Every year, the world's leading social entrepreneurs gather at Oxford University to participate in Skoll World Forum. For three days and nights, attendees take part in debates, discussion and work sessions to address the world's most pressing social problems through the lens of profit with a purpose.
The forum hosts delegates from a wide array of sectors -- including finance, corporate, academia and policy -- to discuss topics that fall within the overall theme. This year's theme -- "Large Scale Change -- ecosystems, networks and collaborative action" -- looks at how our complex, interdependent world may challenge or help our efforts to make large-scale change. The Forum offers a unique opportunity for change agents of all realms to come together; an entrepreneur can pitch to the head of investment for UBS or Goldman Sachs, or participants can talk about civil society with Desmond Tutu. It's the rebirth of the French salon for these brief three days in Oxford.
This year's sessions will touch upon topics ranging from China and Sub-Saharan Africa to leadership and navigating unchartered waters. The subject that hits home most for NetHope is "Enabling Technologies for Large Scale Change."
Let's take a look at one of the scalable tools NetHope uses and plans to use going forward:
Hitting Our Stride in the Last MileWhen NetHope was founded in 2001, the promise of inter-agency collaboration was clear in reaching the most isolated, rural populations. Many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) understood that reaching that "last mile" would serve those in the greatest need. However, on their own, these organizations' human and technology resources were stretched to the limit making this expensive "last mile" practically out of reach.
By collaborating with other NetHope agencies, member organizations could better serve their beneficiaries as well as take advantage of the collective's shared expertise and resources. Ten years later, reaching the last mile still stands as one of our chief objectives as the main focus of our Connectivity initiative.
One way that NetHope delivers broadband service to those hardest-to-reach places using VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) systems. VSAT systems require little or no field construction; placed outside, a VSAT system consists of a 3-meter-large earth station that connects to an orbiting space satellite. Field offices are able to connect to each other, as well as with their headquarter locations, through their VSAT system. The transmission is strong enough to support VoIP, an Internet connection, video or data transfer like processing credit cards.
Technology like VSAT connects rural areas to the global internet, which can be life-changing for the newly connected. Connectivity provides the infrastructure for influential Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) solutions. For example, World Vision Canada uses rural connectivity to implement their Last Mile Mobile Solution (LMMS). LMMS ensures families in rural areas receive fair food rations with a swipe of their identification card; this process replaces slower paper methods and offers a faster procedure that even gives real-time inventory statistics. LMMS was even re-applied in Haiti last year as a way to efficiently deliver emergency resources.
Coupling technological advancement -- which allows VSAT systems to offer higher bandwidth for lower costs -- with new off grid solutions, like femtocells, the promise of connectivity -- both fixed and mobile -- now looks like a reality. A femtocell enables users to connect to their mobile phone service through a broadband connection, which extends cellular service to places that otherwise would not have coverage. So with low-cost and support for high-impact solutions, integrated VSAT systems are a great example of a scalable technology that gives large-scale change.
These examples of powerful, scalable ICT solutions will be the kind of examples I intend to share with the world's leading thinkers. In discussions and debates at the Skoll World Forum, I hope new, innovative ways to use ICT will emerge as scalable options; unlocking to true potential for technology to solve some of the largest global social issues we face today.