T-10 Days!!

Danielle Dumm — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:56:55 -0600

Friends, this is my second to last Road to Hyderabad post. That means we are less than 2 weeks away from the opening of the Tech4Society event.

To be honest, it still feels very far away. There are lots of last minute arrangements and decisions to make. Long ago I naively believed I would feel like we were “almost done” by this point. Ha! At this point 10 days feels like both an incredibly long time and an incredibly short one. It will be bizarre to write this post next week when we are truly just days away.

This past week was an interesting one. I spent time cultivating relationships, drinking lots of tea and coffee and coke (my neighbor at the apartment likes to buy me cokes for some reason).   I wandered around the city, I thought a lot about the details. I had my first Andhra thali and criss-crossed the city by foot and by auto.

On one hand, I can’t point to any real tangible progress that I made; on the other, I feel like it was important for me to just be here.

And the surprising thing: I really like Hyderabad. I’ve lived in India before, I’ve even lived in Southern India before but this city is far different than the last one I stayed in (Chennai).

The people here are warm and friendly. Everyone is so kind and, even though there are some pretty serious language barriers, we are getting along just fine. I have my “friends” in the neighborhoods and feel comfortable wandering around the streets here. I’ve found a park to walk in nearby and have had some nice conversations with the other people staying at my apartment.

In honor of my week of relationship-building and city exploring, I thought instead of sharing work insights, I’d share travel insights and a few photos:

1)    If you want to fall in love with a city, go to the places that the people who live there love. (No the mall doesn’t count) I have to say, walking in KBR Park each evening has made me love Hyderabad even more. Seeing so many people out enjoying the nature, groups of women in beautiful salwar kameez and tennis shoes, men huffing and puffing in wind pants, and little kids squealing with delight over the peacocks makes me really happy and makes me like Hyderabad even more.

2)    Smiles are important. Sometimes they confuse people (like the men working at my apartment) but for the most part they are good. People might think you are strange, but at least they know you are happy and/or appreciative. Of course, if you are a chick and a group of guys is whistling at you, you probably want to choose your smiles more carefully.

3)    Along those lines, you can always haggle with a smile and a kind voice. Many times you have to be firm when you are bargaining but for the most part, as a foreigner, you’ll get further and enjoy the experience more if you can smile and laugh and joke with your “adversary.” Always remember that you are bargaining over someone’s source of income. You don’t have to pay 100rupees for a 30rupee auto ride, but it’s not worth it to squabble too much over the difference between 30 and 40, especially if you have the means:

Case in point: I was haggling a fare down to 35 rupees when the guy wanted first 70 and then 50 rupees. In truth, it was probably a 30rupee ride but then I realized that the squatter’s tent next to my apartment belonged to my driver’s family. All of a sudden, 50rupees didn’t seem too much for him to ask and I paid it gladly.

4)    Tipping IS IN in India, or at least in Hyderabad. When I lived in Chennai a few years ago, I never tipped or if I did, it wasn’t more than a rupee or two. Now I see everyone tipping and I’ve followed suit. Especially since I have to keep coming back to the same places, it’s worth it to pay a little extra to show my appreciation.

5)    When taking a phone call or having a meeting in India, know that there will always be “one more thing” and that the “one more thing” is the most important part of the meeting, and usually the reason why the person called. I had forgotten about this but have been vividly reminded this week. I actually like this way of doing things, what with the pleasantries first and then the little things and then the big thing you or the other person really needs to talk about. It’s a dance for sure, but it makes for stronger relationships I think.

Ok, that’s it for this week. Here’s a few photos from my first week here:

Episode 6 of the AshokaTECH Podacast: Interview with Elizabeth Hausler

Alex Budak — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:33:41 -0600

"Earthquakes don't kill people...poorly built buildings do." -- Elizabeth Hausler

On this week's episode of the AshokaTECH Podcast, host Alex Budak interviews the founder of Build Change, Elizabeth Hausler, an expert on sustainable building practices to prevent earthquake damage and an Ashoka-Lemelson Fellow. Alex asks her for her thoughts on the recent tragedy in Haiti, and how similar catastrophies might be avoided in the future. Elizabeth has faced similar challenges following earthquakes in India, China and Indonesia, and provides poignant commentary on the challenges that now face Haiti, as well as advice on engaging the community.

As always, be sure to follow Alex on Twitter, @TheBudak, for updates on the podcast and your chance to have your own questions answered in future interviews.

Listen and subscribe to the AshokaTECH Podcast on iTunes

Or visit the AshokaTECH Audioroom to listen to this and all AshokaTECH Podcasts.

Have feedback on the podcast, or a guest you'd like to see interviewed? Get in touch! Enjoy the podcast? Consider leaving a comment and a rating on iTunes to spread the word to other changemakers around the world.

Inflatable Hospitals in Disaster Zones - Highlight: MSF

Chloe Feinberg — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:48:18 -0600

Image Source: Boing Boing

I previously wrote about different technology-enabled clinics that are using different innovations—from low-cost ehealth tools to converting shipping containers into clinics—in India, Kenya, Pakistan, and the Dominican Republic.

There has been a ton of news and blog coverage about what has been happening in Haiti over the last two weeks, most of the information being not so great, while some is more hopeful. I am happy to share some new of the hopefull kind.

Adding to the list of previously mentioned clinics, these inflatable plug-and-play hospitals that Doctors Without Borders/Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) have deployed in Haiti are really fascinating. This post on Boing Boing shares video and an interview with two MSF employees about the hospital and the challenges and successes in setting it up.

The hospital has 9 inflatable tents, 100 beds and includes and ICU, triage, and two operations theaters.

The success that they have had in setting up this hospital (once difficulties in landing the gear were overcome) is directly attributed to what MSF has learned over the years. It is great to see how candid the employees are about what has worked and what hasn't in the past. Of particular interest is the use of a gauge on each tent which measures air pressure and automatically re-inflates the tent if it falls below the required level. That solution came from their experience in 2005 in Pakistan, where the temperature and air pressure changed so drastically between night and day, that there was trouble in keeping the tents inflated.

The interview touches upon MSF's use of their own standard equipment and medicine, which is one of the main reasons they are able to deploy such robust units. They discuss the importance of knowing what you are working with and where, and that although innovation is great, disaster zones are not appropriate places to test new innovations. That was also one of the themes of last week's ICT4D twitter chat on working with local governments, also which focused on Haiti (transcript here).

Here is a great photo gallery of the set-up of the inflatable hospital. The photos are quite inspiring considering what has happened there.

I also came across today photos from Inveneo, hard at work creating long-distance wi-fi networks in Haiti.

I am sure everyone working on the ground in Haiti right now is learning from their successes and mistakes. I believe we can learn a lesson from MSF in taking what we learn and using that knowledge to make our work better.

Road to Hyderabad: Lesson 18

Danielle Dumm — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:17:55 -0600

Image Source: Bindaas Madhavi

Well, I'm in Hyderabad.

You know what that means.

We are less than 3 weeks away from the beginning of Tech4Society.

Today I met my colleague Vishnu briefly, saw our venue at the Indian School of Business (ISB), saw the very beautiful Ista Hotel where some of our guests will be staying and later helped my neighbor in my guest house get on the internet.

I've got my Indian phone number at long last after multiple negotiations and photocopies and I'm realizing I better pick up some Telugu to be more effective around here.

And what is Hyderabad like, you might be asking.

Tomorrow I'll explore the city a little more but the part I saw today—Hi-Tech City—was fascinating. It's all steel and glass rising out of rocks and dust. Dozens of big tech companies have offices there and new construction is everywhere.

I think it will be a good place for Tech4Society. I can't wait to welcome our guests here.

Ever Fussed About “Spectrum”? You Can Start Now

Bright Simons — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:36:51 -0600

The Chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) warned a few weeks ago of a looming “spectrum shortage” in the United States. What is even more curious in this affair is the admission by senior legislators in the US that they are largely ignorant about the precise distribution of the airwaves and their uses, much less about the best means of optimizing said distribution.

The FCC Chairman (and to a lesser extent, the NTIA Director who performs similar roles for the US federal government in an advisory capacity), whose primary mandate is telecommunications and electronic broadcasting regulation, therefore faces the uphill, and thoroughly disorienting, struggle of rallying concern about the accelerating scarcity of a resource that the vast majority of Americans are blissfully nonchalant about. And how many of them today even find it relevant that when 3G was first touted in the United States one of the most credible threats to the idea at that time was spectrum politics? (Compare).

And Americans are not alone. Throughout the globe, no aspect of the revolutionary telecommunications phenomenon is considered more arcane, and therefore as neglected by the lay public, as the issue of spectrum rationing. “Spectrum”, as used here, generally means the radiation enveloping us that we exploit for communication purposes, especially radio waves. It is thus considered very courageous for a commentator to go beyond trying to make a case for the relevance of spectrum management to the growth of telecommunication industries in a general, ambiguous, way, and to attempt to establish the importance of rational spectrum allocation to ICT for Development (ICT4D).

After all, it is not very fashionable in the ICT4D universe to follow the perennial squabbles of civil regulators and military engineers at world radiocommunications conferences (WRC) over the equitable distribution of the spectrum resource and to draw from said chronic conflict any insight about the mainstreaming of such once arcane concepts as network neutrality and open access initiatives in the ICT4D conversation. Not when more mundane infrastructure and affordability concerns remain unsorted.

The truth of course is that concern about efficient use of infrastructure and worries over the crowding out of future growth in innovative services by the fast expanding need for spectrum for present-day use in high-bandwidth offerings such as television streaming and other utility data transfers, all relate in a very similar way to the growing convergence of traditional top-down regulation, commercial cooperation, user-generated content, open networking, and the multi-stakeholder view of broad-spectrum, bottom-up, approach to standards development and setting.

In the spectrum-use debate for instance, the military is quickly discovering that the days when they could easily hide behind ambiguous references to national security to maintain spectrum privileges are fast disappearing. They are having to broaden their worldview about the earth’s electromagnetic endowment to more forcefully emphasise crisis management (a topical example being Haiti), human security, peace keeping, and next generation R&D with dual-use potential.

They are confronted with the sticky reality of convergence, both metaphorically and literally. The sharp distinctions between military and civilian imperatives are disappearing even as fast-moving technological and economic currents mix up domains of applicability and compel a reimagining of socio-technological possibilities. Aviation security comes to mind. Half of the critical systems onboard a typical airliner requires their own dedicated spectrum channel, and when disruptions occur, as anyone who has seen the second installment of the “Die Hard” series could well attest, the results are usually catastrophic. One supposes that any aeronautical analysis of spectrum security issues is just as likely to raise aviation safety issues as it is to identify threats to geosynchronous satellites operating in overcrowded bands. And therein lies the insight.

Consider but one landscape of the new reality: for the first time in the history of organized armed forces, the primary enemy is in civilian garb. In the clefts of the Hindu Kush and in the slums of Mogadishu, the world’s mightiest fighting machines discover the permeability of their notions of war and peace, combatant and refugee, radio burst and dial-tone detonators, and this process of reimagination referred to above becomes simpler and more sharply focused. Discussions about a holistic rendition of the nature of the spectrum resource – not via the false lens of the erstwhile civil-military dichotomy – become richer and more productive. Other considerations are admitted, thus bringing us closer to the global development view of electromagnetism.

Conventionally speaking the focus of spectrum management in the supposedly post-modern enlightenment era of the 21st century has been “interference-free communications”. This worldview of the subject had been considered global in scope and orientation, such that the United States Airforce has considered the matter critical enough to incorporate spectrum management programs in its meager technical assistance to the militaries of African countries.

If one is entertaining the notion, however, of attaining the ICT4D threshold with this new emphasis on spectrum, then “interference-free communications” won’t cut it. Not when it is not clear how compatible such a technically narrow ideal will be with the most popular ICT4D theory in the game today – “leapfrogging”. It seems obvious that places like Africa are more likely to follow in the footsteps of more technologically advanced countries in this regard than it is that they shall upset the pattern of global innovation in some restricted technical space. The view changes when one looks at the matter more broadly, taking into account a fuller range of contextual advantages likely to facilitate technology diffusion within a larger context of social-experimental openness.

Unlike the case in the so-called developed world, African policymakers and other elites have fewer vested interests to contend with in the whole electronic space (though this won't last forever). Their military structures, a major factor in spectrum politics, tend to suffer less from legacy straitjackets. While it is true that professionalization remains an issue it is also true that military forces in the third world are already more blessed with opportunities to better appreciate the blurring of the civil-military dichotomy and the rise to prominence of human security and other such latter-day constructs than are their counterparts in the richer hemispheres. In many African countries, the military are an integral part of the fight against armed robbery and other violent crimes, for instance. In this sense, and in view of many other considerations, one might be able to approach this whole issue of spectrum economics in a radically fresher way. Pursuing the same logic from an alternative angle, one may safely conclude that African commercial interests have also yet to develop that retarding symbiosis with the regulatory process that spawns stagnant lobbies and unscrupulous political hitmen.

The western-developed paradigm of the radio frequency spectrum with its rigid demarcations and corresponding technology silos, its disproportionate sensitivity to military demands, and its domination by a priesthood of detached experts is clearly thus baggage on the back of developing country reformers that must be tossed aside. And as I say above, it can.

Developing countries, including those in Africa, are more likely, when prompted, to embrace revolutionary ideas about optimizing bandwidth use through forward-looking policymaking that compels regulatory allocation to match pace with new technologies and new concepts of frequency ownership, tradability, collateralization and congruence. Big words that simply mean that the holy cows shall be kicked out of the electronic meadows so the cross-pollination of new ideas can sprout better visions.

For many years, frequency assignation has been viewed as a hardware matter and siloed as such. But so-called cognitive software, say, coupled with novel standards on interoperability and the fuller recognition, as discussed above, of both technical and sociopolitical convergences, are a great example of illustrative elements, of the aforementioned “visions”, that opens up a new horizon for developing countries. Especially those developing countries most eager to exploit the generous natural endowment that is the electromagnetic resource.

If only they would!

PS: If you are wondering where my newfound passion for spectrum management comes from within my declared mandate on this blog (tech.ashoka.org): the political economy of “cloud computing for development”, your curiosity is fully justified. Over the past few months, I have had the privilege to contribute to a study that is now out (www.weforum.org/ictforgrowth). I think this study is extremely significant and should receive serious consideration in the developing world. A majority of the issues it raises, albeit it does so with a good deal of freshness and urgency, are well established in the ICT4D literature. Except “Spectrum”.

HBR's Breakthrough Ideas Highlight Everyday Tools for Health Care

Chloe Feinberg — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:49:05 -0600

Thanks to a tip from my colleague Beth Jenkins, I enthusiastically read The Harvard Business Review’s List: Breakthrough Ideas for 2010. The entire article is a nice, quick read that will get you thinking about a wide variety of issues – from how we can better license technology to manage people to financing energy alternatives. I immediately focused on the second idea on the list, “The Technology That Can Revolutionize Health Care”.

The author is Dr. Ronald Dixon, Director of Virtual Practice Management at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA shows how simple things like phone calls and email can have a dramatic effect on the care of patients – making it better, easier and ultimately cheaper.

While reading the piece, I was relieved to read his perspective – he knows that these tools can be very effective, but must wait until the rules change in order to fully capitalize on the system. The two main barriers -- a hospital’s need to be able to charge a fee for a doctor’s time (emailing, calling, etc.) and the inability of information from emails between a patient and doctor cannot be included in the patient’s health record – are significant. However, the examples of how these tools can really make a difference in a person’s care are significant.

Even more so, the study done using teleconferencing and emails shows that patients, in the words of Dr. Dixon, “are ready for innovation – even eager for it.” This is great news and, as I mentioned in an earlier post, seems to be a growing trend. I am happy to see more attention paid to this idea in the U.S., and believe that as more and more patients grow accustomed to the idea and start demanding doctor-patient interactions over video, phone, email, etc. we will be able to shape the way our healthcare is provided.

SAFE AGUA CHILE: The Last Drop

Diana Corrales — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:01:28 -0600

We have come to the last episode of SAFE AGUA CHILE, a project in partnership with Un Techo Para Mi Pais, led by 12 students from the Art Center College of Design. The students traveled to Santiago, Chile and spent 12 days among the poorest families living in slums/campamentos. Week by week we have witnessed how the students develop new tools for using, storing, and transporting water to improve the quality of life of impoverished families. Today, we want to give thanks to those who have been following us since our first episode, as well as to those of you who are just in time to follow step by step and drop to drop the exciting journey of a life changing project.

The students' major challenge was to create extremely low-cost but real world potential implementation products that could help break the cycle of poverty. But in order to achieve this, they first had to understand what it is like to live in a day in the lives of these families. As Elizabeth Bayne mentioned in her testimony: "The opportunity to really meet the people that [we] are designing for and get to know their aspirations is a strong point in the project..." The students were able to connect to the families and make a change in their lives through innovation and passion.

After returning from Chile, the 12 students worked in teams throughout the Fall 2009 term, designing and fabricating low-cost, innovative prototypes intended to solve specific water-related needs identified through field research. In developing projects that complemented one another, the entire class worked toward the larger holistic goal of improving the quality of life for families living in the campamentos. Click on the following list of solutions to learn more:

Potable Drinking Water: A family-sized kit for water chlorination and filtration, to ensure safe, easy, pure water for drinking and cooking.
Pressurized Water System: A system that harnesses gravity to afford families the ease, convenience, and dignity of turning on a tap to get running water.
Warm Shower: Brings the dignity and wellbeing of a hot shower to people living with no running water and inconsistent electricity.
Community Laundry: A community laundry facility that aims to save time and effort, reduce task-related injuries, build social relationships and create income opportunities for women.
Indoor Dishwasher Workstation: An inexpensive and efficient kitchen workstation for washing dishes indoors and facilitating the re-use of water.
Sustainable Innovation: A strategy for sharing and inspiring innovations by people in the campamentos, via a monthly publication, competition, and online information hub.

These solutions/products created by the students were all presented to the community and it has been proven to have a positive impact and change in the lifestyles of locals. For instance, 20 families in campamentos are sharing the shower, keeping it an average of 4 days each to test it and they seem to love it.

We want to make a special recognition to each of the students that were part of the SAFE AGUA CHILE project: Elizabeth Bayne, Nubia Mercado, Stella Hernandez, Diane Wei, Jessica Yeh, Narbeh Dereghishian, Stephanie Stalker, KC Cho, Jackie Black, Will Tang, and Ramon Coronado. We value their commitment and entrepreneurial spirit for social change. They are real changemakers and we believe they are a true example to follow. Everyone can be a changemaker!

Check out the best of SAFE AGUA CHILE in the following presentation.

Soleckshaw: Solar-Electric Cycle Rickshaw

Sandesh R. S. — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:14:49 -0600

Image source: CMERI

In many countries including India, China, Bangladesh and Pakistan, the cycle rickshaw is used as a form of transport for short distances. But cycle rickshaws have been regulated and banned as their slower speed hampers the smooth flow of automobile traffic and adds to congestion.

Higher incidences of Tuberculosis found among rickshaw wallahs (rickshaw pedallers) of Delhi have been attributed to the increased intake of polluted air during pedalling. The fatigue resulting from Tuberculosis prevents infected rickshaw wallahs from earning their daily bread and pushes them further into poverty due to long-duration treatment needs.

The Soleckshaw, a dual-powered cycle rickshaw, developed by the Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) in India, has been in successful use for more than a year in the Indian capital. It is partly driven by pedal and partly by a battery that can be charged by solar energy. The Solekshaw can reach a speed of more than 12 kilometres per hour and combines good ergonomics and aesthetics with economics. Equipped with a mobile phone charger and an FM radio, it costs less than 8000 Indian Rupees ($180).

This eco-friendly solution not only helps rickshaw wallahs to maintain good health but also results in lesser congestion. Improved versions of the Solekshaw are expected to be ready for launch during the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Delhi.