This is a presentation I gave April 15 at TedXMisison on how we need to encourage experimentation among developers and users in the local context to build the best real-time, useful communciation tools. You can view the presentation here (mid-way): http://www.ustream.tv/tedxmission
7. TED
IDEAWORTHSPREADING
By harnessing the capacity of local communities
to develop their own solutions we can
exponentially grow the value of real-time
communication tools.
47. Mary Jane Marcus
Senior Program Manager
Advisor, Women & Communities
marcus@instedd.org
Editor's Notes
MJ: I want start by walking you though a short visualization which I believe will help frame the talk I will be giving today. Imagine a large animal. This an animal that most of you will probably have only heard about in stories of far away lands. Imagine this large animal has 4 long legs that give it its power, prestige and grace. Imagine a long horn coming out of the animalโs head that is unique to ONLY this specific animal. The animal is usually one of a light color and has visible hair only on itโs head and long tail. This animal is most well known throughout the history of the world for the unique horn coming out of itโs head. Does everyone have that imagine in their heads? A large four legged light colored animal heard about mostly through stories that is most well known for the horn coming out of its head?
Does the imagine in your head look anything like this?
MJ: We are all here today because we want to make a difference. We want to find the solutions to the most pressing challenges of our time. We want to alleviate suffering and make the world better than what weโre seeing today. Compassion is in our nature.
How do we create meaningful and holistic beneficial change?
My idea worth spreading is that if we all started to focus on building the capacity of local communities to develop their own solutions, then we can truly and sustainably grow the value and develop the creativity of real time communication tools to help solve these problems.
I believe that in order to really create that meaningful and holistic beneficial change, we need to first harness the power of unique perspectives. By looking at the issues through different lenses, we are able to start to understand the true picture of what it is actually like to experience the problems weโre trying to solve.
In the global context, there really is no them. The most pressing problems that we face today are not contained by borders and boundaries.
This could have been anyone. That single person could have been you. So in order to merge the reality of traveling though todayโs globalized world with the reality of how diseases spread... (next slide)
Real time communication is essential for disease containment, prevention and treatment.
In order to provide innovative support in the context of emergencies, diseases and disasters, InSTEDD works to harness the power of technology to improve collaboration for global health and humanitarian action.
So in this context, how do we โfacilitate an en...โ And even more, how do we do this thinking about today? tomorrow? and 20 years from now?
MJ: Who are your co-creators? What is your value add? What are the local communities value add? What can you uniquely contribute and what can your partners? How can you bring it all together to build a sustainable self renewing model of meaningful and holistic beneficial change?
