Ashoka-Lemelson Fellows

Press Release: New Delhi, February 09, 2010

Today, Ashoka and The Lemelson Foundation organized a media briefing in the capital as a part of their Tech4Society initiative to recognize and showcase the innovations of two remarkable inventor-entrepreneurs – Hilmi Quraishi and Pradip Sarmah. The agenda of the briefing was The Indian Inventor Entrepreneurs and their contribution towards Sustainable Development.

The first-of-its kind Initiative with support from Microsoft® strives to bring greater attention to the importance of technological innovation in driving global development and highlight effective strategies for cultivating the next generation of inventor-entrepreneurs and scaling their world-changing ideas. The media briefing saw them discussing best practices, demonstrating their inventions and sharing their vision for the future, driven by the combination of invention and innovation.

Hilmi Quraishi and Pradip Sarmah have been chosen for their unique and cutting edge uses of technology, education, capital and support as tools for community development, policy setting and poverty alleviation.

A special edition of Innovations, a quarterly journal published by MIT Press, has been written specifically for Tech4Society in anticipation of the Hyderabad event and is full of in-depth insights on social entrepreneurship and technology from leaders in the field.

Contents include lead essays by President Paul Kagame of the Republic of Rwanda, Julia Novy-Hildelsy, Executive Director of The Lemelson Foundation, Matthew Bishop and Michael Green, and case studies, discussions and analytic essays by Ashoka-Lemelson Fellows and other experts in the field of innovation and social entrepreneurship.

View the full table of contents

Download Innovations (PDF - 4.2MB)

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!

***

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. 

Road to Hyderabad Lesson 17: A Few Logistical Tips

Hello again AshokaTECH Readers!  I hope you've had as wonderful holiday season as we did here. 

Coming off of 2 weeks out of the office, I returned to work last Monday with a decidedly more "zen" attitude towards the big event we are hosting in India early next month. My fabu colleague K. did the same. K and her family went to Disney World, I went to Jersey and Wisconsin. You know, its almost the same thing.

So where are we?  its a month out from the event, what morsels of wisdom might I have to share today?

I thought today I'd leave you with a few random logistical facts and tips when it comes to arranging international travel.  No, these don't have anything to do with the content at Tech4Society, more on that later, but these are the sorts of things that can make or break your event if you aren't able to account for htem.

So without further ado, a short list:

Happy New Year from AshokaTECH!  To celebrate 2010, we're wasting no time in bringing you the newest episode!

On this week's episode of the AshokaTECH Podcast host Alex Budak interviews Ashoka-Lemelson Fellow Mathias Craig and his brother Guillaume, the cofounders of Blue Energy.  Blue Energy implements a reliable clean energy model for poor Nicaraguan communities and puts development in the hands of residents by emphasizing the local manufacture and maintenance of wind and solar energy systems.  In Nicaragua, nearly half of its 5 million citizens do not have electricity, which stunts economic and social development -- especially in rural communities.  Blue Energy presents a sustainable solution to bringing electricity to these and other rural areas.  Alex talks to the Craigs about the work they are doing, as well as the challenges faced in implementing new technologies in rural communities. 

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

Lesson #16:Going Green

I'm taking it a bit easier this week, hanging out in Wisconsin with my folks for a few days before the home stretch on our way to Hyderabad for the Tech4Society event.

So the topic and content for today's post comes to us from my partner in crime, volunteer extraordinaire, Adrian Ash.

Adrian is a volunteer member of our Tech4Society staff and her expertise lies in the field of sustainability. As such, she prepared a really fantastic presentation for us last week of her recommendations for how Ashoka can make our event in Hyderabad greener and more earth-friendly. I thought her presentation was so well-done that I wanted to share it with you here.

I think when you are planning a giant event with lots of people flying half-way across the world, "going green" is of course a complicated and sometimes futile effort. What I like about Adrian's recommendations though is her focus on what we can do and also on what guests themselves can do to make the event greener.

This post contributed by Ashoka's Osman Ashai. The following is Part 2 in a case study series following Ashoka Fellow Hilmi Quraishi's collaboration with Microsoft to use mobile technology to educate the public and health care workers about Tuburculosis prevention and treatment.