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RACHEL PAYNE: Welcome everyone to the Google.org Presents:
Reuters Digital Vision Fellows from Stanford University.
Very glad you could make it to join us today.
We have a wonderful array of projects for you to explore.
We're very grateful that you've joined us, and we
encourage you after the presentation to take your
time, learn more about the projects, and especially talk
to the fellows who are here today.
Now a few words from Megan, a former fellow alum.
MEGAN SMITH: Hi.
I had the chance, I guess two years ago now, to join Stuart
and I'm a Googler.
I run the New Business Development team.
I got a chance to take us some time out, actually did the
program half time, and did some of the projects.
So just by way of introduction of the program, these guys are
amazing social entrepreneurs.
The program is housed at Stanford, but people come from
all over the world.
As they do quick intros, you'll find
that out very quickly.
What's really interesting is, it takes a very
Silicon Valley model.
Because you're getting people who have initial start-up
ideas, getting them to Stanford, and giving them
almost incubator space and some teammates to start
working on these projects with.
Later, I think we're going to do a quick run-through where
everybody is going to say quickly what their project is,
and then maybe a couple others that are a little bit longer
after Stuart talks.
And then we're going to step into the back and they're
going to be available, so whichever projects looked
particularly interesting to you, you can follow up and
they'll do a poster talk which will be available.
One of the things that I found really helpful when I did is
that probably two-thirds of the fellows come from the
developing world and outside the US, and about a third or
more are Silicon Valley types.
By blending these two groups people have sort of the
traditional methods of Silicon Valley of building rapid
prototyping and getting things out there, together with
people who really know what's going on.
It was a great thing.
I learned a lot, and in my own project, I ended up finding--
I was working on helping get students to be able it do--
develop projects for the developing world in emerging
markets as part of their course work and their final
year of school, especially engineering students.
I started incubating that and then ended up finding out that
there were several programs already started and shifted my
product to actually just support those groups and help
them get a lot further, notably a project MIT.
Anyway, I'm going to turn it over to Stu, who is the
incredible director of this program, and let you go.
STUART GANNES: Thanks, Megan.
I'm going to keep my water with me.
Megan, as you probably know for those of you know her,
totally underestimates her contribution, because she's
really made--
she brought a vitality to the program that really extended
throughout all the fellows' projects in her year.
I think it's still reverberating to this day.
I thought I'd talked briefly about how the program works
and also a perspective on--
a perspective on why social entrepreneurship might be
interesting to people at Google in addition to the
obvious doing good for people.
I've been working in high technology now for the bigger
part of my life and in Silicon Valley since 1988.
I've always felt that there were three forces that were
driving this industry forward.
All three of them technology-based forces.
One was the increase in power in microprocessors, which make
computing more and more possible and more and more
available to people.
A second was the availability of low-cost memory, which
really made the storage of files possible in a way on
computers that had never happened before.
And the third was the rise of networks, which really
connected people in a way that allowed them to transcend the
barriers of space and time.
Well, what's been happening in computing, as we all know, is
that the power of computing has been tracking along with
Moore's Law for almost three or four decades now.
It's just rather incredible that we've had this
exponential power of computing with us for as long as we've
all been alive, and it shows no sign of slowing down.
At the same time, if we look at what's happened in the
memory business, the memory business has actually been
accelerating at a faster rate than the microprocessor, to
the point where on a regular basis the availability of
memory is exceeding that exponential
factor of Moore's Law.
And the third piece, networking and data
networking, has really also, although it hasn't risen as
quickly as the first two, we're finally at a point where
the connectivity is making it possible for almost all of us
to be on a network almost all the time.
That's really a long promise that has taken a long time to
come, but it finally feels like it's here.
When I think about our program here and its focus on the
developing world, though, I think there's two additional
factors that make this interesting, both for the
impact that it's going to have on people and for the
potential it will have for people who work in technology
to reach people with valuable tools.
And those two additional factors are: the availability
of wireless connectivity, and, perhaps most importantly of
all, the fact that in the past couple of years most of the
population in the world has become urban.
This movement to the cities, combined with the availability
of wireless networking and the three original factors that
have always been available with computing really make for
an exciting moment where we can start to think that most
of the world will be connected through the
internet to each other.
I think this is a really important moment, and
inflection point, almost, in history.
What's interesting, too, is when you start talking about
things like most of the world, well, most of the world
doesn't live in North America or Europe.
They don't work in enterprises the way we're accustomed to.
They don't have the same kind of tools available to them,
nor do they have the same interests.
They're really--
they have human needs, but they don't necessarily have
the same organizational life that we're all accustomed to.
So it's highly likely that this new connectivity that
reaches people is going to affect them--
it's going to matter to them differently and it's going to
be used differently.
If you ask yourself, how can an innovation, say the types
of innovations that we see regularly coming out of
Google, reach someone in the developed world, someone the
United States?
There's a pretty clear understanding of how that
would work, whether that person's a consumer or an
employee of a large organization.
But if you think about how these innovations and what
innovations will they be, how will they reach people in the
developing world, there's really a need for a new
interpreter, someone who understands the needs of the
developing world and can translate the opportunities
afforded by technology to those people in a way that
they can use them.
And that's, I think.
really where the Reuters Digital Vision Fellows that we
have here come in.
They are social entrepreneurs.
What we mean by that is that they bring to Stanford a very
deep understanding of the needs of the people and the
needs of the people in the communities they represent.
They look to trying to take those needs into the realm of
opportunities that technology affords and come up with
solutions that people can actually use and implement.
That intersection is really different from the typical
sort of enterprise-based innovation that we've seen so
often in the US.
It turns out that, excuse me, in the tradeoff between
understanding technology and understanding the needs of a
sector, it turns out, in my opinion, that you really need
to have both areas covered.
If you just have--
if you're just a brilliant technologist, the possibility
that you're going to be able to actually perceive what's
needed and implement that exactly is quite low.
And if you're just a brilliant social activist with a real
passion for changing the world, the chance that you're
going to make all the right technology choices is also
pretty low.
So the Digital Vision Program at Stanford is really an
effort, as Megan has said, to blend these two things
together, to bring people who understand the needs of
communities together with people who work in technology.
As we go forward, it's really our strongest hope that we can
embrace this incredible set of talent that we have here, that
we see here at Google, and really work with Google people
on our exciting problems, with the idea of going from the
billion people who are connected to the four billion
people who will be connected through these advances in
technologies.
Thank you.
RACHEL PAYNE: Thank you very much for the
introduction, Stu.
Right before we get to each presentation, I just wanted to
let you know that we'll be showing this afternoon series
on Google Video.
So hopefully we can really get the word out for everyone who
is present who doesn't have a lot of time to talk, but at
least can tell the world about your project.
That's one thing I'd like you to know.
The second thing is, we have been working with fellows
already at Google.
We've been supporting two fellows a year financially and
sponsoring their attendance with the Reuters Digital
Vision Fellows Program.
So there's been a commitment at Google for some time
towards this program.
Of course, not least of which is yielding amazing people
like Megan, but also connecting with Google.org and
helping us.
In the course of the last year, while we've been
establishing Google.org, we've also funded one of the Reuters
alums, is Brij Kothari, who is the mastermind behind the Same
Language Subtitling Project, which we have funded.
That project came out of this program.
And more recently, we've been working on a project called
GNet, which is an ISP in Bangladesh.
We've been helping them in a lot of ways in helping get
their ISP services up and running.
So, to bring that home to what we're doing here today, the
Reuters Program has already been really helpful and
influential in what we're doing.
So without further do, we'll do the short presentations.
Once each person finishes you'll just walk down, stand
by your easel.
At any point, feel free to get up and talk to people if you
like, or stay through and wait for Q&A. Thank you.
JASON BANICO: Good afternoon.
I'm Jason Banico from the Philippines, and my project is
on open source technology business incubator to build IT
capacity in developing countries and catalyze
innovation systems. Thank you.
RITA SANDHU: Hi, I'm Rita Sandhu.
I'm actually a collaboration fellow, which means I don't
have a project per se, but I'm a resource for the other
fellows on their projects.
What I bring to the table is over 15 years of my high-tech
marketing and business skills from here from the Valley to
take on projects from idea phase to prototyping to
eventually creating social enterprises.
SAMM PERRY: Thank you, Rita.
Sam Perry.
One sentence, one long-run sentence, no haiku, no
punctuation.
Look to your left, look to your right.
Consider yourselves the world population.
One in three of you will be subject to a catastrophe at
some point in your lifetimes.
What "Seven to Ten Days" is about is trying to help
prepare populations ahead of disaster because an ounce of
prevention, we're discovering, really is equal
to a pound of cure.
And as Dr. Larry Brilliant has said as recently as this week
with his TED prize, wish.
If we could develop an early detection and rapid response
and we're part of the rapid response.
ROBERT MARANGA: Hi, good afternoon, everybody.
My name is Robert Maranga.
I'm from Kenya.
I am collaborating in a project with Grameen
Foundation USA on a project that will help us automate
microfinance institutions in the developing world to make
them a little more operationally efficient.
Thank you.
AMAN AGARWAL: I am Aman Agarwal from India.
My project is creating a virtual rural stock exchange
for forest coops in India.
Thank you.
MICHAEL CHERTOK: Good afternoon.
My name is Michael Chertok, and I'm from the Bay Area.
One of the biggest problems in the developing world is the
massive unemployment, but also the low capacity that people
have to take jobs, and particularly technology jobs.
My project is about creating a technology-related business
that does work to process digital video.
SHACHI SHATINATH: Violence against women is a global
health problem on the scale of AIDS and TB.
And my project focuses on reducing the incidence of
violence and eradicating female
illiteracy by the year 2025.
My name is Shachi Shantinath, and I am from India, the
United States, and Switzerland.
LAURA CUOZZO: Hi, my name is Laura Cuozzo.
I'm from Boston, Massachusetts.
I am also collaboration fellow.
I'm using my background in user centered design and
usability to work with the fellow here to keep their
users at the center of their projects.
Thank you very much.
MITRA FALLOTHAHPOUR: Hello.
I'm Mitra Fathollahpour from Iran.
My project is Farsi TeachNet.
Farsi TeachNet provides educational matter for
Farsi-speaking teachers around the world, especially in Iran,
Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
Hopefully, it rewards teachers for their contribution.
Thank you.
JOSE AROCHA: Today, 200 million Latin Americans live
but do not exist. They have no voice.
The town's network of local micromedia franchisees will
give them voice and a way of making a better living.
My name is Jose, and I'm from Venezuela.
UUVE SAUGA: Good afternoon.
My name is Uuve Sauga I'm from Estonia.
My project connects budding entrepreneurs in emerging
countries, beginning in Estonia, with experienced
volunteer business advisors in North America and European
Union in mentoring relationships.
We use internet-based technologies for that.
I also collaborate with Shachi Shantinath on the violence
prevention and literacy project.
Thank you.
KAREN COPPOCK: Hi, my name's Karen Coppock, and I work with
Stuart Gannes at the Digital Vision Program.
What Rachel had asked us to do was tap into the brains here
with the people of Google and do what Megan said was very
beneficial which is, mix some of your insights and knowledge
with some of the key problems that some of our projects and
fellows are facing.
So what we're going to do now briefly, is three of the
fellows-- well, four fellows and three projects, are going
to do a little bit more in-depth description of what
their project is about and then a big problem that
they're facing.
We can either do question and answer and help them solve the
problem, or go out to their poster individually and help
think through.
But the idea is to tap into the brain power and hopefully
make this fun for you as well and a bit more informative.
So the first issue or lady we have is Avni Jamdar of
Cooperative Connection.
AVNI JAMDAR: Good afternoon, everyone.
My project is called Cooperative Connection, which
is a social venture that will provide disadvantaged women in
the developing world with economic opportunities through
a fair trade brand of sweatshop-free clothing that
is dedicated to preserving artisan skills in Pakistan.
Many countries in the developing world are comprised
largely often an informal workforce.
In particular, in India, about 93% of the economy is in the
informal sector.
More women than men belong to the informal sector.
The rapid pace of globalization in many of these
countries has really increased the state of informalization
rather than bringing better jobs.
In using the market to leverage change in these
communities, there are several efforts under way, one of
which is the Self-Employed Women's Association, which is
really where our story begins.
In 2001 there was of a massive earthquake in Gujarat, in
India, which decimated the livelihoods of thousands of
families that lived there.
SEWA, which is an NGO which organizes women, went in to
sort of rehabilitate these families and discovered that
there was a real economic development opportunity there.
So they brought about 15,000 women as members on board and
formed a cooperative to use their traditional artisan
skills and market them in domestic and
international markets.
So what SEWA and other such cooperatives lack is really
market information and feedback about product design
to really make an impact in the market.
It is not sufficient, according to us, to connect
them directly to the buyer, because all that does is
increase their contact, but it does not solve the issue of
increasing their scale of operations.
So what Cooperative Connection will do is to operationalize
that connection by creating a brand that will act as a
platform where artisan groups can pitch their products.
The way we want to do that is by building a community online
of women where producer women can tell their stories to the
end consumer and enrich that connection.
The way we would like to scale up is by working with a lot of
cooperatives.
So we are currently--
we've come out with a line of skirts, which
you'll see near my poster.
We're using their traditional skills to create this brand.
What we're currently up against is really, how do we
build the brand to engage more and more women who fall in the
LOHAS segment of the market, which is the Lifestyles of
Health and Sustainability?
We would like you to engage in a discussion with us about,
how do we build a virtual community of women that
enriches the experience both for the producer as well as
the end consumer?
Thank you.
KAREN COPPOCK: Next we have Atif Mumtaz, who has Tele
Health Care in Pakistan, starting in Pakistan.
ATIF MUMTAZ: Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Atif Mumtaz, and I am from Pakistan.
and my project is Tele Health Care for disaster relief.
Now, the mission of the project is to create low-cost
and effective solution whereby doctors can treat patients
remotely through the internet using telemedicine now.
What does that mean?
Primarily, the idea is that, say a doctor sitting in
Stanford Medical Center and a patient, let's take the
example of the earthquake in Pakistan, so Kashmir, maybe.
Using the internet technologies, we are able to
connect the two together, and the doctor sitting in the US
can diagnose and treat the patient in Pakistan
and help them out.
Now the question is, why would we want to do that?
There are many issues, especially
in developing countries.
If you look at the last three disasters that have happened,
the tsunami, the Katrina, and now the earthquake in
Pakistan, you'll notice that in developing countries the
local infrastructure was totally gutted.
In fact, even in New Orleans it was gutted.
Plus the doctors that went in to help were very few.
I'll give you an example of Balakot in Pakistan, there was
virtually no doctors and no facility at all running after
the earthquake.
Patients had to get treatment eight hours' drive away from
there, not even walk, eight hours of driving in a car.
That's so difficult for people to get there.
If doctors are not able to get there, we are trying to get,
through the internet, doctors to them and try to help them.
The second reason why we want to do this is, if you look at
any relief work, you'll notice that relief agencies usually
stick around for four to five months and then they move to
the next disaster or to the next target.
Usually patients over there are left in the open and they
still need support.
Our telemedicine network is going to be there even after
relief agencies move.
So we will be there for a year or two years to help them
rehabilitate back into life.
So these are some of the goals of the project that we are
trying to do.
One of the major questions that we have that we are
trying to look at is, we have thousands of doctors that are
signing up for this, and there will be in a disaster there
are thousands of patients at the same time.
How do you match a doctor with the right skill set for a
patient in a very short span of time?
That's one of the challenges that we're trying to solve
using our system.
Thank you.
RACHEL PAYNE: And why don't we give a nice round of applause
for our fantastic fellows?
[APPLAUSE]
RACHEL PAYNE: Feel free to mingle.
And please partake of the beverages and snacks.