Category Challenges

Tactical tech

Tactical Tech is an international NGO helping human rights advocates use information, communications and digital technologies to maximise the impact of their advocacy work. They believe that new technologies have significant potential to enhance the work of campaigners and advocates,…

Share my ride

The New York Times Magazine on the service design concept behind car sharing: “Car sharing, is a pay-per-use system, which has the effect of significantly altering driving behavior. Evidence suggests that sharers drive from a quarter to half as much…

Microsoft Research’s “Technology for Emerging Markets” group

The Technology for Emerging Markets group at Microsoft Research India seeks to address the needs and aspirations of people in emerging-market countries, including those who are increasingly consuming computing technologies and services, as well as those for whom access to…

Design thinking for the future at LIFT09

The session devoted to Design Thinking was my personal favourite of the entire 2009 LIFT conference. Beyond the engineers and business’ discourse about the future, what is it designers can propose? What sort of alternatives are they envisioning? What’s the…

Ethan Zuckerman on mobile news and mobile currency in Africa

Ethan Zuckerman, a multifaceted thinker whose work focuses on the impact of technology in developing countries, and a research fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, was interviewed on Ideas Project, the Nokia site…

Carlo Ratti, Dan Hill and Anne Galloway on the ‘long here’ at LIFT09

One of the best sessions of the entire LIFT conference took place on Thursday afternoon. As half of the world is now living in cities, it’s undeniable that the recombination of our physical environment through technological advancements will lead to…

Lifestream workshop at LIFT09

The other Experientia workshop at LIFT was Lifestream – Visualizing my data. The workshop, which was completely packed, was run by Willem Boijens, Vodafone, and my business partner Jan-Christoph Zoels, Experientia, and set out to explore large quantity information visualization.…