The New Ventures team at Unitus is seeking highly motivated social business entrepreneurs to participate in our Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) program for 2008.
EIRs at Unitus spend up to one year launching their venture with the deep support of socially-committed business professionals who have a passion for alleviating poverty through microfinance. The EIR program will provide strategic support to entrepreneurs dedicated to building social businesses that can scale to improve the income generation potential for millions of disadvantaged people in India or Sub-Saharan Africa. The program will include work space, resources for travel/activities, and opportunities to network with and learn from our microfinance partners around the world.
IP 101
Intellectual Property ("I.P.") 101: A Pirate’s Life for Thee. This report of IP SWATlaw® Series introduces the basic concept of IP and its role in business.
The Future of Copyright
This article by Brian F. Fitzgerald argues that fundamentals of copyright law may have to be reviewed in view of Web 2.0 style activity in “social networks”, where complex new relationships exist between the commercial and non commercial activities. It suggests eleven key areas which should be taken into consideration in copyright reform agenda.
Women Inventors and Entrepreneurs
Seoul Declaration on Women Inventors, Women Entrepreneurs and Women Managers/Owners of SMEs adopted on May 9, 2008, in Seoul , Republic of Korea , at the first Korea International Women’s Invention Forum.
Any national, regional and international publicly funded institution or government agency responsible for supporting women inventors, women entrepreneurs, and women owners/managers of SMEs that would like to join the International Women Inventors and Entrepreneurs Association (IWIEA) should email its request to: kwia0405@paran.com or kwia@inventor.or.kr
Any national, regional and international publicly funded institution or government agency responsible for supporting women inventors, women entrepreneurs, and women owners/managers of SMEs that would like to join the International Women Inventors and Entrepreneurs Association (IWIEA) should email its request to: kwia0405@paran.com or kwia@inventor.or.kr
Innovation for Inclusive Development: Call for Proposals
The Science and Technology Division of the Inter-American Development Bank is pleased to announce the launch of its grants program: Innovation for Inclusive Development.
The objective of the program is to foster the development and dissemination of innovations in products, processes and services and engender solutions with the potential of improving the quality of life of poor and/or excluded people in Latin America and the Caribbean. Up to six grants, ranging from USD 30,000 to 100,000, will be awarded to the selected innovations to develop, test, or pilot these in the region.
The call for proposals is open to entities from all IADB member countries. However, the development, piloting, and implementation to be financed by the grant must take place in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Make sure that your proposal meets the Guidelines and Selection Criteria.
The objective of the program is to foster the development and dissemination of innovations in products, processes and services and engender solutions with the potential of improving the quality of life of poor and/or excluded people in Latin America and the Caribbean. Up to six grants, ranging from USD 30,000 to 100,000, will be awarded to the selected innovations to develop, test, or pilot these in the region.
The call for proposals is open to entities from all IADB member countries. However, the development, piloting, and implementation to be financed by the grant must take place in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Make sure that your proposal meets the Guidelines and Selection Criteria.
2008 Alcan Prize for Sustainability: Call for Entries
The 2008 Prize will be open for entries from Sunday 1st June 2008. Entry forms and criteria will be available online at www.alcanprizeforsustainability.com
To confirm your organization is eligible to enter, view: www.alcanprizeforsustainability.com/eligibility_en
The closing date is 12th September 2008 at midnight GMT.
To confirm your organization is eligible to enter, view: www.alcanprizeforsustainability.com/eligibility_en
The closing date is 12th September 2008 at midnight GMT.
Computing and science education
This SC Education workshop is intended for undergraduate and graduate educators in all fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, humanities, arts and social sciences, especially those from minority-serving institutions. High school teachers collaborating with college faculty and mentoring faculty are also welcome.
The workshop introduces parallel and cluster computing in an educational setting. The instructors address teaching about grids and parallel environments, and present examples suitable for classroom use.
The workshop introduces parallel and cluster computing in an educational setting. The instructors address teaching about grids and parallel environments, and present examples suitable for classroom use.
Global Challenges
This Nature web focus explores a range of areas in which genetics can be put to use in tackling global challenges face the human race in the 21st century: environmental change, population growth and a rapid decline in fossil fuel reserves. Topics include: crop genetic manipulation to improve yields and provide resistance to environmental stress; approaches in plant genetics to allow economical biofuel production; and the genetic monitoring of effects of environmental change on the world’s biodiversity.
HP Labs: Call for Proposals
The HP Labs Innovation Research Program is designed to create opportunities -- at colleges, universities and research institutes around the world -- for breakthrough collaborative research with HP. Through this open and competitive Call for Proposals, they are soliciting your best ideas on a range of topics with the goal of establishing new research collaborations.
Community Microtelcos
Philanthropy is always vulnerable to the loss of interest and funding. Both can be maintained if the investments, while enhancing the status of the poor, also generate returns for the investors. Making a profit by selling services to the Bottom of the Pyramid is possible but it requires technological innovation and new business models.
While the privatization of state-owned enterprises and increased market competition has led to tremendous growth in Peru’s telecommunication sector there still remain many rural and marginal areas without access to these services as the growth has occurred mainly in the urban areas. Given the low population density in the rural areas – 15.8 inh./km2 compared to 231.8 inhabitants/km2 in Lima - ) this project will use wireless telecommunications to be the unique and effective way to connect low density isolated communities and deliver microfinancial services. Research showed that wireless telephony in rural areas is low; fewer than 6% of rural households have access, compared with almost 60% in Lima. Internet access from rural households is practically nil at 0.14%, compared with 16% in Lima. 29% of households in Lima have computers, compared to 0.7% of rural households. A better access to telecommunications will help bridge this digital divide, opening up new possibilities to deliver basic and low cost public and microfinancial services to families in rural regions.
The project will in particular employ an extremely economical open source technology (Meraki, CUWiN) which support all Web2.0 services and the Wireless Commons License (WCL) which describes the terms and conditions of use.
This project will provide 1,000 rural families (per year) in the Andes of Peru with access to mobile telecommunications and microfinancial services which have been developed and implemented to suit the specific requirements of the community to be served. Bringing easy and affordable access to telecommunications services to rural families will them to better their businesses, increase access to education and health services, and provide a forum for interaction with government services. It will also enhance the overall local competitiveness and in turn stimulates economic growth and substantive social benefits.
A sustainable business model for the project is proposed in which the most important premise of the model is that the community will own the network. A local organization will represent the community and be the legal owner. This legal owner will delegate the administration of the network to an administrator or local operator; the administrator will manage the network as a micro-enterprise. In a two-tiered approach to the betterment of rural communities in Peru, while we will provide these services in its provision we will empower the youth in the community, giving them responsibilities for managing and operating the network. We are planning to form a partnership with local microfinances institutions to deliver microfinancial services. The first year operating budget is $120,000; we hope to receive $60,000 from FITEL (National Fund of Investment in Rural Telecommunications) through the program for rural projects and raise the remaining $60,000 from local partners, local operators and international foundations. Revenue for the following years will be generated from selling services to rural communities. Our model ensures capital-efficiency as the code we will use to set up these networks is open source software developed by our local team with regards to the specific needs of rural communities to ensure that the model is scaleable and replicable.
Financial Assumptions of the System
• Customer Pricing: $6/month shared internet access and VoIP
• Size of system: 400 customers, can handle up to 1000
• Total CAPEX $120,000
• System breakeven, including recuperation of CAPEX: 36 months.
• Operating expense breakeven: 10 month, 250 customers.
Communications equipment
Transmission and switching equipment $10,000
Backbone link $20,000
Terminal equipment $40,000
Import duties (43%) $30,100
Installation $5,000
Total communications equipment $105,100
Operations centre
Communications towers $7,000
Commercial installations $4,000
Information system, billing and customer service $3,900
Total operations centre $14,900
Total CAPEX $120,000
While the privatization of state-owned enterprises and increased market competition has led to tremendous growth in Peru’s telecommunication sector there still remain many rural and marginal areas without access to these services as the growth has occurred mainly in the urban areas. Given the low population density in the rural areas – 15.8 inh./km2 compared to 231.8 inhabitants/km2 in Lima - ) this project will use wireless telecommunications to be the unique and effective way to connect low density isolated communities and deliver microfinancial services. Research showed that wireless telephony in rural areas is low; fewer than 6% of rural households have access, compared with almost 60% in Lima. Internet access from rural households is practically nil at 0.14%, compared with 16% in Lima. 29% of households in Lima have computers, compared to 0.7% of rural households. A better access to telecommunications will help bridge this digital divide, opening up new possibilities to deliver basic and low cost public and microfinancial services to families in rural regions.
The project will in particular employ an extremely economical open source technology (Meraki, CUWiN) which support all Web2.0 services and the Wireless Commons License (WCL) which describes the terms and conditions of use.
This project will provide 1,000 rural families (per year) in the Andes of Peru with access to mobile telecommunications and microfinancial services which have been developed and implemented to suit the specific requirements of the community to be served. Bringing easy and affordable access to telecommunications services to rural families will them to better their businesses, increase access to education and health services, and provide a forum for interaction with government services. It will also enhance the overall local competitiveness and in turn stimulates economic growth and substantive social benefits.
A sustainable business model for the project is proposed in which the most important premise of the model is that the community will own the network. A local organization will represent the community and be the legal owner. This legal owner will delegate the administration of the network to an administrator or local operator; the administrator will manage the network as a micro-enterprise. In a two-tiered approach to the betterment of rural communities in Peru, while we will provide these services in its provision we will empower the youth in the community, giving them responsibilities for managing and operating the network. We are planning to form a partnership with local microfinances institutions to deliver microfinancial services. The first year operating budget is $120,000; we hope to receive $60,000 from FITEL (National Fund of Investment in Rural Telecommunications) through the program for rural projects and raise the remaining $60,000 from local partners, local operators and international foundations. Revenue for the following years will be generated from selling services to rural communities. Our model ensures capital-efficiency as the code we will use to set up these networks is open source software developed by our local team with regards to the specific needs of rural communities to ensure that the model is scaleable and replicable.
Financial Assumptions of the System
• Customer Pricing: $6/month shared internet access and VoIP
• Size of system: 400 customers, can handle up to 1000
• Total CAPEX $120,000
• System breakeven, including recuperation of CAPEX: 36 months.
• Operating expense breakeven: 10 month, 250 customers.
Communications equipment
Transmission and switching equipment $10,000
Backbone link $20,000
Terminal equipment $40,000
Import duties (43%) $30,100
Installation $5,000
Total communications equipment $105,100
Operations centre
Communications towers $7,000
Commercial installations $4,000
Information system, billing and customer service $3,900
Total operations centre $14,900
Total CAPEX $120,000
International Development Design Summit
International Development Design Summit IDDS is dedicated to using technology to design simple yet efficient solutions for problems in the developing world. The web for IDDS 2008 is now available.
Cell Phone Mashup: Mobile Microfinances to Eradicate Poverty
Today Grameen Phone has more than 10 million subscribers, connects 100 million people through 250,000 phone ladies, who buy phones on microloans from the Grameen Bank and lease air time to villagers to make a living after paying off their loans. Today a phone lady earns on an average $750 a year, which is double the average annual income of a Bangladeshi. Grameen Phone has revenues of $1 billion and annual profits of $200 million.
Despite the success of microfinance around the world, nearly two billion people still lack access to financial services. In several countries, technology approaches are emerging that have the potential to bring financial services to those that microfinance has found difficult to reach up to now. Brazil’s banks use 90,000 electronic terminals in retail outlets as a low-cost channel for hard-to-reach areas. Millions of people in the Philippines receive remittances and make purchases using their mobile phones. Banks in India are sharing their technology platforms with microfinance institutions (MFIs) to expand their product range and reduce costs. Mobile technologies can be used to serve those without access to formal financial services.
Mobiles will be the PC for the people who don’ t have the resources to get computers and connect to the Net. Some 70-80% of poor consumers in the world are still without mobile phones, but millions of subscribers are added each year as the price of handsets drops and coverage expands.
Research by the London Business School has shown that 10 phones per 100 people add 0.6% to the GDP of a country and the United Nations estimates that 0.6% growth cuts poverty by 1.2%. 4 billion people living on less than $2 at the bottom of the pyramid. A recently report estimates that these 4 billion people in poverty are a $5 trillion market.
Our inspiration is the notable story of Grameen Phone. The project will provide rural families in the Andes of Peru with access to microfinancial services in their communities for the first time. The project will in particular employ an extremely economical open source technology for cellphones, " OpenMoko ", which support all Web2.0 services and an unique, cost-efficient and effective way to deliver, commercialize and financing these services.
In lay terms, we want to be an open platform to make it easy to reach the lowest-income markets using cell phones as an input device and a sales channel for companies and organizations serving the bottom of the pyramid.
Despite the success of microfinance around the world, nearly two billion people still lack access to financial services. In several countries, technology approaches are emerging that have the potential to bring financial services to those that microfinance has found difficult to reach up to now. Brazil’s banks use 90,000 electronic terminals in retail outlets as a low-cost channel for hard-to-reach areas. Millions of people in the Philippines receive remittances and make purchases using their mobile phones. Banks in India are sharing their technology platforms with microfinance institutions (MFIs) to expand their product range and reduce costs. Mobile technologies can be used to serve those without access to formal financial services.
Mobiles will be the PC for the people who don’ t have the resources to get computers and connect to the Net. Some 70-80% of poor consumers in the world are still without mobile phones, but millions of subscribers are added each year as the price of handsets drops and coverage expands.
Research by the London Business School has shown that 10 phones per 100 people add 0.6% to the GDP of a country and the United Nations estimates that 0.6% growth cuts poverty by 1.2%. 4 billion people living on less than $2 at the bottom of the pyramid. A recently report estimates that these 4 billion people in poverty are a $5 trillion market.
Our inspiration is the notable story of Grameen Phone. The project will provide rural families in the Andes of Peru with access to microfinancial services in their communities for the first time. The project will in particular employ an extremely economical open source technology for cellphones, " OpenMoko ", which support all Web2.0 services and an unique, cost-efficient and effective way to deliver, commercialize and financing these services.
In lay terms, we want to be an open platform to make it easy to reach the lowest-income markets using cell phones as an input device and a sales channel for companies and organizations serving the bottom of the pyramid.
Assistive Technology for Blind People
As cell phones have become an increasingly conspicuous part of everyday life, they have also become more and more powerful, equipped with computer operating systems and more features being added with every new model, but there are concerns among the blind and visually impaired community as to whether or not these and other cell phone features will be accessible.
Phones with assistive commercial software loaded on them certainly give blind and visually impaired people access to many more features than the other phones. However, the cost of these phone/software combinations are very high, putting them out of the price range of most blind and visually impaired people.
Objetive A is develop a screen magnifier application that:
* Support 2x,4x,6x and reverse color.
* Magnifying the area of interest as you navigate through the phone's user interface.
* The user must pan up and down, in addition to left and right, to read all the letters in the screen and through multiple lines of text.
* Users could take advantage of the magnification feature when viewing photographs and webpages to make the Mobile Internet accessible.
Objetive B is develop a screen reader application that:
* Provide voice output to access menus and screen information through the easy-to-understand speech synthesizer.
* Voice characteristics, such as speed, pitch, volume, and key echo, can be adjusted according to user preferences.
* Including access to status indicators, the contacts application, calendar, text and multimedia messaging, e-mail and Web browsing.
* Provides speech output to identify the punctuation marks and symbols while you scroll through the list to choose one of them.
* Speech output: English, French, Spanish.
Objetive C is develop an Authentication and Identity Verification System that:
* Enable mobile devices to conduct a wide range of secure financial transactions, including the ability to act as debit card, receive and pays bills, savings, money transfers, person to person transactions and buy airtime for a prepaid mobile phone subscription. Customers can have orders and stop orders.
* Support local language voice instructions.
* Support biometric fingerprint identitication.
* To ensure that retail agents do not defraud customers when they take their cash.
* Retail agents are not permitted to collect more cash in a day than the balance of funds in the account.
Phones with assistive commercial software loaded on them certainly give blind and visually impaired people access to many more features than the other phones. However, the cost of these phone/software combinations are very high, putting them out of the price range of most blind and visually impaired people.
Objetive A is develop a screen magnifier application that:
* Support 2x,4x,6x and reverse color.
* Magnifying the area of interest as you navigate through the phone's user interface.
* The user must pan up and down, in addition to left and right, to read all the letters in the screen and through multiple lines of text.
* Users could take advantage of the magnification feature when viewing photographs and webpages to make the Mobile Internet accessible.
Objetive B is develop a screen reader application that:
* Provide voice output to access menus and screen information through the easy-to-understand speech synthesizer.
* Voice characteristics, such as speed, pitch, volume, and key echo, can be adjusted according to user preferences.
* Including access to status indicators, the contacts application, calendar, text and multimedia messaging, e-mail and Web browsing.
* Provides speech output to identify the punctuation marks and symbols while you scroll through the list to choose one of them.
* Speech output: English, French, Spanish.
Objetive C is develop an Authentication and Identity Verification System that:
* Enable mobile devices to conduct a wide range of secure financial transactions, including the ability to act as debit card, receive and pays bills, savings, money transfers, person to person transactions and buy airtime for a prepaid mobile phone subscription. Customers can have orders and stop orders.
* Support local language voice instructions.
* Support biometric fingerprint identitication.
* To ensure that retail agents do not defraud customers when they take their cash.
* Retail agents are not permitted to collect more cash in a day than the balance of funds in the account.
Reducing Water Pollution
Reduce the pollution of the marine and fresh waters caused by synthetic cleaning products and help to alleviate poverty in a sustainable way.
Our project enables small scale farmers, grassroot entrepreneurs and SMEs to be value chain actors through the production of natural cleaning products, made of Boliche (Sapindus saponaria sp.), a native plant from South America, for local and global markets. We design and develop new products including packaging, marketing and sales. All the others business activities will be outsourced to local SMEs. Project is designed to:
- Improve profitability, market access, environmental sustainability and business relationships for clusters of farmers and processors.
- Offer products to satisfy the green market needs for consumers in Peru and the World.
This is a new approach because we support the sustainable production of green products to guarantee financial and environmental sustainability. At the same time, we support the development of sustainable agriculture systems. It means to empower poor segment to protect their enviroment and recover their traditional knowledge.
Our products are characterized by being non-toxics, 100% biodegradables, and no contains phosphates, artificial fragrances or dyes.
The organization made a set of studies including feasibility, benchmarking and consumer behavior. The project will be conducted in three phases: (A) 1st year: pilot phase in 1 regions (B) 2nd year: scale-up phase in 4 regions and (C) replication phase. We have a clear vision of the appropriate scale of intervention, although it started with a pilot phase, it aimed from the beginning to eventually provide a business environment for the incorporation of the poor in the value chain.
Our project enables small scale farmers, grassroot entrepreneurs and SMEs to be value chain actors through the production of natural cleaning products, made of Boliche (Sapindus saponaria sp.), a native plant from South America, for local and global markets. We design and develop new products including packaging, marketing and sales. All the others business activities will be outsourced to local SMEs. Project is designed to:
- Improve profitability, market access, environmental sustainability and business relationships for clusters of farmers and processors.
- Offer products to satisfy the green market needs for consumers in Peru and the World.
This is a new approach because we support the sustainable production of green products to guarantee financial and environmental sustainability. At the same time, we support the development of sustainable agriculture systems. It means to empower poor segment to protect their enviroment and recover their traditional knowledge.
Our products are characterized by being non-toxics, 100% biodegradables, and no contains phosphates, artificial fragrances or dyes.
The organization made a set of studies including feasibility, benchmarking and consumer behavior. The project will be conducted in three phases: (A) 1st year: pilot phase in 1 regions (B) 2nd year: scale-up phase in 4 regions and (C) replication phase. We have a clear vision of the appropriate scale of intervention, although it started with a pilot phase, it aimed from the beginning to eventually provide a business environment for the incorporation of the poor in the value chain.
The Great Peruvian Sushi
Peruvian cuisine is one of the best in the world and it is known not only for its exquisite taste, but also for its variety and ability to incorporate the influence from different times and cultures.
The Peruvian cuisine is an important expression of its own culture and tradition. It embraces new trends and influences and fuse them into something uniquely Peruvian. In fact, like Chinese and Italian, Japanese is one of the great late 19th and early 20th century migrations to Peru. The Japanese immigrants began opening seafood centered restaurants that inspired a resurgence love of fish and consequently the development of the “Ceviche” and “Tiradito” we know today.
The mayors of the ingredients found in every Peruvian dish are rice, potatoes, chicken and fish. Most of these meals include one of the different kinds of "Aji", or peruvian hot pepper, which mainly are: yellow aji pepper, red aji pepper, red rocoto pepper, and many others. Most of these kinds of aji are difficult to find in any other country. The Quechua word for Aji is “Uchu”.
Uchu Sushi is an amalgam of Peruvian and Japanese cuisine that goes beyond Sushi. It is a mixture of flavors that integrate Peruvian and Japanese cuisine at its highest level. The local ingredients and seafood from the Peruvian ocean creates an exquisite plate.
Uchu Sushi: (serves 4 people)
Ingredients:
1/4 kg of fresh Anchoveta fillet (Peruvian fish).
2 cups of Peruvian white rice.
4 Yellow Aji (Peruvian hot pepper).
1 Red Aji (Peruvian hot pepper).
4 Leaves of Acelga (Peruvian plant)
Preparation:
Slice the Anchoveta into rectangles, about a quarter-inch thick. Place the Yellow Aji in boiling water for 3 minutes, then transfer to ice water. When cooled remove the veins and keep the shell. Place one slice of Anchoveta and one red aji strip on the leave of Acelga and roll to form a cylindrical shape. Using your hands, take the yellow aji shell and form a cylindrical shape to match the previous roll. Take a small amount of the Peruvian white rice and place the rice block on top, and press gently to shape the sushi. Roll the sushi and cut into slices. Decorate the plate with Cilantro leaves. Serve with Aji Amarillo Sauce, Soy Sauce and a cup of Pisco Sour.
Aji Amarillo Sauce:
Ingredients:
2 Tbs. Sacha Inchi Oil
1 small onion, minced
2 tablespoon minced garlic
2 1/2 tablespoon dried aji amarillo
some drops of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation :
Saute onions and garlic in Sacha Inchi oil, add aji amarillo, stir for 3 minutes, season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to food processor to produce a smooth sauce.
Drink: Pisco Sour (serves 4 people)
Ingredients:
4 measures of pure Peruvian Pisco
1 measure of gum syrup
1 measure of key lime juice
1/8 of a measure of an egg white
4 ice cubes
3 drops of Angostura Bitters
Preparation:
Place all the ingredients, except for the Angostura Bitters, in the order listed above in a cocktail shaker. Shake for 15 seconds. Strain and serve in a chilled, 8 oz. cocktail glass. Decorate the top with 3 drops of Angostura Bitters.
The Peruvian cuisine is an important expression of its own culture and tradition. It embraces new trends and influences and fuse them into something uniquely Peruvian. In fact, like Chinese and Italian, Japanese is one of the great late 19th and early 20th century migrations to Peru. The Japanese immigrants began opening seafood centered restaurants that inspired a resurgence love of fish and consequently the development of the “Ceviche” and “Tiradito” we know today.
The mayors of the ingredients found in every Peruvian dish are rice, potatoes, chicken and fish. Most of these meals include one of the different kinds of "Aji", or peruvian hot pepper, which mainly are: yellow aji pepper, red aji pepper, red rocoto pepper, and many others. Most of these kinds of aji are difficult to find in any other country. The Quechua word for Aji is “Uchu”.
Uchu Sushi is an amalgam of Peruvian and Japanese cuisine that goes beyond Sushi. It is a mixture of flavors that integrate Peruvian and Japanese cuisine at its highest level. The local ingredients and seafood from the Peruvian ocean creates an exquisite plate.
Uchu Sushi: (serves 4 people)
Ingredients:
1/4 kg of fresh Anchoveta fillet (Peruvian fish).
2 cups of Peruvian white rice.
4 Yellow Aji (Peruvian hot pepper).
1 Red Aji (Peruvian hot pepper).
4 Leaves of Acelga (Peruvian plant)
Preparation:
Slice the Anchoveta into rectangles, about a quarter-inch thick. Place the Yellow Aji in boiling water for 3 minutes, then transfer to ice water. When cooled remove the veins and keep the shell. Place one slice of Anchoveta and one red aji strip on the leave of Acelga and roll to form a cylindrical shape. Using your hands, take the yellow aji shell and form a cylindrical shape to match the previous roll. Take a small amount of the Peruvian white rice and place the rice block on top, and press gently to shape the sushi. Roll the sushi and cut into slices. Decorate the plate with Cilantro leaves. Serve with Aji Amarillo Sauce, Soy Sauce and a cup of Pisco Sour.
Aji Amarillo Sauce:
Ingredients:
2 Tbs. Sacha Inchi Oil
1 small onion, minced
2 tablespoon minced garlic
2 1/2 tablespoon dried aji amarillo
some drops of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation :
Saute onions and garlic in Sacha Inchi oil, add aji amarillo, stir for 3 minutes, season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to food processor to produce a smooth sauce.
Drink: Pisco Sour (serves 4 people)
Ingredients:
4 measures of pure Peruvian Pisco
1 measure of gum syrup
1 measure of key lime juice
1/8 of a measure of an egg white
4 ice cubes
3 drops of Angostura Bitters
Preparation:
Place all the ingredients, except for the Angostura Bitters, in the order listed above in a cocktail shaker. Shake for 15 seconds. Strain and serve in a chilled, 8 oz. cocktail glass. Decorate the top with 3 drops of Angostura Bitters.
Pizzigati Prize
Tides Foundation Pizzigati Prize, a $10,000 annual award for outstanding contributions to software in the public interest. The competition, judged by a panel of national leaders in public interest computing, is now entering its third year. The application deadline for this year’s prize: September 1, 2008. You can find out more at www.pizzigatiprize.org.
The Economics of Early Childhood Policy
The Economics of Early Childhood Policy
What the Dismal Science Has to Say About Investing in Children
http://rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP227/
"Economic analysis increasingly plays a role in the debate on the merits of early childhood programs, but many people are unprepared to participate in the discussion," said Rebecca Kilburn, the report's lead author and an economist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. The report is intended to provide clarity and structure for making use of such research.
What the Dismal Science Has to Say About Investing in Children
http://rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP227/
"Economic analysis increasingly plays a role in the debate on the merits of early childhood programs, but many people are unprepared to participate in the discussion," said Rebecca Kilburn, the report's lead author and an economist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. The report is intended to provide clarity and structure for making use of such research.
War for Talent
Rethinking the ‘War for Talent’. Deepak Somaya and Ian O. Williamson. MIT Sloan Management Review.
The departure of talented employees can actually benefit a company, depending on where those individuals are hired. Therefore, organizations must learn how to lose certain battles in order to win the war.
The departure of talented employees can actually benefit a company, depending on where those individuals are hired. Therefore, organizations must learn how to lose certain battles in order to win the war.
Incubator for low birth weight infants in rural zones
Incubator for low birth weight infants in rural zones: Bridge the gap between healthcare available to urban and rural born infants.
High mortality rate of low-birth-weight (LBW) infants in rural zones could be prevented with access to an incubator, a device that provides a stable and safe environment for the baby. Traditional incubators are expensive and available primarily in urban hospitals. The challenge is to design an incubator to work in rural zones. It uses no electricity, is portable, easy to sterilize, reusable and intuitive to use. It facilitates and complements the widely practiced technique of kangaroo mother care.
High mortality rate of low-birth-weight (LBW) infants in rural zones could be prevented with access to an incubator, a device that provides a stable and safe environment for the baby. Traditional incubators are expensive and available primarily in urban hospitals. The challenge is to design an incubator to work in rural zones. It uses no electricity, is portable, easy to sterilize, reusable and intuitive to use. It facilitates and complements the widely practiced technique of kangaroo mother care.
Lightweight Foldable Greenhouses
Lightweight Foldable Greenhouses: Protecting Plants, Animals and People from Extreme Climate Events.
There is a growing concern about global climate change and the impact it has on people and the ecosystems on which they depend. In Peru, people from the Andes are the most affected and the region consistently has the worst indicators for access to telecommunications, health, water, education and extreme poverty. Foldable greenhouses made of cartonplast are an extremely economical solution for protecting plants, animals and people in the Andes. It could be deployed very quickly and cover large areas.
There is a growing concern about global climate change and the impact it has on people and the ecosystems on which they depend. In Peru, people from the Andes are the most affected and the region consistently has the worst indicators for access to telecommunications, health, water, education and extreme poverty. Foldable greenhouses made of cartonplast are an extremely economical solution for protecting plants, animals and people in the Andes. It could be deployed very quickly and cover large areas.
Green DB
Softchoice, EPEAT, and CNET recently announced the launch of a new, searchable online database that allows you to sort through hundreds of thousands of IT products to find those with the highest 'green' rankings.
The Drupal Open Source Initiative
Knight Foundation is working with the Drupal community on the Knight Drupal Initiative. To find out more, visit the Knight Drupal Initiative (KDI) overview.
The grant opportunity is open to the public, proposals will be voted on by the Drupal community, and anyone is welcome to register in the Drupal Community and submit a proposal.
The grant opportunity is open to the public, proposals will be voted on by the Drupal community, and anyone is welcome to register in the Drupal Community and submit a proposal.
Kiva
Nearly everyone told Matt and Jessica Flannery that their idea -- a website where people could make micro loans to individual borrowers in the developing world -- wouldn't work.
The L-RAMP Model
Arun Sharma is Scouting Lead for Innovations at the Lemelson Recognition and Mentoring Program (L-RAMP) and a writer for L-RAMP Blog, which explores trends in social enterprise, innovation, technology and poverty alleviation.
World Business and Development Awards
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) have opened nominations for the 2008 World Business and Development Awards in support of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The awards recognize the contribution of the private sector to help achieve the MDGs through their core business.
The awards recognize the contribution of the private sector to help achieve the MDGs through their core business.
Scientists Without Borders
The New York Academy of Sciences in partnership with many scientific and global health organizations—including the American Society for Cell Biology, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, the Earth Institute at Columbia University, the Pasteur Institute, and many others—is launching the first step in a new initiative called Scientists Without Borders http://www.nyas.org/programs/borders.asp. Like Doctors Without Borders and Engineers Without Borders, the goal of Scientists Without Borders is to improve quality of life in the developing world. However, unlike these project-based organizations, Scientists Without Borders is planning to build a virtual community that will connect and coordinate science-based activities worldwide so that scientists and institutions working in key research areas connected with health, agriculture, energy, and the environment can share everything from expertise and equipment to specimens and transportation.
The best solutions to 10 of the world's biggest challenges
More than 55 international economists, including 5 Nobel Laureates, will assess more than 50 solutions and assemble a list of priorities for everyone involved in solving the world's biggest challenges.
The aim of Copenhagen Consensus 2008 is to take stock of the world's biggest problems and the most promising solutions and provide informed input into the policy making process surrounding efforts to deal with these problems.
The aim of Copenhagen Consensus 2008 is to take stock of the world's biggest problems and the most promising solutions and provide informed input into the policy making process surrounding efforts to deal with these problems.
Making Green the New Business as Usual
This first edition of Innovations Review 2008: Making Green the New Business as Usual highlights more than 20 processes, products and technologies that were chosen based on four criteria: good for business, good for the environment, ready to be implemented and innovative.
The report includes innovations in real estate, operations and manufacturing, fleets, packaging, finance, human resources, shipping, retail, banking and food and agriculture.
The report includes innovations in real estate, operations and manufacturing, fleets, packaging, finance, human resources, shipping, retail, banking and food and agriculture.
Progress out of Poverty
Progress out of Poverty, is a website that demonstrates how microfinance institutions (MFIs) can understand and improve their social performance. The website features information and resources about the Progress out of Poverty Index™ (PPI™), a poverty assessment tool that helps MFIs measure the poverty levels of their clients. The PPI was commissioned by Grameen Foundation in collaboration with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the Ford Foundation.
Games and Malnutrition
Malnutrition is due primarily to poverty and limited access to nutritious food. The effects of malnutrition are far reaching and lasting: One child out of three in developing countries is mentally and physically stunted by malnutrition. Evidence from around the world demonstrates that investments in nutrition and education are fundamental to improving human welfare, resistance to disease and reduce poverty through improving worker productivity. Integrating health and nutrition messages into the basic education curriculum, particularly for girls, could be an effective approach to improving nutrition of future generations.
Chronic malnutrition is of crisis proportions among children in Peru. A high prevalence of stunting in the population has grave implications for the economic development of the country. Stunting in childhood reduces adults' economic productivity and earning capacity. The problem of stunting in Peru is highly concentrated in the Sierra region of the country. Almost 60% of the nation's stunted children live in the Sierra. The Sierra region consistently has the worst indicators for access to health, water and sanitation services, education, poverty and extreme poverty, and all indicators of dietary quality.
Peru’s nutrition problem does not solely rest on the availability of good, nutritious food, but the problem is also embedded in behavioral and cultural practices. Cultural practices are particularly influential in matters of food preparation and consumption. Certain foods may have strong ceremonial or religious ties, or may be preferred by a population simply as a matter of tradition.
Education can impact malnutrition levels through a number of pathways. Learning tools would be developed specifically to meet the needs of the rural populations and school teachers should be trained to deliver those messages appropriately.
The idea is implement an application or game written entirely in PyGame which will be installed on the OLPC XO client. You thought about implementing a full functionality game with the possibility to extend and add new features in the future. You would evaluate the requirements of a suitable application, analyze use cases, design the UI and implement using PyGame.
Game design according to national programs and guidelines:
- Kids have to construct menus and recipes, decide what to eat and what to avoid, exercise or not. They can design a daily meal plan, choosing from hundreds of ingredients and recipes, improve selection and preparation of food products to achieve optimal nutritional value.
- Kids choosing their character’s dietary and exercise habits, they can experiment with the constraints of nutrition and economics as they affect their character's general health.
- Region-appropriate nutrition information. For example, if only potatoes grow in one area, the game should address ways diets for children in that region can supported by things like vitamins and growing particular types of local plants.
Chronic malnutrition is of crisis proportions among children in Peru. A high prevalence of stunting in the population has grave implications for the economic development of the country. Stunting in childhood reduces adults' economic productivity and earning capacity. The problem of stunting in Peru is highly concentrated in the Sierra region of the country. Almost 60% of the nation's stunted children live in the Sierra. The Sierra region consistently has the worst indicators for access to health, water and sanitation services, education, poverty and extreme poverty, and all indicators of dietary quality.
Peru’s nutrition problem does not solely rest on the availability of good, nutritious food, but the problem is also embedded in behavioral and cultural practices. Cultural practices are particularly influential in matters of food preparation and consumption. Certain foods may have strong ceremonial or religious ties, or may be preferred by a population simply as a matter of tradition.
Education can impact malnutrition levels through a number of pathways. Learning tools would be developed specifically to meet the needs of the rural populations and school teachers should be trained to deliver those messages appropriately.
The idea is implement an application or game written entirely in PyGame which will be installed on the OLPC XO client. You thought about implementing a full functionality game with the possibility to extend and add new features in the future. You would evaluate the requirements of a suitable application, analyze use cases, design the UI and implement using PyGame.
Game design according to national programs and guidelines:
- Kids have to construct menus and recipes, decide what to eat and what to avoid, exercise or not. They can design a daily meal plan, choosing from hundreds of ingredients and recipes, improve selection and preparation of food products to achieve optimal nutritional value.
- Kids choosing their character’s dietary and exercise habits, they can experiment with the constraints of nutrition and economics as they affect their character's general health.
- Region-appropriate nutrition information. For example, if only potatoes grow in one area, the game should address ways diets for children in that region can supported by things like vitamins and growing particular types of local plants.
Entrepreneurship Opportunity
The Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) is hosting a special program for 50 students from around the world and you are invited to apply. Selected students will work on international, interdisciplinary teams for three months (from August through October), followed by a week-long, deep-dive experience at Stanford and Silicon Valley, from Oct 16 - 22, 2008.
Undergraduate and graduate students of all majors are welcome to apply. Applications are due by June 1st and students will be notified by June 15.
For more information, please visit the REE Fellows page:
http://ree.stanford.edu/usa_2008/fellows.html
Undergraduate and graduate students of all majors are welcome to apply. Applications are due by June 1st and students will be notified by June 15.
For more information, please visit the REE Fellows page:
http://ree.stanford.edu/usa_2008/fellows.html
Schools for Change: Water and Sanitation
According to UNICEF, more than half the world's schools lack clean toilets and drinking water, contributing to the waterborne diseases that take two million lives a year, 90% of them children. Young girls lose education and economic opportunity, as female school attendance drops dramatically when clean, safe toilets are unavailable.
In 2006, The Coca-Cola Company's East and Central Africa Division funded one of the Kenya's first schools-based efforts to reduce diarrheal diseases and improve pupil attendance by implementing the Safe Water System developed jointly by the World Health Organization, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Pan American Health Organization.
As a result, CARE is implementing a scaled-up program, SWASH+, which will cover 1,500 schools throughout Nyanza Province, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Water Challenge.
In 2006, The Coca-Cola Company's East and Central Africa Division funded one of the Kenya's first schools-based efforts to reduce diarrheal diseases and improve pupil attendance by implementing the Safe Water System developed jointly by the World Health Organization, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Pan American Health Organization.
As a result, CARE is implementing a scaled-up program, SWASH+, which will cover 1,500 schools throughout Nyanza Province, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Water Challenge.
Where is the limit for folding paper in half?
If you could fold typical sheet of printer paper, a tenth of a milimeter thick, in half 37 consecutive times, you’d end up with folded paper thicker than the diameter of the Earth. Mind you, the footprint of that paper tower would be less than a billionth of a square inch. That is, evidently, impossible. So where is the limit for folding paper in half?
Innovation in Global Industries
The debate over offshoring of production, transfer of technological capabilities, and potential loss of U.S. competitiveness is a long-running one. Prevailing thinking is that the world is flat that is, innovative capacity is spreading uniformly; as new centers of manufacturing emerge, research and development and new product development follow.
Innovation in Global Industries challenges this thinking. The book, a collection of individually authored studies, examines in detail structural changes in the innovation process in 10 service as well as manufacturing industries: personal computers; semiconductors; flat-panel displays; software; lighting; biotechnology; pharmaceuticals; financial services; logistics; and venture capital.
Innovation in Global Industries challenges this thinking. The book, a collection of individually authored studies, examines in detail structural changes in the innovation process in 10 service as well as manufacturing industries: personal computers; semiconductors; flat-panel displays; software; lighting; biotechnology; pharmaceuticals; financial services; logistics; and venture capital.
Technological Literacy
The NAE has launched a new web site on technological literacy. Learn about our relationship with technology, common misconceptions, and the Government's role in the development and use of technology.
BoP Strategies to Scale
"Taking Base of the Pyramid Strategies to Scale" is a series of eleven blog postings that debate a radical new approach to scaling BoP business models, which its proponents call a "transformative sector strategy. In the series, Al Hammond introduces the conceptual framework for this new development model and provides examples of the strategy in action from the Health and ICT sectors. Six BoP experts comment on the strategy in subsequent guest commentaries, followed by a fifth concluding post from Hammond.
PPPL Stellarator Experiment has been cancelled
From Physics Today: The Department of Energy announced today that the Princeton-based National Compact Stellarator Experiment has been cancelled.
"In late 2006, it became clear that NCSX construction project would not be able to meet its approved baseline total project cost of $102M or its completion date of July 2009," said Under Secretary for Science Raymond Orbach in a statement.
"In late 2006, it became clear that NCSX construction project would not be able to meet its approved baseline total project cost of $102M or its completion date of July 2009," said Under Secretary for Science Raymond Orbach in a statement.
2008 ILLUSION CONTEST WINNERS
The TOP THREE winners of the 2008 "Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest"
are:
- 1st PRIZE: Rob van Lier and Mark Vergeer (Radboud University Nijmegen, The
Netherlands) -- "Filling in the Afterimage after the Image"
- 2nd prize: Rob Jenkins (University of Glasgow, UK)-- "Ghostly Gaze"
- 3rd prize: Thomas Papathomas (Rutgers University, USA)--"Rolling Eyes on a
Hollow Mask"
Check out the WINNING ILLUSIONS, and all TOP TEN finalists at:
http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com
are:
- 1st PRIZE: Rob van Lier and Mark Vergeer (Radboud University Nijmegen, The
Netherlands) -- "Filling in the Afterimage after the Image"
- 2nd prize: Rob Jenkins (University of Glasgow, UK)-- "Ghostly Gaze"
- 3rd prize: Thomas Papathomas (Rutgers University, USA)--"Rolling Eyes on a
Hollow Mask"
Check out the WINNING ILLUSIONS, and all TOP TEN finalists at:
http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com
Strategies For Sustained Growth And Inclusive Development
The Commission on Growth and Development released its final report,The Growth Report: Strategies for Sustained Growth and Inclusive Development, which looks at how developing countries can achieve fast sustained and equitable growth.
Fast, sustained growth is not a miracle – it is possible for developing countries, as long as their leaders are committed to achieving it and take advantage of the opportunities provided by the global economy. Developing countries also need to know the levels of incentives and public investments that are needed for private investment to take off in a manner that leads to the long term diversification of the economy and integration into the global economy.
The Commission is the result of two years work on the requirements for sustained and inclusive growth in developing countries led by 19 experienced policymakers and two Nobel prize-winning economists. Its work has been supported by the Governments of Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the World Bank Group.
Fast, sustained growth is not a miracle – it is possible for developing countries, as long as their leaders are committed to achieving it and take advantage of the opportunities provided by the global economy. Developing countries also need to know the levels of incentives and public investments that are needed for private investment to take off in a manner that leads to the long term diversification of the economy and integration into the global economy.
The Commission is the result of two years work on the requirements for sustained and inclusive growth in developing countries led by 19 experienced policymakers and two Nobel prize-winning economists. Its work has been supported by the Governments of Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the World Bank Group.
Amateur scientists
Amateur scientists make important contributions in a number of fields, from astronomy to ornithology. But very few have the background needed to succeed in high-energy physics. Read more
Tracing information flow on a global scale using Internet chain-letter data
Tracing information flow on a global scale using Internet chain-letter data
March 19, 2008, 10.1073/pnas.0708471105
March 19, 2008, 10.1073/pnas.0708471105
Although information, news, and opinions continuously circulate in the worldwide social network, the actual mechanics of how any single piece of information spreads on a global scale have been a mystery. Here, we trace such information-spreading processes at a person-by-person level using methods to reconstruct the propagation of massively circulated Internet chain letters.
Training Program for Indigenous Communities
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will launch in September 2008 a pilot program to assist indigenous communities to document their own cultural traditions, archive this heritage for future generations, and safeguard their interest in authorizing use of their recordings and traditions by third parties.
New technologies provide communities with fresh opportunities to document and digitize expressions of their traditional cultures, meeting the strong desire of communities to preserve, promote and pass on their cultural heritage to succeeding generations. Yet, these new forms of documentation and digitization can leave this cultural heritage vulnerable to unwanted exploitation beyond the traditional circle. This pilot program recognizes both the utility of technology for indigenous communities and the paramount need to empower communities to make informed decisions about how to manage intellectual property issues in a way that corresponds with community values and development goals.
This pilot project forms part of WIPO’s Creative Heritage Project, which is developing an integrated set of practical resources and guidelines for cultural institutions such as museums and indigenous communities on managing intellectual property options when digitizing intangible cultural heritage.
New technologies provide communities with fresh opportunities to document and digitize expressions of their traditional cultures, meeting the strong desire of communities to preserve, promote and pass on their cultural heritage to succeeding generations. Yet, these new forms of documentation and digitization can leave this cultural heritage vulnerable to unwanted exploitation beyond the traditional circle. This pilot program recognizes both the utility of technology for indigenous communities and the paramount need to empower communities to make informed decisions about how to manage intellectual property issues in a way that corresponds with community values and development goals.
This pilot project forms part of WIPO’s Creative Heritage Project, which is developing an integrated set of practical resources and guidelines for cultural institutions such as museums and indigenous communities on managing intellectual property options when digitizing intangible cultural heritage.
Grand Challenges Explorations: A $100 million initiative
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is now accepting grant proposals for Grand Challenges Explorations. A $100 million initiative, the program intends to help scientists pursue innovative ideas for solving major global health problems. Proposals will be accepted until May 30, 2008 on the following topics:
- Exploring the basis for latency in TB
- Creating drugs or delivery systems that limit the emergence of resistance
- Creating new ways to protect against infectious diseases
- Creating new ways to prevent or cure HIV infection
Initial grants will be $100,000 each, and projects showing success will have the opportunity to receive additional funding of $1 million or more. Full descriptions of the topics and application instructions are available at www.gcgh.org/explorations
- Exploring the basis for latency in TB
- Creating drugs or delivery systems that limit the emergence of resistance
- Creating new ways to protect against infectious diseases
- Creating new ways to prevent or cure HIV infection
Initial grants will be $100,000 each, and projects showing success will have the opportunity to receive additional funding of $1 million or more. Full descriptions of the topics and application instructions are available at www.gcgh.org/explorations
World Health Statistics 2008
World Health Statistics 2008 presents the most recent health statistics for WHO's 193 Member States. This fourth edition includes 10 highlights in health statistics, as well as an expanded set of over 70 key health indicators. It includes, for the first time, trend data where the statistics are available and of acceptable quality.
Full report PDF [112p.] at:
http://www.who.int/entity/whosis/whostat/EN_WHS08_Full.pdf
WHO's Statistical Information System: http://www.who.int/statistics
Full report PDF [112p.] at:
http://www.who.int/entity/whosis/whostat/EN_WHS08_Full.pdf
WHO's Statistical Information System: http://www.who.int/statistics
Yunus Calls for World Leaders to Address Food Crisis
Muhammad Yunus issued a call to action to world leaders for more aggressive action in solving the looming global food crisis. Yunus laid out a six-point plan to prevent a humanitarian disaster of world starvation, key to his plan is the formation of a “poverty and agriculture fund” paid for by a small tax on the sale of oil. The fund would be managed by these contributing nations and used to create social businesses. Read the full article
Creationism in US schools
From New Scientist: Despite a court-ordered ban on the teaching of creationism in US schools, about one in eight high-school biology teachers still teach it as valid science, a survey reveals. And, although almost all teachers also taught evolution, those with less training in science – and especially evolutionary biology – tend to devote less class time to Darwinian principles.
The Social Construction of Technology
Great ideas seem to percolate for a while, often in different locations, before emerging. Some theorists describe a linear evolution, with developing scientific competencies, specific designs, prototyping, then a socially dictated need. Others describe more of a process-oriented negotiation among political and commercial interests, with false starts, and different versions of the invention popping up before society settles on a dominant application.
Putting Human Agency into the Equation: The Social Construction of Technology
SPEAKER: William C. Uricchio
Putting Human Agency into the Equation: The Social Construction of Technology
SPEAKER: William C. Uricchio
Call for SEVEN Fund Student Essay Competition
The S.E.VEN Fund has announced its 2008-2009 Student Essay Competition. The competition will award one (1) undergraduate student prize of US$10,000 and one (1) graduate student prize of US$20,000. The submission deadline is December 7, 2008 at midnight Eastern Standard Time (EST). Winners will be announced on February 7, 2009.
Business Plans to Help People Live Longer and Better
Student who compete in the Wharton BPC have recently turned their attention to another promising arena -- healthcare, specifically biotechnology, that combination of medicine, basic science and engineering that has unraveled the human genome and, if it lives up to its promise, could deliver a raft of new treatments for a variety of diseases.
New Edition: Understanding and Responding to Climate Change
The National Academies have released the 2008 edition of "Understanding and Responding to Climate Change," a free booklet designed to give the public a comprehensive and easy-to-read analysis of findings and recommendations from our reports on climate change.
World’s Poor Pay Price
The fight against the pests which destroy harvests, as well as to ready agriculture for climate change, is harmed as budgets for research and the conservation of crop diversity are cut. Read the New York Times article
Chinese innovation
OCED Observer is running a good piece this month assessing the state of innovation in China: "China can rekindle its great innovative past, though some reforms may be needed first."
Without chemical fertilizer
Norman Borlaug is the American scientist widely credited with spearheading the Green Revolution. He believes organic agriculture cannot feed the world, and anyone who thinks so is an idiot. Chemical fertilizer facilitated a 600 percent surge in global food production between 1900 and 2000, allowing the global population to boom from 1.7 billion to 6.5 billion.
“Without chemical fertilizer,” says Norman Borlaug in Wednesday’s New York Times about rising fertilizer prices, “forget it. The game is over.”
“Without chemical fertilizer,” says Norman Borlaug in Wednesday’s New York Times about rising fertilizer prices, “forget it. The game is over.”
The Global Food Crisis
Laurie Garrett, an expert on Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations, has written a thoughtful and compelling article (Food Failures and Futures) on the global food crisis. She breaks down the crisis into its component parts, showing how the high price of food is connected to global warming, oil prices, increasing demand for goods from a growing global middle class and swelling population.
R&D coming from colleges
Stanford owns the patent on Google's Internet search technology, and last year, the university earned $48 million from 428 technologies licensed to companies. Texas Instruments was early to recognize the power of university research. The company has partnerships with Rice, Georgia Tech and the University of Illinois, among others, and with universities in India and China. TI CEO Rich Templeton spoke with USA TODAY Jones about the R&D coming from colleges.
Wind Energy
Wind Energy is to be a bigger contributor to U.S. (and global) electricity generation than new nuclear power in the coming decades says a new report from the department of energy.
Links: Disasters
Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System
http://www.gdacs.org
The GDACS provides near real-time alerts about natural disasters around the world and tools to facilitate response coordination, including media monitoring, map catalogues and Virtual On-Site Operations Coordination Centre.
CLIMATE-L.ORG
http://www.climate-l.org
This is a knowledge management project for international negotiations and related activities on climate change run by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
Microfinance and Disaster Management
http://tinyurl.com/5c9563
Stuart Mathison / The Foundation for Development Cooperation (FDC)
2007 / Global, -
”This paper enunciates policies and strategies to help MFIs prepare for the impact of natural disasters. MFIs will be better placed to respond effectively when a disaster strikes if they has worked through the issues, designed policies and products, and negotiated collaboration with Disaster Management Agencies (DMAs), before disaster strikes rather than in the midst of it.”
Field Manual: Supporting Microfinance through Grants in Post-Crisis Settings
http://www.microfinancegateway.com/files/44668_file_Field_Guide_FINAL.pdf
This DAI field manual offers guidance to small grant program managers on supporting microfinance institutions (MFIs1) in countries recovering from conflict or natural disaster through small, shortterm grants.2 These guidelines will help practitioners - particularly those with limited experience in financial services - (i) determine if investment in microfinance is appropriate given a number of environmental and institutional factors, and (ii) outline options for supporting MFIs in postcrisis environments through grants and other forms of technical assistance.
http://www.gdacs.org
The GDACS provides near real-time alerts about natural disasters around the world and tools to facilitate response coordination, including media monitoring, map catalogues and Virtual On-Site Operations Coordination Centre.
CLIMATE-L.ORG
http://www.climate-l.org
This is a knowledge management project for international negotiations and related activities on climate change run by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
Microfinance and Disaster Management
http://tinyurl.com/5c9563
Stuart Mathison / The Foundation for Development Cooperation (FDC)
2007 / Global, -
”This paper enunciates policies and strategies to help MFIs prepare for the impact of natural disasters. MFIs will be better placed to respond effectively when a disaster strikes if they has worked through the issues, designed policies and products, and negotiated collaboration with Disaster Management Agencies (DMAs), before disaster strikes rather than in the midst of it.”
Field Manual: Supporting Microfinance through Grants in Post-Crisis Settings
http://www.microfinancegateway.com/files/44668_file_Field_Guide_FINAL.pdf
This DAI field manual offers guidance to small grant program managers on supporting microfinance institutions (MFIs1) in countries recovering from conflict or natural disaster through small, shortterm grants.2 These guidelines will help practitioners - particularly those with limited experience in financial services - (i) determine if investment in microfinance is appropriate given a number of environmental and institutional factors, and (ii) outline options for supporting MFIs in postcrisis environments through grants and other forms of technical assistance.
The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards
The total prize package for the 2008 Global Student Entrepreneur Awards is estimated at over $100,000 in cash and business products and services donated by Entrepreneurs’ Organization members.
The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards welcomes nominees from any country around the globe. In locations where we do not have a regional program established, nominees will be judged virtually by a panel of entrepreneurs.
The deadline for nominations globally is 31 August 2008!
The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards welcomes nominees from any country around the globe. In locations where we do not have a regional program established, nominees will be judged virtually by a panel of entrepreneurs.
The deadline for nominations globally is 31 August 2008!
SECOND ANNUAL SPARKY VIDEO CONTEST
The Second Annual Sparky Awards is a contest that recognizes the best new short videos on the value of sharing and aims to broaden the discussion of access to scholarly research by inviting students to express their views creatively.
This year’s contest is being organized by SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) with additional co-sponsorship by the Association of College and Research Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, Penn Libraries (at the University of Pennsylvania), Students for Free Culture, and The Student PIRGs. Details are online at www.sparkyawards.org
This year’s contest is being organized by SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) with additional co-sponsorship by the Association of College and Research Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, Penn Libraries (at the University of Pennsylvania), Students for Free Culture, and The Student PIRGs. Details are online at www.sparkyawards.org
Hawking: The world of science needs Africa’s brilliant talents
From The London Times: Stephen Hawking, who has devoted his career to finding the origins of the universe, is to begin a new search – for Africa’s answer to Einstein.
Some of the world’s leading high-tech entrepreneurs and scientists have backed the £75m plan to create Africa’s first postgraduate centres for advanced maths and physics, after the British government declined to provide funding.
Hawking will be joined by eminent physicists and mathematicians including two Nobel laureates in physics.
“The world of science needs Africa’s brilliant talents and I look forward to meeting prospective young Einsteins from Africa,” said Hawking.
Some of the world’s leading high-tech entrepreneurs and scientists have backed the £75m plan to create Africa’s first postgraduate centres for advanced maths and physics, after the British government declined to provide funding.
Hawking will be joined by eminent physicists and mathematicians including two Nobel laureates in physics.
“The world of science needs Africa’s brilliant talents and I look forward to meeting prospective young Einsteins from Africa,” said Hawking.
Wireless Technology for Social Change
The study "Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in NGO Mobile Use," conducted by the U.N and Vodafone foundations, the study offers many inspiring stories of how activists and development experts in the field are using mobile technologies in innovative ways.
Agro Products Design
The main problems in Peru as poverty, low productivity, inadequate infrastructure and poorly integrated markets are often exacerbated by an under-developed agro-industrial sector. Little attention has usually been paid to the value chain through which agricultural commodities and products reach the final consumers in Peru and abroad.
According to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO, 2007), while high-income countries add US$180 of value by processing one tonne of agricultural products, developing countries generate only US$40. Moreover, while 98 percent of agricultural production in high-income countries undergoes industrial processing, barely 30 percent is processed in developing countries.
In this context, Agro Products Design (APD) can make a vital contribution to the development of developing and transition economies, which typically have a predominantly agricultural and rural base. Since these services are at the centre of the agro-industrial value chain, it serves to strengthen forward and backward agro-industrial linkages in order to raise productivity and increase the potential for promoting growth in value added and employment. The impact of these activities consequently has a strong potential outreach to poor and marginalized rural population groups, and is closely in line with several of the MDGs, in particular the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger.
APD comprise a range of technical assistance and know-how, which encompass the following key areas:
A. Inclusive Business: APD business model enables small scale farmers, grassroot entrepreneurs and SMEs to be value chain actors through the production of organic, natural, non GMO and fair trade products, made of native plants, for local and global markets. We design and develop new products including packaging, promotion, marketing and sales. All the others business activities will be outsourced to local SMEs. Project activities are designed to: -Improve profitability, market access, operational efficiency, crop/livestock diversity, environmental stewardship and business relationships for clusters of farmers and processors. -Offer products to satisfy the health and eco market needs for consumers in Peru, North America and Europe.
B. Web2.0 Tools: Agri Mashup offer relevant content by visualizing key information in areas such as market demands, legal advice, sources of financing, government services, business opportunities and technical information. It also addresses some of the major problems facing farmers and low-income entrepreneurs: access to formal economy, integration with global markets, fair trade conditions, better prices and how to giving aggregate value to their products.
C. Zero-Energy Warehousing and Greenhousing System: Our new warehousing and greenhousing system for sustainable agro-industry is designed to use only energy from renewable sources generated on site. Rain water falling on the site is collected and reused. Building materials are selected from renewable sources on the site, to minimize the energy required for transportation.
Agro Products Design is an initiative of Nutri Pro Salud and Quantum Solutions. Nutri Pro Salud is a nonprofit entity that assists vulnerable groups in Peru, primarily in underprivileged areas, through health, nutrition and social entrepreneurship activities. Quantum Solutions is a business incubator. It promotes entrepreneurship in rural communities by developing and providing solutions for starting and growing enterprises. Its products and services range from appropriate technologies and technical training to microfinancial services.
ICT in Health identifies opportunities and challenges in the use of ICTs in the Health Sector
Improving the health of individuals and communities, and strengthening health systems, disease detection and prevention are crucial to development and poverty reduction.
ICT has the potential to impact upon almost every aspect of the health sector. In public health, information management and communication processes are pivotal, and are facilitated or limited by the available information and communication technology. In addition, beyond the formal health sector, the ability of impoverished communities to access services and engage with and demand a health sector that responds to their priorities and needs, is importantly influenced by wider information and communication processes, mediated by ICT.
infoDev released a working paper on ICT and Health "Improving Health, Connecting People: the Role of ICTs in the Health Sector of Developing Countries - A Framework Paper".
ICT has the potential to impact upon almost every aspect of the health sector. In public health, information management and communication processes are pivotal, and are facilitated or limited by the available information and communication technology. In addition, beyond the formal health sector, the ability of impoverished communities to access services and engage with and demand a health sector that responds to their priorities and needs, is importantly influenced by wider information and communication processes, mediated by ICT.
infoDev released a working paper on ICT and Health "Improving Health, Connecting People: the Role of ICTs in the Health Sector of Developing Countries - A Framework Paper".
The BOP Beckons
From SSI Revew: Why grassroots design will determine the winners in developing markets. How do you go about delivering reliable energy to poor, off-the-grid villages in India? If you're an established energy company, you don't.
ChangeNow4Health-Innovative Health care Ideas
From Innocentive: The Seeker is soliciting ideas for improvements to the United States Health care system. The key requirement is that the idea must be able to be implemented quickly and effectively. This is an Ideation challenge so your creativity and common sense qualify you to participate in this challenge. Deadline: May 23, 2008. Reward: $10,000
The Boston Innovation Challenge: Energy-efficient air conditioning
From Innocentive: Theoretical proposals for a radically energy-efficient method of cooling and dehumidifying are desired. Deadline: July 14, 2008. Reward: $30,000
SearchMonkey Developer Challenge
To foster innovation and creativity on the SearchMonkey platform, Yahoo is hosting a good old-fashioned competition. The SearchMonkey Developer Challenge will recognize innovative applications within four categories: Best Enhanced Result, Best Infobar, Most Innovative Use of Structured Data, Best Data Service, and Grand Prize (best over all categories). You have until June 14th to submit your applications for a chance to win up to $10,000.
Galileo Wheel
Galileo is the innovator of a unique breakthrough technology, The Galileo Wheel, which combines a wheel and a track in a single component. The simple mechanism, wheel to track, or track to wheel, enables switching back and forth between the two modes within seconds. The technology provides the benefits of both traditional transport elements: the wheel with its energy efficiency, smooth ride, maneuverability, minimal footprint and suitability for high speeds, and the tracks with their superb traction for overcoming obstacles, towing capability, smoothness of ride over rough terrain and the capability to climb up and down stairs.
Visualizing Cultures (OCW-MIT)
Extensive reading and discussion of how visual images impose a variety of identities on individuals and societies. Case studies drawn primarily from the Pacific region, and include: identities of individuals in a society; identities of a country through history; us/them in times of war; and identities of an entire geographic region of the world (Orient/Occident). All types of visual images from both popular and high cultures are discussed. Students develop a course project. Taught in English. From the course home page: Course Description In this new course, students will study how images have been used to shape the identity of peoples and cultures. A prototype digital project looking at American and Japanese graphics depicting the opening of Japan to the outside world in the 1850s will be used as a case study to introduce the conceptual and practical issues involved in “visualizing cultures.” The major course requirement will be creation and presentation of a project involving visualized cultures.
Science and education is still underfunded
From Science: Recently US academics and policy analysts met to assess the country's response to a 2005 report by the U.S. National Academies titled Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future (RAGS).
A parade of speakers gave the federal government failing grades for not heeding the recommendations in RAGS for bigger research budgets, more undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships, changes in immigration policy, and an improved environment for innovation.
The higher education community seemed especially disappointed that the report's warning of a "gathering storm" hasn't stirred public interest in strengthening U.S. science.
MIT science grad students are security threats
From The Tech: Eight MIT graduate students with student visas were denied a key credential by the Department of Homeland Security. After their department appealed the decisions on their behalf, the DHS declared at least two of the students “security threats".
The Nonprofit Sector’s Leadership Deficit
From Bridgespan's "Leadership Deficit" report
Whether it is helping a teenage mother learn to care for her child, training an exconvict to get a decent job, or aiding disaster victims, nonprofits increasingly do the work required to fulfill our desire for a civil, compassionate, and well-functioning society. Like most organizations, their ability to consistently deliver these results depends more on the quality of their people than on any other single variable. Yet today nonprofit organizations struggle to attract and retain the talented senior
executives they need to fulfill their missions. Over the coming decade, this leadership challenge will only become more acute.
Whether it is helping a teenage mother learn to care for her child, training an exconvict to get a decent job, or aiding disaster victims, nonprofits increasingly do the work required to fulfill our desire for a civil, compassionate, and well-functioning society. Like most organizations, their ability to consistently deliver these results depends more on the quality of their people than on any other single variable. Yet today nonprofit organizations struggle to attract and retain the talented senior
executives they need to fulfill their missions. Over the coming decade, this leadership challenge will only become more acute.
Social Web
Harnessing the Power of the Oh-So-Social Web
Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li
MIT Sloan Review
Thanks to a variety of online social applications — including blogs, social networking sites like MySpace, user-generated content sites like YouTube and countless communities across the Web — people are increasingly connecting with and drawing power from one other. In fact, customers are now beginning to define their own perspective on companies and brands, a view that’s often at odds with the image a business wants to project.
But organizations need not be on the defensive. Indeed, some savvy executives have already been turning this groundswell of customer power to their advantage. To investigate how, the authors interviewed managers and employees at more than 100 companies that were rolling out social applications. From this research, they developed a strategic framework that businesses can use to implement social applications in a number of departments, including research and development, marketing, sales, customer support and operations.
Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li
MIT Sloan Review
Thanks to a variety of online social applications — including blogs, social networking sites like MySpace, user-generated content sites like YouTube and countless communities across the Web — people are increasingly connecting with and drawing power from one other. In fact, customers are now beginning to define their own perspective on companies and brands, a view that’s often at odds with the image a business wants to project.
But organizations need not be on the defensive. Indeed, some savvy executives have already been turning this groundswell of customer power to their advantage. To investigate how, the authors interviewed managers and employees at more than 100 companies that were rolling out social applications. From this research, they developed a strategic framework that businesses can use to implement social applications in a number of departments, including research and development, marketing, sales, customer support and operations.
World Business and Development Awards
World Business and Development Awards – raising the profile of companies’ actions to combat poverty
An important challenge now is raising the profile of what businesses can do to alleviate poverty – to encourage other organisations to form partnerships with companies.
For this reason, IBLF, the International Chamber of Commerce and the United Nations Development Programme have launched the 2008 World Business and Development Awards.
The aim of the awards is to acknowledge the contribution that companies are making – through their core business – to help achieve the MDGs: eight goals that promote poverty reduction, education, maternal health, gender equality, and aim at combating child mortality, HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
The deadline for nominations is 30 May 2008 and IBLF is encouraging as many entries as possible.
For information on the awards and how to enter, please visit www.iccwbo.org/awards
An important challenge now is raising the profile of what businesses can do to alleviate poverty – to encourage other organisations to form partnerships with companies.
For this reason, IBLF, the International Chamber of Commerce and the United Nations Development Programme have launched the 2008 World Business and Development Awards.
The aim of the awards is to acknowledge the contribution that companies are making – through their core business – to help achieve the MDGs: eight goals that promote poverty reduction, education, maternal health, gender equality, and aim at combating child mortality, HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
The deadline for nominations is 30 May 2008 and IBLF is encouraging as many entries as possible.
For information on the awards and how to enter, please visit www.iccwbo.org/awards
Green MBAs
On The Need for Green MBAs
Experts of all stripes are predicting that green innovations are the last best hope for us to solve our environmental crises. In order to make the innovations a reality, we will have to train our business leaders to think sustainably and act strategically, and business schools are rising to this challenge. By Vanessa Crossgrove Fry
Experts of all stripes are predicting that green innovations are the last best hope for us to solve our environmental crises. In order to make the innovations a reality, we will have to train our business leaders to think sustainably and act strategically, and business schools are rising to this challenge. By Vanessa Crossgrove Fry
Sharing Global Supply Chain Knowledge
Sharing Global Supply Chain Knowledge
In the supply chain, knowledge sharing may accrue advantages to either the buyer or the seller, depending on the environmental and organizational conditions encountered. By Matthew B. Myers and Mee-Shew Cheung
In the supply chain, knowledge sharing may accrue advantages to either the buyer or the seller, depending on the environmental and organizational conditions encountered. By Matthew B. Myers and Mee-Shew Cheung
Ethics and Business
Does Being Ethical Pay? Companies spend huge amounts of money to be 'socially responsible.' Do consumers reward them for it? And how much?. By Remi Trudel and June Cotte
Innovation: Shape of things to come
Shape of Things to Come
How Apple's trademark for its iPod protects its brand—and offers lessons for other companies on how to leverage their intellectual property. By David Orozco and James Conley
How Apple's trademark for its iPod protects its brand—and offers lessons for other companies on how to leverage their intellectual property. By David Orozco and James Conley
The Economics of Being Green
e2 examine the economies of being environmentally conscious in green building design of sustainable architecture. e2 highlights the positive impact sustainable architecture has on the economy, health and the planet. The series is narrated by Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt and features the most progressive minds in the green building and sustainable design movement including Werner Sobek, William McDonough, Sergio Palleroni and Michael McDonough.
Development Lab MIT
Christian Science Monitor: Amy Smith's workshop is far from cutting-edge. There are no next-gen computers, no vials of polysyllabic chemicals, no fancy equipment. The space is decidedly low-tech – and that's the point. D-Lab students pinpoint practical problems in the developing countries and then brainstorm and build solutions.
The Roots of Morality
The Right and the Good: Distributive Justice and Neural Encoding of Equity and Efficiency.
Published Online May 8, 2008
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1153651
Distributive justice concerns how individuals and societies distribute benefits and burdens in a just or moral manner. Combining distribution choices with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigate the central problem of distributive justice: the tradeoff between equity and efficiency.
Published Online May 8, 2008
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1153651
Distributive justice concerns how individuals and societies distribute benefits and burdens in a just or moral manner. Combining distribution choices with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigate the central problem of distributive justice: the tradeoff between equity and efficiency.
The Future of the Internet
Jonathan Zittrain, The Future of the Internet — And How to Stop It
Synopsis:
This extraordinary book explains the engine that has catapulted the Internet from backwater to ubiquity—and reveals that it is sputtering precisely because of its runaway success. With the unwitting help of its users, the generative Internet is on a path to a lockdown, ending its cycle of innovation—and facilitating unsettling new kinds of control.
The book is available to download under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike 3.0 license
Synopsis:
This extraordinary book explains the engine that has catapulted the Internet from backwater to ubiquity—and reveals that it is sputtering precisely because of its runaway success. With the unwitting help of its users, the generative Internet is on a path to a lockdown, ending its cycle of innovation—and facilitating unsettling new kinds of control.
The book is available to download under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike 3.0 license
Invention
Annals of Innovation: Who says big ideas are rare?, The New Yorker, May 2008.
Small inventors, beware. You’ve got to be crazy to be an entrepreneur. You’ve got to be even crazier to be an inventor. Patent reform could change things, but opportunities abound in the nascent intellectual property marketplace. VentureBeat.com. April 2008.
Small inventors, beware. You’ve got to be crazy to be an entrepreneur. You’ve got to be even crazier to be an inventor. Patent reform could change things, but opportunities abound in the nascent intellectual property marketplace. VentureBeat.com. April 2008.
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