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After just the first full day of the Rio+2.0 conference at Stanford U, but already it's been worth it ... for ideas, information, new contacts, and especially inspiration.
My first encounter with other attendees was awaiting the shuttle to the Stanford campus. The other two women were from the USDA and from an international NGO, kicking off the sub theme of partnership between government, civil society and private industry right from the start. My dinner discussion on Big Data's role in sustainable development (topics included analyses of groundwater as well as water acquisition in India, climate change and adaptation, healthcare, pandemic prediction, challenges from acquisition of data, politics, and cultural barriers) added a good dose of academia to the mix.
Diversity spawns innovation, and not only do the participants come from every sector (I won't say "attendees" as that word implies passivity and this conference is anything but passive so far!), but also from every corner of the world. Lest you had any doubt of the global nature of sustainable development (how could you?), you should have been in the discussions I had with government, NGO, and private industry representatives from Uraguay, Liberia, Finland, Palestine, and many, many more.
The event started with opening remarks by Nancy Sutley (Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality) and Alec Ross (Senior Advisor for Innovation, US Dept of State). Nancy spoke of themes of the upcoming Rio+20, and Alec of recognizing how citizens have become key players in policy development and the importance of role ICT to drive sustainable development. He also pointed out that "connection technologies", the theme of the conference, really includes that which we are connecting and includes not only networking technology, but the broader cloud computing, and especially data.
Then they introduced Noel Dickover as "Chief of New Social Media in the e-Diplomacy Office" to kick off the "Speed Geeking" event (I love that title!). For this, we were organized into groups that spent five minute each at 10 of the nearly 30 stations hosted by leaders from for-profit and non-profit organizations, each explaining a real-world application of technology that is having an effect in the real world. From a group dynamics perspective, it was a brilliant way to break the ice and get people talking to one another right from the get-go.
But oh, my -- there is so much innovation in technology having a real impact to real people around the world! Just a few examples include:
- Solar Sisters, making entrepreneurs of women in Africa while supplying non-toxic, inexpensive lighting and energy.
- Souktel, using inexpensive texting to match job seekers and employers in Ramala.
- Nexleaf Analytics, which has come up with creative sensor technologies for monitoring conditions on the ground, such as air quality impacts of clean cooking stoves.
- NetHope, bringing together NGOs and private industries to match problems with technology solutions.
- The better-known Kiva and Grameen foundation on personal and mobile micro financing, respectively.
In the shuttle this morning, we were all chatting about the importance of seeing that people and technology truly can have an impact. And we agreed... it's all too easy to become jaded when stuck in numbing policy negotiations. But this event has already renewed our belief in the power to make change!
This article originally appeared on Kathrin Winkler's blog.
I think that the diversity in
I think that the diversity in the background of the attendees is very important in order to collect opinions from different points of view. This meeting in Stanford prior to the conference in Rio seems useful to review some creative ideas in advance.
One example of innovative technology that is presented in Rio+20 webpage deals with water supply.
Grundfos, a Danish pump manufacturer Grundfos, is applying its core competencies in solving the challenge of providing sustainable access to water for rural communities in Kenya.
The initiative of Solar Sisters presented here is remarkable. Through the use of a distribution based on a door to door style, women become entrepreneurs. They distribute solar lamps, the project provides good to society by reducing poverty and enhancing the use of clean energy. The project is active in 3 countries and has created 143 entrepreneurs. Additionally, Solar Sister’s webpage is well designed to give information about the project and describe how any person can help.
Programs like those detailed
Programs like those detailed in the article certainly do renew our determination to make a difference. When traveling in rural India I visited cities plagued by frequent power outages. I had the opportunity to meet with professors at the Institute of Business and Rural Development in Ahmendnagar who used solar and wind energy to power their facilities during these outages. For them solar/wind energy were not environmentally responsible alternatives, they were at times the only option. This was truly inspiring to me.