Lets also contribute our bit to the world...

The theme of the readings was to do more with less. How can we use innovation (or “frugal innovation”) to serve and facilitate the poor. This innovation can be in the basic necessities of life, from housing, electricity to technological solutions which can increase capacity and open new boundaries for the poor. On such innovative idea was proposed by the researchers at the Computer Science Department of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). It was a research funded by the Microsoft Research (MSR) Digital Inclusion Grant.

This concept, which was aptly called “Poor Man’s Broadband”, is about using technology to provide high speed internet to the poor. Internet access in remote underdeveloped areas has increased at an exponential rate. While this access has opened them to a whole new world, the problem of slow-speed dial-up connectivity and data transfer remains an irritation issue. The “Poor Man’s Broadband” idea aims to solve this problem by using peer-to-peer Dial-up networking. This is quite the same way the Bit torrent works. This research proposes some innovations in the Bit torrent system to adapt it in solve this connectivity problems for the poor. For further reading I am attaching the paper link (see below) with this posting.

After seeing this and other technological social innovations such as increase access to mobile, One-Laptop-Per-Child and others the following questions comes to my mind:

1. The extend of possibilities that simple innovations like these can open up for the poor?

2. How can we through a simple idea, such as using Bit torrent or shared access telephony, change lives of millions?

3. When will we put on the innovation cap and contribute our bit to the world?

http://academic.research.microsoft.com/Publication/4362403/poor-man-s-broadband-peer-to-peer-dialup-networking