Giving Thanks
We’ve got it pretty good, overall, and last week's gluttonous binge/contemplative holiday was an opportunity to think a bit about all the things for which we’re thankful. Here are a few thoughts from our team on what we are grateful for these days.
First and foremost, of course, is you our dear readers. (Hi mom!)
Chris Doten
African tech hubs. I just got back from ccHub and the Idea Hub in Lagos, and they’re fantastic exemplars of this great phenomenon. Pulling smart young techies together where they can learn and grow - and in an environment that is often focused on social good. They’re pragmatic, too - the same sort of reduction of cost barriers to entry you get with coworking spaces here in the US. Made even more valuable by supply of fast internet and generator power.
A declining Ebola transmission rate. I have a lot of love for Liberia and have been heartbroken by the outbreak. The fact that things have been slowing - while far from over - is better than the nightmare exponential growth scenarios we were facing. Might have had something to do with the tech response coordinated by USAID.
Android phones - now appearing under $50. That's gonna change the world more than all the work of us international development geeks.
Olive cheese balls. The best of seasonal Minnesota culinary tradition. (Grey Lady, you have no idea what you're talking about.)
Christine Schoellhorn
Increased access to information for marginalized and hard to reach populations: Amazing efforts from Google on expanding internet access through satellites as well as some incredibly cool work from Outernet on broadband based communications is making access to information a basic human right .
The internet: it may seem basic, but remember how we get when we don’t have it?
Social media: not only to help you stay in touch with friends and remote cousins, but as a scalabe, cheap form of communication for non-profits and democracy support groups. Twitter has long been a hotspot for political communication and with the fast growth of the platform and increasing reach into different segments of society - its built out a new and innovative way to debate and share information. In recognition of Twitter’s dominance over the political spectrum, USA Today and Twitter released the Twiter Political Index this month.
JIRA: I'm a JIRA fangirl and proud of it. JIRA streamlines and simplifies the project management and software development process, breaking down large projects into bite sized pieces and allowing for tracking of timelines, sharing updates, and managing independent deliverables.
Evan Summers
All the amazing DemWorks blog content. (ed. note: Evan's been doing most of it lately, so we're thankful for him.)
Escaping the Minnesota winter.
A brave new frontier for the delivery of the world's greatest dessert.
A great new home in D.C. and the ability to be working on issues of democracy, communication, and technology with a great team.
Jared Ford
Smart, dedicated, fun team members...
Snow flurries in November. Winter may be coming but at least it looks pretty.
Blue jean Fridays. NDI may be late to the casual Friday tradition, but we've made it at last.
Meron Menwyelet
Tools like Crimson Hexagon that help us listen better to citizen expression online and give us valuable insight on global attitudes related to political accountability.
Partners in civic tech like Poplus that share our vision of making knowledge and technology accessible to individuals and organizations both near and far.
Post it notes! What would life be without ‘em.
Swami Ganesan
Technology and the growth of sharing economy - Uber, Airbnb, etc. It's a radical shift in the organization of society and I am interested to see where it will lead.
To be solving problems at the forefront of society and technology.
To be living in a truly small world.