Innovations in technology that serve the world (more)
How can a social enterprise save the lives of young people? In this audio lecture sponsored by the Center for Social Innovation, Steve Cole talks about the Re-Mission video game, a project that inspires young people to take their pills after their cancer has been put into remission. The game was the first product of HopeLab, an organization dedicated to improving the health and quality of life of young people with chronic illness.
Audrey Seagraves has a passion for international development and social enterprise. In this audio interview with Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Sheela Sethuraman, the director of programs at World of Good talks about the creation of Fair Wage Guide software, a free tool that tells the viewer how wages being paid to any artisan worldwide compare to international wage standards.
Let there be light! That's Sam Goldman's motto, and he's taking it around the world. The founder of d.light design talks with Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Sheela Sethuraman about how he is bringing affordable, ecologically sustainable electricity and lighting to billions who are now operating in the dark. In this audio interview, he details aspects of the design, function, marketing, and distribution of the organization's products, as well as the kind of impact the social enterprise is having in some of the most remote, poor areas.
To propel young folks to the polls, a political organization mixed Web 2.0 tools with social science savvy.
If you had to design a system to improve the quality of education in distant underprivileged schools, where would you begin? You might first step away from the problem and ask: What is the simplest "system" that could work in the real world? In this audio interview with host Sheela Sethuraman, Randy Wang describes his motivation to create Digital StudyHall, a collection of mundane technologies that have dramatically improved long distance education. He also talks about his progress and goals.
Can environmental sustainability be supported by genetics? In this audio interview, Craig Venter, a pioneer in genetic research, discusses some of his key discoveries that are advancing the state of science in genomics and synthetic life. He shares how, in his current work on DNA programming and building synthetic organisms, he is using the building blocks of life to approach society's most pressing problems such as energy and food.
In India and Africa, syringes are frequently reused, despite the obvious dangers of cross infection and death. Marc Koska talks about his involvement with Star Syringe, which designed and licensed an auto-disable syringe that prevents syringe reuse. He discusses how single-use syringe adoption is progressing in India, and also talks about the activities and aims of his charity SafePoint Trust.
Should the internet be regulated? In this audio lecture, Jeffrey Eisenach presents the potential for harm caused by cyberspace while outlining the challenges faced by regulation to the digital economy. In the end, he emphasizes the necessity of global institutions and frameworks to bring order to the online sphere.
Vinod Khosla, Silicon Valley venture capitalist, says he used to be an environmentalist, but is now more of a "pragmentalist." In this Stanford Center for Social Innovation sponsored audio lecture, Khosla turns conventional wisdom about what passes for "green technology" on its head. He takes a hard look at how innovations such as hybrid cars and fuel cell buses may, in fact, be exacerbating our problems, and offers concrete, iconoclastic suggestions as to what science, business, and government should be focusing on instead.
Aid organizations around the world are learning that they can solve their technology and infrastructure problems faster and cheaper together than on their own. Enabling that collaboration is NetHope, a nonprofit information technology consortium helping NGOs establish the technology "ecosystems" they need to serve constituencies in more than 150 countries. Eric Nee interviews Bill Brindley, CEO of NetHope, on how the consortium got started, how it works, and how it is expanding its mission.
