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My Digital Footprint

John Seely Brown

The web has just begun to have an impact on our lives. As fascinated as we are with it today, we’re still seeing it in its early forms… My belief is that not only will the web be as fundamental to society as electrification but that it will be subject to many of the same diffusion and absorption dynamics as that earlier medium.

The Linking for Learning Blog

Entries in Africa (2)

Monday
Sep162019

Conflict is #Solvable

There are so many podcasts out there these days it can be hard to find the quality. As soon as I saw Malcolm Gladwell's name associated with the 'Solvable' podcast, I knew it would be a winner. As the description states

 Solvable showcases the world’s most inspiring thinkers proposing solutions to the world’s most daunting problems. The interviews, conducted by journalists like Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg, acknowledge complexity while inciting hope that these problems are, in fact, solvable.

This interview features Jacob Weisberg talking to Victor Ochen about building peace in Africa through the African Youth Initiative Network. It's truly inspirational.

Listen to the Solvable podcast: Conflict is #Solvable

Friday
Apr052013

Librii - new model of library for developing countries

Librii is an exciting new concept in libraries that has been successfully funded as a Kickstarter project raising $52,350, just above their $50,000 goal, with 650 backers.  Their plan is to develop a network of low-cost yet revenue-generating, digitally powered libraries deployed along the fibre optic infrastructure in the developing world.  It will be run by library and information professionals and provide access to people isolated from resources that could aid their independence.   

Librii's intention is to provide individuals and comunities with access to digital and physical tools to 'tools to solve their own educational, informational, and economic challenges'.  The purpose of being revenue-generating, they say, is to make them independent from government organisations and the like.  It makes sense.

The project was incubated with seed funding from the World Bank Institute and was awarded the Best Innovation Leveraging Technology from the Dell Social Innovation Challenge.  It's a project worth watching and provides inspiration to me personally, as we encourage our own library communities to look differently at the futures available to them. #Librii