Ashoka-Lemelson

Ashoka and The Lemelson Foundation convene the world's leading social entrepreneurs in invention, technological innovation, and science education in Hyderabad, India in February 2010. Produced by Cory Wilson / http://corywilson.net

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Every day throughout the event, we'll recap the day's events and coverage at http://tech.ashoka.org/tech4society

Click here for Day 1, and check back tomorrow as we add more.

Remember, you can follow coverage here on the AshokaTECH blog and get involved with the discussion as it happens on Twitter—just use #tech4soc in your tweets.  Ask questions, share thoughts, ideas and links, read what others have to say and tell us what you think!

The Tech4Society event is warming up for it's opening tomorrow through Saturday, Feb. 11-13 in Hyderabad, India, and even if you can't be there in person, you can still be involved online.

The event – a celebration of Ashoka-Lemelson Fellows – brings together pioneers on the cutting edge of innovation in solar energy, clean water, mobile technology, science education, agriculture and healthcare. In 2006, Ashoka and The Lemelson Foundation launched a partnership that aimed to find, support, and celebrate social innovators whose inventions and technologies offer fresh, effective approaches to advancing social change. Combining Ashoka’s nearly 30 year track record for finding and supporting the world’s leading social entrepreneurs with The Lemelson Foundation’s renowned expertise in incubating and celebrating invention for social good, the partnership has sought to prove that entrepreneurship and invention can align in powerful ways to improve the world.

"It's critical to identify the best, most high-impact and sustainable ideas…throughout the world." -- Julia Novy-Hildesley, Executive Director, Lemelson Foundation

In advance of the Tech 4 Society event convening in Hyderabad, India later this week, AshokaTECH Podcast host Alex Budak interviews Julia Novy-Hildesley, Executive Director of The Lemelson Foundation.  As a sponsor of the Tech 4 Society event -- which brings together leading social entrepreneurs, showcasing tech solutions and innovations revolutionizing social change throughout the world -- The Lemelson Foundation continues its tradition of supporting innovation and invention throughout the world.

In addition to the Tech 4 Society event, Alex asks Julia about her recent research on the "innovation engine" model for growth, her thoughts on where social-tech is headed in the next decade, and how we can ensure that a diverse group of future inventors are creating the next great innovations for the world.

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.

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)