Really simple syndication works

The use of RSS feeds from a range of news sources provides a way to see the world through a variety lens. I am a huge fan of Netvibes, which allows me to organise all my favourite information resources in one convenient location and it doesn’t clog my email. So I thought I’d share a couple of the stories that have come my way through this useful tool.

The human ingenuity and perseverance of William Kamkwamba, a young African man, is worth reading about. Because of poverty, he had to drop out of highschool but this didn’t stop him from continuing to learn through borrowed books. He decided to combine his love of science with his need for electricity; the result was a homemade genearator. Using discarded rubbish (e.g. a rusted tractor fan, a plastic PVC pipe, washers made from Carlsberg beer bottle caps, and a broken bicycle frame) he made a windmill that he hooked up to a car battery in order to store power. The device worked and his story can be read in ‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’. I only wish my students were this committed and passionate to learn.

I also came across this amazing use of Flickr photographs to form a 3D representation of cities. A team of computer scientiests from Geogre Washington Univerisity combined over 150 000 Flickr photos to form 3D representations of Rome, Venice, and Dubrovnik (a coastal city in Croatia). The results are simply stunning.

Then today I came across an article in the NYT about a commercial music site, Pandora. Pandora is essentially a music genome project with a commercial application. The goal is to be able to decode a piece of music so as to identify its essential themes. Using this information, the site directs the user to other music that has been decoded as having similar traits. What really intrigued me was the driving motivation behind the endeavour. In our time-driven, deadline orientated ‘first-world’ society we often do not have the time to discover new music. We frequently rely on word-of-mouth referrals from friends or the likes of ‘opinion leaders’ via radio stations, blogs, or other social networking media. Pandora takes a different approach – it allows for ‘inner directed’ searches that are not constrained by sub-cultural influences. It offers true freedom to explore a wide range of music based purely on your own tastes.

So RSS feeds do have their place ­– from these snippets of stories ideas grow, mature, and hopefully make us more empathetic to the lives of others.

“Women hold up half the sky”* – The Role of micro-loans

Goldman Sachs, in their Global Economics Paper No: 164 titled ‘Women Hold Up Half the Sky’, assessed the latent value of educating women and the potential impact such movers would engender in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and N-11 countries (the next 11 which are Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam). It is well worth the read especially the later sections which discuss the micro and macro changes that can emanate from education. What this paper does not really touch upon is the empowerment and learning that comes from ‘micro-loans’ or ‘micro-finance’. A friend works in this area in developing countries and often speaks of the transformative power of small loans given to women to start-up small businesses. Typically, these loans are administered by local case managers who also provide basic skills training in the area of business management and marketing.

In Pakistan, Kashf Foundation provided a micro loan of just $65 to a marginalised woman by the name of Saima. Saima used this money to start her own embroidery business – she purchased cloth and beads and then sold her finished products on to merchants working in a local market. You can read more about Saima in this NYT article. Care International also has a great microfinance program.

Muhammad Yunus, a professor of economics from Bangladesh, is credited with developing the concept of microcredit and was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize (with the Grameen Bank that he founded) for "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below."

As a marketing academic, it’s exciting to note the range of careers available to our graduates (and even us!) in this area. Kashf Foundation career opportunities and Care International employment opportunities.

Following on from Stephen’s recent post, there is a role for ‘marketers without borders’. Marketers have a significant role to play in communicating project goals and aims to the broader community. There is also a vital role to play in the area of disease control/health promotion to name but a few. However, Muhammad Yunus, in a 2006 interview with Paul Solman (a PBS NewsHour economics correspondent) offers a word of caution, albeit in the context of micro loans. He stated “I invite everybody to come into micro-credit area. But one thing I want to distinguish and also urge them: Don't make it an area to maximize profit. Because when you maximize profit, you minimize the benefit to the people”.

*An old Chinese proverb