A Few Ideas to Save the World
I think one of the biggest challenges facing us is the elimination of extreme poverty. I think most people agree that this is important, but of course there's lots of disagreement about the best means to the end. Anyway, I was reading about One Laptop Per Child, and I came across this idea:
As a part of this movement the OLPC Foundation maintains a web-based listing of individuals and organizations who are prepared to contribute their services and/or products in support of children in XO laptop programs throughout the world.
[me again] So basically you can sign up, and they keep your information on file. Maybe they don't need a lawyer right now, but if they ever do, they can contact you. It's a way of overcoming a serious transaction cost: there are probably willing volunteers for all kinds of tasks, but matching volunteer to task is very difficult.
So probably what we should have is some kind of centralized database for all non-profits. It wouldn't include anything too personal, just contact information and a list of basic skills/interests. If a non-profit in South Africa needs a real estate lawyer in Virginia, the system would match them up. Of course this already goes on informally, but it depends on social networks that aren't nearly as powerful as the internet.
The other idea I've been thinking about, one that has clearly taken off, is distributed computing. My current favorite is World Community Grid, but there's no shortage of projects out there (if you do sign up for World Community Grid, why not join the Dinosaur Comics team?). Strictly speaking this isn't about the elimination of poverty, but it's an example of technology bringing together resources for the common good.
As a part of this movement the OLPC Foundation maintains a web-based listing of individuals and organizations who are prepared to contribute their services and/or products in support of children in XO laptop programs throughout the world.
[me again] So basically you can sign up, and they keep your information on file. Maybe they don't need a lawyer right now, but if they ever do, they can contact you. It's a way of overcoming a serious transaction cost: there are probably willing volunteers for all kinds of tasks, but matching volunteer to task is very difficult.
So probably what we should have is some kind of centralized database for all non-profits. It wouldn't include anything too personal, just contact information and a list of basic skills/interests. If a non-profit in South Africa needs a real estate lawyer in Virginia, the system would match them up. Of course this already goes on informally, but it depends on social networks that aren't nearly as powerful as the internet.
The other idea I've been thinking about, one that has clearly taken off, is distributed computing. My current favorite is World Community Grid, but there's no shortage of projects out there (if you do sign up for World Community Grid, why not join the Dinosaur Comics team?). Strictly speaking this isn't about the elimination of poverty, but it's an example of technology bringing together resources for the common good.
posted by James | 10:40 AM
1 Comments:
I don't crunch World Community Grid because, last I knew, they had a pretty severe censorship policy. Since the processing is done on my computer, paid for with my money, I should be able to post a complaint about the software without them deleting it. Microsoft can get away with stuff like that, but if you want people to run a Distributed Computing app, you need to be a little more respectful.
My crunching happens elsewhere, and I've never desired to go back.
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