Open Hardware for Development
In my last post I wrote a bit about what kinds of information and communication technologies are needed by the poor. I have also written about the importance of tinkering and tinkerable technologies as a…
Information and Communication Technologies for the Poor
An ongoing conversation with a large foundation has inspired me to think more directly about what specific technologies stand the best chance of benefiting the poor. Early on in the conversation, I made the point…
The OLPC Effect
he One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project comes in for a lot of criticism for being, among other things, “centralised and top-down”. Critics also argue that academia and philanthropy should not be interfering in areas…
Shooting Back with a Flip
I had a great conversation with David Carman yesterday who runs a community mesh network in Scarborough (south of Cape Town). We discussed mesh technologies, topologies, and Open Source medical applications but towards the end,…
Dabba in The Economist
In the development world, getting a project profiled in The Economist is a bit like a rock band being profiled in Rolling Stone. This week’s Economist has a profile of Dabba. Pretty cool.