Sunday, July 31, 2011

Pushing the "Go Button": Part 1

Pushing the

Authored by: Francisco Noguera

A little more than a year ago I made a decision and accepted an offer to come to Washington and work for a project -this website- I had long been fond of. Doing so has exceded my expectations in many ways. It has opened doors, sparked ideas and provided me with opportunities I'm deeply greatful for. The best part of this year has been and continues to be being able to meet wonderful entrepreneurs, obsessed with changing the world. Learning about how they intend to do so is the part I enjoy the most about my work.

Over the last two weeks I've been able to reconnect with some of those people I've met and I'd like to share some reflections about their work and, most importantly, about the decisions they have made to make their visions happen and become the change they want to see in the world. Today I'll write a few lines about one of them, my friend Rose Shuman, and over the weekend I hope to jot down some additional ones about others I've recently had the opportunity to spend time with and see in action, turning their visions into tangible change. 

Interested in technology and its impact on society, Rose tried hard to get an interview with Google.org until she did, about two years ago. Sitting in her hotel room in Palo Alto the night before, she nervously prepared herself to hopefully impress the group in charge of evaluating her candidacy with a really smart idea. That's when she came up with the question of whether the Internet and information could be brought to those least able to access it the way you or I are doing right now. The next day she walked into the interview she articulated the still vague vision of a box through which illiterate people would be able to ask questions and listen to the answers, as long as they were available online. 

Rose ultimately didn't get the job but the Google folks loved the idea and encouraged her to explore it further. She did and the pilot became a project that was later called Question Box. I've written about it before, and so has Boing Boing

Continue reading this story...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NextBillion/blogs/topic/Telecommunications-and-IT/~3/iHtHKxWM77A/pushing-the-go-button-part-1

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