Login to Change.org
Use Facebook to connect with friends and mobilize your social network.
Create an Account
Ken Banks
Stanford, CA
Recent Activity
-
Ken commented on the article |Hi Nathaniel
Glad you enjoyed the story! I'd been asked about it a few times, and people seemed intrigued about the branding of a social mobile tool aimed at grassroots NGOs. It seemed to have the makings of an interesting post.
Cheers! \o/ -
Ken commented on the article |I put it down to the \+/ pins. =D
-
Ken commented on the article |
I think what's needed is an 'incubation fund' of some kind, perhaps contributed to by a number of donors. If pitched right it could be a goer, but I see no reason why you couldn't get the likes of MacArthur, OSI, maybe Rockefeller, to pitch into this.
Something certainly worth thinking about. Maybe we can chat offline at some stage, once I'm back on home soil.
Ken -
Ken commented on the article |
Hi Nathaniel
Another great post. Although you're not specifically/directly involved in the social mobile world, you continue to bring up the kinds of topics which desperately need open discussion. I'm a huge fan of you for that.
One of the recurring themes I've found over the past few months has been the concept of "providing tools and stepping back". Some of the biggest challenges in social mobile adoption are local ownership and genuine empowerment (not as we perceive it, but as the users do). Projects which drive technology adoption from the top down (many with over-engineered inappropriate solutions, in my view) you fail to get the local engagement and ownership needed. Thirty years of development teaches us that, yet the mistake continues to be made.
Erik's comment (echo'd by Josh Nesbit via Twitter) about losing control is spot on. If anything like this is to work we need to learn to let go. Another great post from last week that you wrote (great apart from the photo!) covered this very well:
http://socialentrepreneurship.change.org/blog/view/unleash_and_release_the_secret_to_changing_the_world
For long tail solutions to work, by their very nature we need to "unleash and release". Trying to control these things simply acts to dampen their impact. Anyway, it should never be about us, about keeping us in work, and about building sustainable (or not) organisations around our ideas. It's about genuinely seeking to empower users, and letting them use their own skills and ingenuity to solve their own problems.
This debate is crucial, and I'm glad it's being openly discussed.
Ken -
Ken commented on the article |I agree with Charles.
"Social entrepreneur" is a particularly loaded word, and is so-over used these days it's hard to know what it really means.
I think it's for other people to place the labels - good work is good work, whatever it's called.
Ken -
Ken commented on the article |I never tire of this story, Josh. What you're doing brings mobile health to life, something so many projects struggle to do.
Keep up the great work, but don't forget the studies!
Ken -
Ken commented on the article |
Hi Nate
A great new take on some of the issues I've been touching on lately, and some of the analysis carried out by Josh in his Malawi project. I think the comparisons you draw are very valid, and tie in with a growing interest in applying some of this thinking to business at the BoP.
Someone else doing great work on this is Niti Bahn, of the Emerging Futures Lab. I'd recommend keeping an eye on her blog at http://www.emergingfutureslab.com
As you stated in your post earlier this year/late last year (?!), this year holds much promise for mobile. I'm looking forward to blogging and writing about our progress as much as you!
Cheers.
Ken
www.kiwanja.net -
Ken commented on the article |Another great, thoughtful post, Nate. I've been working on a post of my own which I'll get out in the new year.
I'd also add to this list the work of engaged citizens, which I believe will also see a significant rise. With tools like Ushahidi and FrontlineSMS, you don't have to be an NGO to get out there and do something. 2009 will also bring, I believe, a surge in true mobile-enabled citizen engagement.
One of the most exciting initiatives I see in this space right now is "Mobiles in Malawi", a project being carried out by Josh Nesbit, a Stanford student, where he's helping develop an SMS communications health network. If I had to make a key prediction for 2009 it would be the replication and deployment of his model in increasing numbers of rural hospitals.
Ken -
Ken commented on the article |Hi again, Nate
This is a fascinating conversation going on here. One of the most striking things for me, however, is how quickly it's become a discussion about technology. I don't think your initial post was coming at it from that angle at all - you just happened to mention two tools that *might* fit the task. A post about hope and a vision has turned into a debate about the merits of one tool over another. "Obsessing over the technology" seems alive and well in some quarters.
A final point from me is this. Let's not forget the users. An outsider reading elements of this discussion would likely see a bunch of white people arguing over what the best mobile health solution is for 'poor people'. Any technology which is brought in from the outside and forced onto a community of users is destined to fail. We know that, so let's not forget it. Tools with local ownership are key, and I don't just mean the hardware.
I think some of the cultural and human elements of my post last month on "mobile applications development" are very poignant here, and well worth re-visiting.
http://www.blogspot.kiwanja.net/2008/11/mobile-applications-development.html
Thanks for starting the discussion. Hopefully, by the end of it, we won't have lost sight of what really matters...
Ken -
Ken commented on the article |
Great post and insight into the art of the possible. As you say. much of this is already happening independently (in most cases). All that's needed is a more co-ordinated, collaborative approach.
I would certainly recommend keeping tabs on Josh Nesbit's work in Malawi (http://mobilesinmalawi.blogspot.com), where he seems to be blazing a trail with a well-executed model training and equipping "cellphone-wielding" community healthworkers (his words!).
I think 2009 is going to witness significant steps forward in the practical application of mobile technology in numerous fields, heath being one of them. Look out for my blog post in January! We have enough proven tools and highly capable and dedicated people working in the space right now - it's time we put it all to good, solid practical use.
Ken
www.kiwanja.net
Impact
1 Action
0 Recruits
