Well I could see a site where you ask peoples help to get solutions for specific problems. The solutions have to be easy, cheap, etc.

The keyword here is specific. otherwise you get loads of nonsolutions.

Tommy

you seems suspicious with the rest of the MOVERS and THINKERS and LEADERS outthere...
have faith there are no hidden agenda to delayed the future which is ours.
Just the same, its up to you...take the initiative we ought to inherit the earth one piece anyway!

I think there could be some real value here. Many times academics are limited by what they can get funding for. If their funding runs out, they have to file reports, publish papers and move on. In some cases, some promising technology may get shelved because there is not an immediate economic incentive to take the next step from academic research to industry.

In most cases, the academics would love to follow through, but they're constrained by their position. They have a responsibility to their institution to bring in new funding, provide projects for students, etc. If you provide a forum which would help some of these orphaned projects see the light of day, I think the academics would jump at the change to get some exposure and potentially continue their work.

I like the idea and hope it works out for you.
If you need any help just ask.

]V[oogy

GlobalCK, if the use of internet can assist in solving some of the ridiculous barriers that seem to stand between knowing what to do and actually being able to do it, that would be a great thing. I think transparency and a worldwide audience would remove a lot of bottlenecks, just as it does here in a micro-way.

In Paul Hawkens' new book, _Blessed Unrest_, he talks about how there are many, many little and big groups of people in the world, organized to help make the world a better place in one way or another.

At the end of the book he mentions that he is involved in a project where they have compiled a giant database of groups working for environmental and social causes. It's at wiserearth.org.

It looks like wiserearth is fairly new but I think the objectives are along the lines of what you are proposing - trying to unite problems and solutions.

Maybe you have already looked into this. If so (or in any event) I would be interested in your comments on it.

Great idea.

@Jill

thanks for mentioning that book/site... i'll take a quick look on it...your few lines struck me personally.

other than micro finance , many of the issues are tech based.

I think this is a very good idea; at the moment it's very difficult for researchers and business people in developed countries to get a feel for what will actually make a difference. Without that it's easy to put a lot of very well-meant effort into trying to help those in need and end up over-complicating the situation or producing something that's at best not ideal and at worst a waste of money. I suspect that there are a lot of people out there willing to help but unsure how - if you think you can find a way of channeling that and making a difference, you have my vote.

jill: thanks for the pointer. i have met paul hawken and is in conversation with him to have him be in my conference. wiser.org is an awesome archive but with what we want to do it'd require significant amount of filtering. i have no idea how we can do that. for philanthropists, money is not the problem here...the problem is knowing the needs of the region and make a real impact there. for the technologists, intellectual horsepower is not the problem, rather it is the potential to leapfrog from a niche market to a bigger market. the problem is optimization of resource allocation. i think PhillipH said it very articulately.

philipH: well said, you said it better than i did.

micro: thanks for the analysis. i already sent you a personal msg.

You've got vision man!!!

GlobalCK, I "think" how wiser.org might help is by giving higher profile to on-the-ground agencies in developing countries, making it easier for people with money or technology to find them.

I agree with PhilipH & with you about the nature of the challenge. I think that visibility leads to networking and connections that can bridge the gap between invention and implementation. Wiser.org may not be "the" solution but it is one place where it looks like connections could be made.

I wonder though, if all the assumptions here are true.

I would find it helpful to look at a specific example - do you have any? It would be very useful to walk through an example of how your idea would work in practice.

Also, can you say a bit more about your conference, either here or in the forums? Sounds exciting.

Thanks.

Good luck!