30 September 2009

Michael Gordon ~ MIT AITI on Mobiles in Africa

Great to interview MIT's Michael Gordon on MaximizingProgress.tv tonight! Michael's a doctoral student in Computer Science at MIT CSAIL who, as an extracurricular activity, runs AITI -- the African Information Technology Initiative -- a student-run effort promoting...
"...development in Africa through education in appropriate information and communication technologies (ICTs). During MIT's summer recess, AITI sends MIT students to Africa to teach African undergraduate and high school students. AITI partners with local African institutions to offer classes focused on mobile phone application development with an emphasis on independent research, problem-solving, and entrepreneurship."
Very cool! And the basis for some compelling Development Ventures! Check out the live interview here...

Impact Assessment ~ SABMiller Review Study

Very interesting to read on the Ethical Corporation site SABMiller -- The cost-benefit analysis of beer by James Geary about INSEAD Professor Ethan Kapstein's...
"...methodology designed to estimate a corporation’s social, environmental and economic impact on the countries in which it operates. [...] to measure what to date has remained largely unmeasured -- the specific costs and benefits resulting from doing business in specific markets. "This is a relatively new thing," Kapstein says, "reflecting the demand from stakeholders for hard data on corporate impact." If Kapstein’s method catches on, this kind of statistical analysis could help companies put hard numbers behind their corporate responsibility efforts, enabling them to determine what delivers the biggest bang for their bucks in national and regional markets."
The SABMiller study was on their Nile Breweries subsidiary in Uganda and publicly released last June at the Africa WEF in Cape Town. Among the compelling findings was the degree of employment multiplier...
  • SABMiller’s business in Uganda supports 44,000 jobs and generates income of £92m for the country.
  • The brewer does this despite having only 430 employees in the country, at its Nile Breweries subsidiary.
  • For every person Nile Breweries employs, a further 100 jobs are created in the company’s supply chain.
  • Of the £92m generated for the Ugandan economy, £55m is taxes paid to the government. Nile Breweries pays £28m of that.
  • Locally sourced Eagle Lager generates 50% of Nile Breweries’ revenue, providing 8,000 farmers with 70% of their income.

29 September 2009

Move Me ~ Personal Transport Inventions...

The Segway is a lame way compared to these new moves! I've noted the Enicycle before... And now Honda's competitor, the U3-X mobility device... ...which uses this Stunomatic Polywheel. And here's Focus's earlier, simpler, more bike-like Self-Balancing Unicycle (SBU)... Our old favorite, the MIT GreenWheel... And for kids learning to cycle, here's the Gyrowheel... A shout out to MITERS friends for pointers to many of these!

27 September 2009

The National Parks ~ America's Best Idea!

Just watched the premier of Ken Burns' The National Parks on PBS!
"America's national parks are a treasure house of nature's superlatives -- 84 million acres of the most stunning landscapes anyone has ever seen. They became the last refuge for magnificent species of animals that otherwise would have vanished forever; today, they remain a refuge for human beings seeking to replenish their spirit. The national parks embody a radical idea, as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence, born in the United States nearly a century after its creation. It is a truly democratic idea, that the magnificent natural wonders of the land should be available not to a privileged few, but to everyone."
The idea of protected parks and nature preserves open to all is indeed an epic invention of America. Today there are thousands such areas worldwide. And, as I've written before, are the basis for Peace Parks and other transfrontier concepts helping us move into a post-nationalist future.

Aquaculture Boom ~ Scrutinizing Seafarming...

Interesting to read Aquaculture boom under scrutiny: Seafood farming creates concerns and optimism by Juliet Eilperin of the WashPost...
"Although there is still debate about farming’s share of the world fish supply -- the UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates it stood at 44.3 percent in 2007, whereas the PNAS study says it will reach over half in a matter of months -- no one questions that aquaculture has grown exponentially as the world’s wild catch has flattened out. In 1970, farmed fish accounted for 6.3 percent of global seafood supply. This trend reflects global urbanization -- studies show that as more people move to cities, they are consuming more seafood -- but it is changing the world’s seascape as well."
The fears surround parasites, second- and third-order effects, the open-loop nature of fish meal trawling, and more. I've written before about ocean ranching and how aquaculture is illustrating the need for much more sophisticated understanding of ecosystems engineering.

Inspirational Teachers ~ Before I Forget: Thanks!

RISD's President John Maeda recently commented about the few teachers who inspire. Not for me. There were many! In this I consider myself amazingly fortunate. And I've been remiss in not publicly saluting and thanking them! For starters: Mrs Braun in Kindergarten who inspired-allowed me to design the playground treehouse. Ms Gunnell who urged Astronomy in third grade. Mrs Corea who inspired studying Anatomy. Ms Prescott in Junior High who taught us more Spanish in one month than her successors could in a year. Mr Johnson in High School who encouraged us all towards Geometry in ninth. Mr Cone who got me rigorously onto Physics in tenth. Mr Chadda for whom no Calculus was too small as a senior. Mr Janowski for whom Chemistry was "performance art". At MIT, Prof Bradt who sent me a personal note congratulating me for my Physics performance. Professors Kemp & Wrighton who made Freshman chemistry live! Prof Bon who welcomed me as a Sophomore into a grad class on Moonbase design. Prof Lewin who continues to inspire with his online Physics video lectures. Prof Green who ensured that Sophomore year O'Chemistry was bang-fully demo'd! Prof Witmer who unified my interest in aerospace structures and spent hours with me beyond the lectures. Prof Edgerton who I only met in the elevator -- but what a charge-up! And that just brings me from K-12 to Sophomore year at MIT;-) Beyond this, several more...

26 September 2009

Green Metropolis ~ For Clean Living, Go Urban

Very compelling to read about Green Metropolis by David Owen. The Washington Post's Jonathan Yardley reviews this book in a piece called Clean Living...
"Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, And Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability. Owen finds in New York City, Manhattan in particular, a model that the rest of the country could profitably emulate. A city of "extreme compactness," New York "is the greenest community in the United States." The "average Manhattanite consumes gasoline at a rate that the country as a whole hasn't matched since the mid-1920s," and "eighty-two percent of employed Manhattan residents travel to work by public transit, by bicycle, or on foot," which is "ten times the rate for Americans in general, and eight times the rate for workers in Los Angeles County." It all derives from being a very crowded place."
Beyond density, of course, are other important dimensions, including amenities such as competent mass transit, efficient hackney, rental, and rideshare services, aggressive automation, glorious greenroofs and delightful parks and accessible greenspaces. Vital Cities are more urgently needed than ever!

Connecting Rwanda ~ BBC on Digital Africa...

Thanks to the BBC's Adam Blenford for this audio slideshow on Connecting Rwanda...
"...the country's government is taking the internet into rural areas -- where even electricity is a luxury -- and [inspiring] hopeful students at a key science and technology college in the capital, Kigali."

Get Inhabitat ~ Some Delightful Designs Here...

Inhabitat delivers this week's delighters...

The Big Move ~ Humanity's Global Journey

Yet another delighter from my favorite monthly magazine, National Geographic, this time visualizing humanity's global journey...

Urban Dreamscape ~ Capital City Brasilia at 50!

Given the tremendous recent interest in vital urbanization, green designs, charter cities, and more, it's good to read Nick Foster's FT piece Urban Dreamscape about Brasilia at 50, the from-scratch new capital of the Latin giant...
"Brasilia was not the first capital to be designed from scratch. Planned at the end of the 18th century, Washington, DC, was the fulfilment of article one of the US constitution and provided for a national capital distinct from the states, as well as a location that was considered more secure than Philadelphia. The site of Canberra was selected in 1908 as a compromise between the great Australian rivals Sydney and Melbourne. And today a slew of new cities is being raised in locations such as China and the Middle East. Astana -- a work in progress that is the new capital of Kazakhstan – has a population of 700,000 and has provided a blank canvas for architects such as Norman Foster. But Brasilia can surely lay claim to being the most ambitious urban creation. The US capital was sited next to an existing settlement (Georgetown) and Canberra -- although it is now Australia’s biggest inland city -- is an easy morning’s drive from Sydney. Set against this, Brasilia was both the engine that opened up a vast, virtually empty, tract of central Brazil and -- at its inception, at least -- a piece of particularly Brazilian social engineering."
Very interesting to learn lessons from this experience.

25 September 2009

Mobile Marvels ~ Economist Special Report!

Excellent to see The Economist's latest Special Report on Mobile Marvels ~ Telecoms in Emerging Markets!
"The reason why mobile phones are so valuable to people in the poor world is that they are providing access to telecommunications for the very first time, rather than just being portable adjuncts to existing fixed-line phones, as in the rich world. “For you it was incremental—here it’s revolutionary,” says Isaac Nsereko of MTN, Africa’s biggest operator. According to a recent study, adding an extra ten mobile phones per 100 people in a typical developing country boosts growth in GDP per person by 0.8 percentage points. In 2000 the developing countries accounted for around one-quarter of the world’s 700m or so mobile phones. By the beginning of 2009 their share had grown to three-quarters of a total which by then had risen to over 4 billion."
Alumcos from our MIT Development Ventures class have been building on this massive mobiles shift since 2001. These include Assured Labor, Click Diagnostics, Dinube, Dimagi, CellBazaar, WAY Systems, and more!

23 September 2009

Free Work = Zero Valued = Painful Lesson...

Here's a tip, one I had to learn the hard way: Volunteer and do something for free and the typical bureaucratic organization that suckered you into doing that values your contribution at roughly what it cost them: Zero. I just sat through the most appalling non-profit board meeting where a new, senior, well-paid administrator asserted that "all contributions are valued" but admitted upon inquiry that only ca$h financial contributions were actually measured. Well, guess what, people care about what they account for. No record = it didn't happen. Thus, if you are so naively stupid -- as I admit I have personally been for years now -- to volunteer hundreds (if not thousands) of hours at zero pay -- i.e. for free -- that turns out to not actually count for $#!+ in comparison to financial donations. But even an old dunce like me learns eventually. From now on, no freebies. You want my help, you pay for it.

P.S. To clarify, this is totally different from the inter-personal favor banking that happens when individuals help each other out. I continue to be personally helpful to friendly and appreciative folks -- and to ask favors of others. The big difference is that I remember -- and value -- those who helped me.

Clinician Panel @ MIT Neurotechnology Ventures!

We had an excellent group of Boston-area clinicians join us last night in our MIT Neurotechnology Ventures class...
Hearing from these doctors about their challenges in treating patients, what kinds of devices, systems, and services would be helpful, and, in some cases, of their "dream solution" game-changers was hugely instructive. Afterwards, a couple of us went over to MIT's Muddy Charles Pub for some "over-the-counter neuroceuticals" and brainstormed at least a dozen venture IdeaPitches stemming directly from this clinician discussion!

22 September 2009

Aydogan Ozcan ~ Lensfree Imaging Diagnostics

Just saw TR 35 honoree Aydogan Ozcan visit us from his lab at UCLA to the MIT Media Lab to speak about A new tool for TeleMedicine: Lensfree On-Chip Imaging for High-throughput Cytometry and Point-of-care Diagnostics, a device he calls LUCAS. Think of this as an instrument add-on to a mobile...
"He's made prototypes mounted in cell phones to demonstrate the technology and has started a company called Microskia to develop it. The first products are likely to be simple microscopes that plug into a cell phone or laptop through a USB cord and display the magnified images on their screens; the first uses will probably be in remote medical centers, to diagnose anemia, cancer, and infectious diseases such as malaria."

Empleolisto ~ Bringing You Assured Labor!

Our MIT Development Ventures alumco Assured Labor launches Empleolisto in Latin America! They...
"...make it easy for employers to connect with great candidates by compiling an extensive database of candidates in emerging markets and pre-screening them for diligence and integrity using match-making technology. Employers can view and select compelling candidates 24 hours a day and by using mobiles, employers can start interviewing candidates in hours instead of weeks, all for a price less than using classified ads."
Great work and serving a real need. Check out the Nicaragua Channel 8 TV interview with co-founder David Reich!

21 September 2009

Great Inhabitats ~ Green Glories for Us All...

Click-on some of the latest from Inhabitat...

Liberation Biology ~ Let's Redefine "Normal"...

Thanks to IEET for posting Natasha Vita-More's Nano’s Neo Normal where she points out...
"In the book, Liberation Biology, Ronald Bailey writes, "What if a biomedical researcher discovered that our lives were being cut short because every human being was infected in the womb by a disease organism that eventually wears down the human immune system's ability to protect us?" (Bailey 2005, p. 49) In other words, would a person whose immune system starts declining after puberty, and finally gives up before 123, be normal? This statement largely sums up my transhumanist view that "normal" is misunderstood. The physiological (cognitive and the somatic) state of human existence "normality" ought to be a state of enhancement."
Improvement and enhancement should be "normal"; by contrast, the norm of "stagnation" should be decidedly "abnormal".

How Civilized! ~ Beers & Beauty at Oktoberfest!

How civilized to be able to consume alcohol at a reasonable age, to do so as part of a celebration of life (as opposed to being a illegal sinner), to have cheerful and pretty servers, and to be able to walk outside with beers without getting arrested by a misguided Masstapo. Thanks to The Big Picture for the proof that it's possible somewhere on Earth...

Job Voyager ~ Viewing Changing US Occupations

Thanks to Neatorama for spotting Job Voyager charts showing occupational shifts over 1850-2000... What are the trends going-forward?

InnoCentive ~ Innovation Marketplace For Ideas

Interesting to read in the Economist about InnoCentive: A market for ideas...
"...the world’s first open innovation marketplace. Conceived in 1998 by three scientists working for Eli Lilly, a big drug company, InnoCentive was spun off as an independent start-up three years later. It is based on a simple idea: if a firm cannot solve a problem on its own, why not use the reach of the internet to see if someone else can come up with the answer? Companies, which InnoCentive calls seekers, post their challenges on the firm’s website. Solvers, who number almost 180,000, compete to win cash prizes offered by the seekers."
They've done a good job of handing IP issues and generally providing market-making liquidity to human capital markets. Great lead indicator of things to come.

20 September 2009

"My New Arm" ~ DEKA's Prosthetic on 60 Minutes

Very cool to see the DEKA "Luke" arm on 60 Minutes...

Happiest Skylines ~ Savor the Iconic Essence!

The Forbes slideshow on Happiest Cities pointed at some wonderful conurbations, but, IMHO, showed crappy images of their iconic essences. So here's their list, but my choice of delight-shots, made possible due to Google Images and the respective fantastic photographers and publishers (who I link to under each image)...
Just lovely, all of them. And more! We need all cities to be happy cities! And towards the goal of stellar skylines, check out this Jeremia Froyland site!

Impoverished Education ~ S African Challenges...

Celia Dugger's video and article in the NYTimes that Eager Students Fall Prey to Apartheid’s Legacy in S. Africa are painful to see...
"Thousands of schools across South Africa are bursting with students who dream of being the accountants, engineers and doctors this country desperately needs, but the education system is often failing the very children depending on it most to escape poverty. Last year, seniors sang freedom songs and protested outside the staff room because their accounting teacher chronically failed to show up for class. The school once boasted a pass rate of more than 80 percent on the national exams given to seniors, a number that plummeted to 44 percent last year. Despite last year's episode, students seem to feel genuine affection for their school and speak of their hunger for knowledge and their faith in education to bring a better life. When teachers do not show up for class, students step in to lead the lesson. In the absence of a teacher, students discussed their work. Teacher absenteeism has been a major problem. "There's a lot of teachers who take sick leave," said one teacher, who asked not to be named as it would jeopardize his ability to work with colleagues. "They are not punctual in the morning. How do we expect learners to behave if we do not behave?"
Joao Silva captures the vitality of the students and the challenges they face in his poignant NYTimes photoessay, An Impoverished Education.

19 September 2009

EU 2020? ~ Emergent States Speculation...

Interesting to read in The Map Scroll about The Coming European Crack-Up? where...
"Coming Anarchy imagines a future Europe where the continent's various semi-latent separatist movements have achieved their goals."
This is a fascinating exercise, speculating about possible future...
"...devolution, the decline of the state and the proliferation of microstates [and the resulting] map of the future of Europe in 2020. It is purely speculative and in no way a firm prediction, but rather a sketch of the possibilities and list of the most likely cases."
I'm especially interested in the trend towards post-nationalism -- or at least the interesting bifurcation into macro-states -- such as the US, Russia, India, China, Brazil, EU -- and effective micro-states -- such as Singapore, UAE, Rwanda, and special cases like Hong Kong, and in intriguing emergent cases like Paul Romer's Charter Cities.

Youth CITIES ~ Impact thru Social Enterprise!

I was pleased to be part of kicking off Youth CITIES this morning at MIT, a program which...
"...inspires, educates, and equips high school students to take action and make a difference in their communities via social entrepreneurship. This rigorous bootcamp empowers students to use the principles of entrepreneurship to drive change in their communities. Moving beyond just the academics of building businesses, Youth CITIES frames real-life problems, real-life constraints, and real-life criteria as the launch pad for students to create a value-driven, sustainable solution to real-life market opportunities."
A wonderfully motivated group of entrepreneurial student leaders from schools in the Boston-metro area are participating this year, with interests including civic improvement and community-building and youth engagement. Mobile software gaming entrepreneur Vicky Wu Davis has rallied a stellar group of instructors and mentors to make this happen. I was honored to share the stage this morning, for example, with iRobot co-founder, CEO and chairman Colin Angle. Colin told his epic story of building up from a scrappy custom robo-engineering shop to today's category-killer robotics business in both the consumer and security and safety sectors. Plus he shared some of his more painful stories of failure along the way thus illustrating the corresponding need for entrepreneurs to be resilient and persistent. Youth CITIES is itself an emergent social enterprise and a new element of WhizKids, founded by MIT chemistry alumna and Miss Massachusetts 2004, Erika Ebbel, whose overall mission is improving science and technology awareness in elementary, middle and high school students.