Wayan Dot Com

Since I live in Washington DC and work for a company in San Francisco, I can't exactly go into the office every day. Instead, I work from home. Yet even there I am a little different from the rest. I don't have a sitting desk with a chair - I stand to work.

Yes, I have a standing desk, and work all day standing up. Wondering what that might look like? Then watch this video and learn how I make the magic happen standing up:

I do have to say that I love my standing desk. I no longer have back or shoulder pain that plagued me when I sat for 10 hours a day, and contrary to what you might think, I'm not tired at all in the evening. I feel refreshed actually, because I've been moving around all day and not tied to a chair. In fact, my only real worry is how I can stay standing for the rest of my career!

In May 2009, infoDev at the World Bank launched the Educational Technology Debate in conjunction with Unesco with its first topical discussion, "Are ICTs the Best Educational Investment?" between Tim Kelly of infoDev and Wayan Vota, consultant to infoDev. From this humble beginning, the Educational Technology Debate is now an expanding community of practice.

The long-term goal of the Educational Technology Debate is for it to become a focal point and catalyst for an informed discussion and debate around practical implementations of information and communication technology (ICT) solutions in education globally, bringing innovative technology and best practices to the overall ICT for development (ICT4D) effort.

It's well on its way to achieve this goal, and become a commanding presence in the ICT for education (ICT4E) conversation, through three interrelated activities:

1. Stimulate a public, holistic, and documented discussion on appropriate low-cost ICT solutions for educational systems in developing countries.
2. Become a primary knowledge repository and knowledge transfer mechanism to support implementations of low-cost ICT devices in education.
3. Increase the effectiveness and efficiency of low-cost ICT device implementations in educational environments of the developing world.

The Educational Technology Debate is central to the ongoing global discussion around ICTs and learning. Through its 100+ posts by subject matter experts on 17 topics central to ICT in education, its gained over 550 subscribers to its content, and generated over 740 comments by technologists and educators. In fact, leaders in the ICT for education field (ICT4E) say:

"Educational Technology Debate is invaluable. I used an excerpt of Atanu Dey's Live Debate presentation in my efforts to educate the Ministry of Education on ICT4E best practices. I footnote and link to ETD throughout my reports." Edmond Gaible, PhD, CEO of Natoma Group

The Educational Technology Debate utilizes social networking tools to expand its reach and has even bridged the on and off-line world with a Live Debate that was broadcast around the world. You can read about this progress in the Educational Technology Debate Year 1 Report.

In the next year, expect the Educational technology Debate to expand its dialogue and continue to push for a greater discussion on low-cost ICT initiatives for educational systems in developing countries.

Recently, Ken Banks put forth an interesting question in his post "Mobile community: The holy grail of m4d?" He essentially asked "Who is the mobile community?" and hinted that there is a lack of clarity in the definition and therefore the need for a specific mobile community.

Taking his hint, Nate Barthel suggested we think of a Venn diagram of the m4D community as overlapping the ICT and development communities, with Prabhas Pokharel creating this one so we could visualize a m4D community.

I'd like to present my own Venn diagram of m4D, adding in Apps4D:

Now here is each category explained, along with its placement in these respective communities:

• ICT
  Information and communication technologies represent the full array of solutions, from FM radio to cloud computing that the world uses to create and relay information electronically.
• Mobile
  Mobile technologies, from the mobile phone to the iPad are a subset of ICT that, like the name suggests, are primarily focused on allowing the user to interact with ICT while in motion.
• Development
  Often called "international development", its the industry seeking to increase the economic and social development of disadvantaged communities and countries.
• ICT4D
  Where the use of ICT is for the purpose of developing a community, its referred to as ICT4D (ICT for Development).
• m4D
  Where mobile technologies are used for development, this is called m4D and is a subset of both mobile and development.
• Apps4D
  Where software applications interact with mobile technologies, often but not always as software on the mobile device itself, for development, it is Apps4D.

Now this does not mean that m4D should not have its own community - it should. I only wanted to show its location, and to an extent its size, relative to the other communities.

The rise of the smartphone has unleashed a wave of excitement and income generation across the software development community. Applications that can run on iPhones, Android phones and Blackberry's, can be written quickly, and on the cheap, and have generated outsized returns for their creators.

Even more impressive is that this application revolution is just starting. As Darrell Owen pointed out in the Apps4D presentation at a Business Growth Initiative meeting, iPhone adoption is growing at an order of magnitude faster than any other Internet technology - 11x the rate of AOL at its peak.

In addition, smartphone adoption in the developing world is only at 3-5%, compared with 70-80% for mobile phones in general. Smartphones are the emerging middle class aspiration, and will be the mark of financial arrival that can be conspicuously displayed for all to see.

So the demand is there for smartphone applications in the developing world. Around this demand, Darrell and Steve Schmida ask three very pivotal questions to the international development community:

1. Does smartphone application development offer a real opportunity for advancing entrepreneurship in the developing world?
2. How could donors facilitate the efforts of private industry to accelerate application development?
3. What impact would investments in application development have on international development goals?

To these three questions, I propose these answers on how software application development can be an engine for entrepreneurship and economic growth in the developing world, on a limited basis.

Smartphone applications are within reach of African developers

Right now, Facebook is driving ICT adoption in Africa. But Facebook is not coded in Africa - its written in Silicon Valley, where the majority of commercial and website software comes from. Yet there are a number of successful software companies in Africa.

In fact, MXit, a mobile social network holds its own in South Africa and just expanded into Kenya with Safaricom.

In addition, software development centers like Accra, Lagos, Nairobi, and Kampala are churning out applications for smartphones and even basic mobile phones, which can only SMS. Applications like OhmSMS and iWarrior show you what's possible - and that's without any donor support.

Donor support would increase competitiveness

Now imagine if these same mobile application software developers had access to mentoring from established leaders in the field, if they were able to share experiences and resources with their peers in a results-focused environment, and if seed funding and growth financing were easy to obtain.

That's exactly what Limbe Labs and Appfrica Labs are attempting to bootstrap with their incubators. And its what infoDev at World Bank aims to achieve with its Regional Mobile Applications Laboratory grants - seeding world-class entrepreneurship in at least two locations in Africa.

Donor support would increase diversity

The private sector will be quick to capitalize on Africa's software development for their own mobile applications - and let them. The donor community should leverage this opportunity to ensure there are social development applications as well. Just look at what the Kenya ICT Board is doing.

They're investing $4 million in grants from the World bank's International Development Association for mobile applications to enhance citizen participation in eGovernment.

I could see an Apps4D program using the same approach to bring eGovernment services to businesses, or eLearning to expand the reach of secondary or adult education.

Apps4D would have limited employment impact

Before we get too excited about Apps4D, a little history. Back when every country thought they could become a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) hub, like India, by proclaiming themselves a Silicon Valley and investing in software development industries, USAID spent many millions on improving software development business skills and enabling environments.

The expectation was that BPO would magically employ thousands and the IT industry would be the path to middle class incomes for all. That didn't happen, and BGI found little long-term employment impact from all those millions.

But that should not be a surprise - IT isn't a high-employment industry. It only takes a handful of coders to produce the most elaborate software. One person can write good mobile software applications, which is both a strength and a weakness.

Homegrown success would be an inspiration

Youth are the largest cohort of unemployed in Africa, with young males the most listless. Yet they're also the most tech-savvy and mobile phone addicted. By showcasing one or two young mobile application software development stars, coders who make it relatively big through their apps, we could engage an entire generation to focus on positive role models.

Just look at the following Google has across Africa at their developer-focused Google Technology User Groups - software development hopefuls flock to their meetings.

Still, there isn't a need for that many software developers. So don't expect an Apps4D program have a big employment impact. It will only create a handful of good jobs. Instead, measure it by how many youth look to mobile application development as an inspiration for the basics of good grades and dedication to employment.

Apps4D should be a targeted investment

While mobile software application development can be an engine for entrepreneurship and economic growth in the developing world, it should only have a small role within a larger context. It's the sizzle that can help sell the development basics of improvements in education, employment, and business climate.

At a few hundred thousand dollars, the infoDev regional mobile application labs are a rounding error in USAID mission budgets, yet imagine the positive publicity and impact when one of them creates the next ChildCount+ or Ushahidi!

"We need a website. Who wants to figure that out?" says my new boss in the very first staff meeting I attend on the very first day of my new job.

"I will," I answered, and so in 1995, I started blogging, before there was even a term for it.

Blogging got me on 60 Minutes!

Fast forward 15 years and I'm now paid to blog. In fact, through blogging, I'm known as an ICT4D expert, which has led to the best job I've ever had and a sweet consulting gig with the World Bank. It's also led me to great personal happiness, but that's a different post.

We're not here to talk about personal blogs. We're here at the World Bank's "Making a Difference in International Development with Blogging" session to learn how to blog your profession to achieve an amazing international development career.

First, do you blog? If you said no, then do you Facebook? Or Twitter? Then you're blogging. In fact, I would say that in this day and age everyone blogs in one-way or another. Personally, I blog professionally on five platforms:

1. ICTworks - an online community for ICT practitioners in the developing world.
2. Technology Salon - exploring the nexus of ICT and development
3. OLPC News - the premier independent online community on One Laptop Per Child
4. Educational Technology Debate - discussing low-cost ICT initiatives for education
5. Technology Salon - an in-person, informal discussion at the intersection of ICT and development

That looks like a lot, right? Its actually not, as all these blogs cover the same topic, ICT4D, in different ways, so a post for one can be re-purposed for others. But no matter which blog I write for, I keep 3 things in mind:

Write to Your Key Audience

To improve your professional standing, you need to blog professionally. You need to think of your blogging/social media as a sales tool you're using to reach your target audience, and then be focused on that audience's needs.

First, define your target audience. Personify the 5-10 specific people that you'd like to work with or for. Then figure out what might arouse their interest and attention (topics, thoughts, arguments, etc) - ask them directly if you already know them.

Next, slavishly focus on them. Write every blog post as if you are writing to them. You can even send them select blog posts. Just be sure to keep on topics of their interest or find themes they mention elsewhere and comment on them (the ideas) in posts.

If you pick the right key audience (thought leaders in your industry, or decision makers in your field), others will start to read your work too, and soon you'll be leading a tribe of followers.

Enlightened by OLPC News success

The OLPC News Example

When I started OLPC news, my goal was to stop work at the One Laptop Per Child headquarters when I published a post. I wanted to reach the 30+ people leading the initiative and make them think. I wanted to change the way OLPC was being deployed.

By being so purposeful in my writing, I was able to focus on topics that mattered, and I definitely go their attention. I knew that when they sent a consigliere, a Tom Hagen, to tell me to chill out in my rants.

Through that focus, I eventually owned the OLPC community. Over 5,000 people read OLPC News every day, a real achievement for a niche blog, and they spend an average of 4 minutes on the site, an eternity in the web world. And the site is a recognized force in the community, even by Nicholas Negroponte himself, the OLPC founder.

Engage Your Key Audience Everywhere

Realize that no matter your writing skill, you nee dot be where your audience is. A post unread does not exist. So be on any platform your key audience congregates on, from MySpace to Okrut, to LinkedIn, even if you dislike it.

Also, be sure to create opportunities for offline, face-to-face meetings as well. These can be as simple as a meetup over beers, or as formal, scheduled meetings or conferences, but just remember to keep activities focused and relevant to your key audience.

Your goal with both of these activities is to get on your key audience's and their colleagues' radar. You want your key audience to think, "Wow, they are everywhere in this space. I need to pay attention to them."

Once there, you can use the body of work you'd written on the blog as deeper background after you've met them, "Thanks for the meeting, by the way, here's a post I wrote on what we talked about," and additional contact opportunities, "Do you know this other expert on the topic we talked about?" This will help make you central to their professional community.

Rob Munro discussing his SMS efforts

Technology Salon Example

Even though I pretty much live online, there isn't any substitute for meeting in-person. So for each platform, I also organize offline events. In fact, I created the Technology Salon specifically to network with my peers face-to-face.

The Technology Salon started when I wanted to have a few beers with my ICT4D colleagues and talk about our work. Then I realized that like me, they all had spouses, kids, and other entanglements that eliminated casual evening meetups. So I moved the Salons to the morning, gave us a strong industry focus, and served coffee and donuts instead of beers. Only begrudgingly I started blogging our meetings, but they have actually driven greater attendance at Salons.

And wow! The Salons now attract a stunning turnout. We have everyone from Vodafone regional presidents to USAID decision makers, to technology innovators on the cutting edge of ICT, and there is even a three-month waiting list for speaker slots. From this networking session, jobs have been found, proposal teams created, and large contracts won - the ultimate measure of success.

Focus on Tangible Outcomes

Which brings us to the ultimate goal of your professional blogging - cash money, honey. Going back to the first point I made, blogging and social media should be one part of your overall professional sales strategy. And you are selling something: your expertise, monetized as a salary or consulting contract.

So always keep that in mind when you are blogging. You are positioning yourself as a thought leader in your field, raising your profile to "expert", and advertising your ability to achieve results. This does not happen overnight, of course, but blogging can speed up the process. To copy from Why Blogging is Good for Your Career, here are the seven benefits it bestows:

1. Your blog becomes a log of your ideas for yourself (inspiration and record keeping)
2. Your blog is like an extended business card (personal branding)
3. Looking for materials for posts makes listening and reading more active (focus)
4. Researching for posts is educative (learning)
5. Posts can be used to claim intellectual property rights (protection)
6. Interaction with idols, readers and others (networking)
7. A blog makes you visible online (controlling web presence)

From this elevated profile, you should start to get a following, people who read your work regularly. Focus on the quality of your following - is it your key audience? Are they linking to your posts, commenting on them directly or in their own work? And most importantly, are they now coming to you with questions about trends in the industry or best of all, opportunities for employment?

Wayan Vota at Live Debate India

Educational Technology Debate Example

infoDev at the World Bank has always been a leader in the integration of ICT into development, especially ICT4E - the use of ICT in education. They literally wrote the book on its usage around the world and everyone looked to them for leadership.

As I started focusing on ICT4E as part of my overall ICT4D blogging, I consciously focused on attracting their attention. Once I realized that infoDev decision makers were reading my posts, I made sure to meet them in person, integrate their thoughts and ideas in my writing, and generally develop a relationship with them.

Over time, my blogging exploits lead to infoDev inviting me to submit a consultancy proposal for an ICT4E community of practice. And now I just finished a two-year contract organizing the Educational Technology Debate, which itself has lead to other consulting offers.

Blogging is Not Silver Bullet

Note that blogging should only be one sales tool of several you should use to promote yourself. Business cards, a good resume, clear focus on the skills you bring and the position you want, are just as important.

And all of this is predicated on your ability to think critically and express yourself fluently - though both of these will improve as you blog more. Practice makes perfect, and blogging has you practice your writing regularly.

So what are you waiting for? Start blogging on your profession today and dream about the kick-ass ICT job you'll have tomorrow.

The response to my recent offering to help you get an amazing ICT4D dream job in 2011 has been overwhelming - I can barely keep up with the individual requests for help. So to speed up the knowledge sharing, I present to you the 3 surefire steps to securing a kick-ass ICT4D job (or any job) without waiting for me to reply to your email.

The Goal: Be Known in Your Field

The best jobs are not advertised in the paper. In fact, ads can be a sign of failure - the hiring person hasn't found anyone in their circle of colleagues and friends who knows a decent candidate.

So your overall goal is to be known in your field - be it ICT4D or any other industry - long before a job ad happens. Be up in everyone's grill to the point that if anyone does think, "Wow, I need help!" that their next thought is, "I know, I'll hire..." where your name is in that blank.

As everyone always says, it's whom you know, and it's easy to get a job when you have a job. But what if you don't know anyone in ICT4D? How to achieve that level of name recognition, especially if you're trying to break into the field? Here's the 3 ways to get an ICT4D job, no matter your present situation:

1. Start Making Contacts

To take a page from sales, you will probably need to meet 100 people just to find 10 who are potential job leads, and then only 1 will pan out to a job offer. If you want more than one job offer, you need to multiply these figures accordingly. So let's say you want 3 job offers - that means you need to make 300 contacts.

Now make a spreadsheet of everyone you already know in the field, or even somehow related to someone in the field. Mine your contacts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Add in contact info and how they're related to each other. Then start contacting each one (via email, phone, in-person, however) to ask for an informational interview.

You can also look for new contacts by reading relevant blogs and journals, even Tweets and Facebook entries of those in the field. Here's a few ICT4D Tweeps of you need inspiration.

2. Go on Informational Interviews

You have three goals in an informational interview: find out about them (What do you do, how does that fit in the industry?), get your message across (I'm amazing & available!), and get more contacts (Who else should I talk with?). Note that nowhere in here should you ask your interviewee for a job. This is a get-to-know-you chat where you're learning, not pitching.

Once the interview is over, put your new contacts into the spreadsheet you made in step 1. Also be sure to send follow up thank-you emails to both the interviewee and who recommended them. You goal here is to remind them of you and how amazing and available you are. It helps if you can add a link to your online presence, so they can read more about you.

Now repeat the informational interview process with the next contact, and then next one, and the next one. To give you context, I did two years of informational interviews before I landed my Geekcorps job - and that was via a colleague I'd met years before, which I cold-called to talk about my ICT4D desires. A year later, she was at a party and heard someone talking about hiring a geek for Africa.

3. Blog About ICT4D

You can't be informational interviewing all the time, but you do want to be in the mind of your contacts as often as possible. You also want to give those that you have or will informational interview with an example of your work so they can see how awesome you are. Last but not least, you want your contacts to be able to show you off to others.

This days, that means you need to have an online presence. Have a full profile on LinkedIn at a minimum. Better is a professional name site (ie. Wayan Dot Com), and best is a deep body of work that's updated regularly, shows off your multiple talents, and can be easily skimmed - in other words, a blog. Besides my entire career built on success with blogging, here are 7 more reasons to blog professionally, even if you're not job searching. And if you need a blogging platform to talk about ICT4D, may I suggest one?

Each blog post is a mini-advertisement of your skills and thought leadership, a chance for you to raise your profile in ICT4D, and another opportunity to remind your contacts of your existence. They're busy people and might forget. Drop them a note connecting your blog post to their situation - that will go a long way in keeping you in their minds.

Common Sense Tips

Regardless of the medium, be sure your contact info is obvious - you want people to find you when you're job hunting. Which reminds me - make business cards with your name, your hoped-for job niche, and your contact details. Pass them out at every opportunity. It's another way to remind people of your awesomeness and availability.

Last but not least, don't pass up an opportunity to show off your awesomeness - volunteer to help on any and every project or conference that is in your field. And when at conferences, be laser-focused on networking. Skip the sessions if need be, you're aim is face time.

And good luck - we all need it.

It's damn hard to get a job in international development. And if you're geeky and want to do ICT4D - use information and communication technologies for development, it's even harder.

Yet every year several hundred people graduate with international development degrees, many of them hoping to start a career in ICT4D. An equal number of professionals decide that ICT4D is their calling too. The ICT4D space is not big enough for all of them find their dream job - or any job for that matter.

So you see the problem. Now let me quantify it. For every job advertised, ICT4D employers get 100+ resumes. And that's the jobs not filled long before by a referral from a friend. So the odds are long.

It took me a lifetime of travel and geekery to prepare for two years of hard-core job hunting and over 150 informational interviews before I found my first ICT4D job at Geekcorps.

It's all about who you know

How might you find a dream job, or even several to choose from? All the experts and I agree: meet the prospective employer (or their colleague) long before there is a job opening, get to know them, show them your skills, and have them be thinking of you when they need help.

See, a job ad is the last thing an overworked international development expert wants to deal with. They hate the hassle of advertising the position, culling the resumes, and doing interviews. It's like a bad game of online dating. They would much rather hire someone they already know, or someone referred to them by a colleague, than a stranger off the street.

Still, you're thinking, "but how do I meet potential employers?" If you don't have an ICT4D job already, you don't know the places to meet ICT4D professionals or have a way to show your skills and potential.

Here's you chance to know everyone

Over the last 6 years in the ICT4D space, I've collected one hell of a Rolodex. Yeah, I know people. In fact, I pride myself on using that Rolodex to help those trying to break into international development. I'll do informational interviews with anyone and try to connect ICT4D hopefuls with at least 3 of my colleagues.

But now I'm willing to do more. I'm willing to give someone an inside view of ICT4D. I'm willing to share my whole Rolodex - everyone I've ever met or worked with in international development. I'm giving someone the opportunity to showcase their ICT4D skills to that Rolodex, and position themselves as the must-have candidate for the next dream job.

The catch

You want an amazing ICT4D dream job. You want to meet the who's who in international development. I organize several communities of practice around the intersection of technology and development. Each will need more love and attention that I can provide this fall. Do you see where I am going yet? If not, let me spell it out:

Work with me to cultivate and expand these communities from July to December, and I'll work with you to make sure you've got an amazing ICT4D dream job offer by January 2011.

Don't be thinking this is an internship - its not. This is an investment in your ICT4D career. You'll invest 10 hours a week cultivating contacts with the best and brightest, people I love to work with and you'd love to work for. You'll gain priceless networking and community building skills. And you'll have at least one job offer in just six months of effort - a full year quicker than most.

So who am I looking for?

You need to be a self-starter, someone who can take a goal and figure out how to reach it. You need to have some familiarity with ICT4D, or at least international development. You'll need to be willing to commit at least 10 hours a week over the next six months. And you can work from wherever, but you do need to be able to be in Washington DC regularly - at least 2-3 times a month.

Past that, convince me that I should trust you with six years of contacts and my professional reputation when I refer you to potential employers (yes, that's the goal - figure out how to reach it).

What will you do?

First, you'll meet with me regularly - I may be an online junkie, but face time is priceless. During these meetings we'll discuss two overall topics:

1. Goals for the different communities of practice and how we can work together to achieve them. You'll be a partner in their development, not a gopher (not to say there aren't boring tasks you'll have to do). You'll be expected to spend at least 5 hours a week on the communities.
2. Goals for your career and how we'll work together to achieve them. Everything from what you want to be doing to whom you want to work for, and all the steps and introductions needed to get there. You'll be expected to spend at least 5 hours a week on your career goals.

Note this is an unpaid engagement; your reward is an amazing ICT4D dream job. Yet, I cannot guarantee that job. It will be your achievement as much as mine.

So what are you waiting for? If you've read this far, you should be itching to email me your interest so we can meet and discuss this opportunity in more detail.

Power. That's the real problem for information and communication technologies (ICT) in the developing world. Specifically, electrical power, and the lack there of. All the coolest ICT tools, from radio to computers, the very Internet itself, require electricity, and usually vast amounts of it.

$10 per Watt in Africa

Yet in the developing world, electricity is very rare and expensive. National electrical grids don't extend past the national capitol or major trading city. Outside of population centers, electricity is generated by local, even personal generators.

Often noisy, polluting, diesel or petrol generators that need constant repair, or very expensive and delicate solar panels that break or disappear overnight. Either way, electrical infrastructure costs usually exceeded the ICT investment, often by 2-3 times.

These two opposing forces collided during the 2000's, as the international development industry, local governments, and communities themselves tried to bring ICT to rural and underserved areas, with disastrous results.

Untold millions of dollars, man-hours, and even computers were lost in these ICT for development (ICT4D) projects when energy sucking computers starved themselves and their hosts, as they gorged on rare, expensive electrons.

We would still be wasting silicon and staff today, if it were not for one, very small invention that has literally revolutionized an industry: the Intel Atom processor.

Atom CPU: Disruptive ICT4D Innovation

In 2008, partly in response to the hype around One Laptop Per Child, Intel announced the Atom series of processors. Here was a processor that had enough power - 1.6 GHz clock speed - to do most applications that users deemed necessary.

It also was very energy efficient - 2.5 Watts - and Intel sold them at very cheap prices to computer manufactures.

The power envelop in such a cheap and energy-efficient package was truly a disruptive new-market innovation that has shifted the ICT demand curve.

New-Market Innovation

Clayton Christensen, the originator of the disruptive innovation concept, says that "new-market" disruptive innovation is when non-consumers - consumers who would not have used the products already on the market - are now able to consume.

In the information and communications technologies for development (ICT4D) field, we've been using a number of different solutions to try and bridge the gap between high-powered computers and the low-resource environments we want them to work in.

We've tried everything from only using older, lower performance technology like AMD Geode-powered computers, to reducing the number of computers involved to match the amount of electricity a community can support.

But these were only stopgap measures. Every day the grid-powered world got better, faster technology and everyone else got farther and father behind. We, and the communities we served, were non-consumers of the faster, better technology.

Our clients could not afford the infrastructure for modern computing or had to travel great distance and expense to use it in major cities.

Making ICT4D Affordable

With its low price, and low power consumption, the Atom was doubly affordable in ICT4D applications. We could move from non-consumers to immediate, large-scale consumption of modern information and communication technologies.

The Atom's lower processor price meant that the end computing product, be it a netbook or desktop PC, would have a lower retail price. In fact, quality netbooks can now be had for $400 - less than half the cost of the cheapest laptops just 3 years ago. But these savings, while significant in isolation, pale in comparison to the power-cost savings.

The real disruptive innovation is the Atom processors power profile. The chipset is so energy-efficient, Inveneo could develop computing solutions that draw less than 20 Watts - the output of a battery - and free ourselves from direct generator power or large solar panel arrays. This drastically reduced the electrical costs of computer deployment, making ICT even more affordable.

A typical desktop computer can consume 200 Watts of electricity in normal operation. In Africa, where a solar power installation costs an average of $10-15 per Watt, that's $2000+ just for the power infrastructure for one computer. An Atom-powered desktop can use just 17 Watts, requiring only a $170 solar power investment - 1/10th the cost of comparable computing systems.

In fact, with Atom-based computing, the total cost of computer ownership drops below free. As we calculated above, even donated traditional computers actually cost at least $2,000 - their electrical infrastructure cost - while a new Atom-based computer and is power infrastructure is less than $1,500.

Significant Market Impact

At Inveneo, we've switched to an all-Atom product lineup and our sales have jumped. We're seeing double-digit growth in our equipment sales. Our Computing Station performance meets the needs of our clients at a fraction of the absolute and total cost of traditional computers - even donated ones.

And we are not alone. Almost everyone else in the ICT4D space is all-Atom all the time as well, and from what I hear, also experiencing a noticeable uptick in product sales and project sustainability.

The Atom chipset also spawed the netbook, which has opened up computer sales to two new buyers:

1. Urban elites in Africa and South Asia who can now afford a laptop for themselves and their families
2. Mobile phone companies like Safaricom, who are selling subsidized netbooks to increase data network sales

In addition to the developed world buyers, they've helped drive netbook sales to $11 billion in 2009 - over 20% of the entire mobile computing market from 0 in 2007.

So for all of us in ICT4D, I'd like to thank Intel for the disruptive Atom processor innovation. Its a bright spot for an otherwise cut-throat hardware industry that often ignores ICT4D needs.

Vital Wave Consulting has asked my opinion a very simple, yet profound question:

What should the donor community do to expand national health information systems in the developing world?

Speaking as a technologist on a mission to change the way international development employs information and communication technology (ICT) to reach its aims of economic and social development, I am honored for the opportunity to present the key activities I believe donors need to engage in immediately to better implement national HIS.

Recognize Problems Are Human, Not High-Tech

In Washington DC, I convene the Technology Salon a monthly conversation between international and technology professionals, and recently we tackled the barriers to effective deployment of national health information systems. After a hour of debate, we came to the conclusion that the key national HIS success technology is change management.

That is deploying a national health information system successfully does not necessarily require the high-end technology resources available to richer countries. The major hurtles to successful national health information systems are human, not high-tech.

Having a clear goal of improving data quality, and a solid change management approach to achieve is the critical success factor. And this can be accomplished in countries as varied in resources as Belize, India, and Sierra Leone, regardless of what technology or technical approach is used.

So Move Beyond Shiny Flashy New Thing

If we accept that its not the information or communication technology that matters most, but old school change management, then donors need to get past their infatuation with the newest shiny, flashy gadget.

Move past mHealth (Img: DataDyne)

mHealth is a great example. While mHealth more than just mobility, and mobile phones are revolutionizing ICT in Africa, do we really need yet another program that tries to be mHealth? Is it really the answer to every health problem? You would think so by all the recent donor focus on it in lieu of the larger health initiatives that can be empowered by technology.

It even propelled Karl Brown of Rockefeller Foundation to ask, "Will mHealth eat eHealth and spit out its bones?" I sure hope not, as we should be talking about health - not focus on the letter in front, be it e, m, p, q, or z.

And Get Back to Building Human Capacity for Change

Then how can donors effect greater adoption of national health information systems, if not by focusing on the technology? By supporting a structured approach to transition Ministries of Health staff into accepting, even demanding data-driven decision making - the ultimate national HIS outcome.

This means a shift towards human capacity building across health ecosystems. Using the ADKAR Model for change, Donors and their implementing partners (consultants, NGOs, and the private sector) working together with all health stakeholders in the slow but effective community organizing process to articulate the need for data-driven decision making, and create a real desire by the stakeholder to change to it.

Then, via in-person training and workshops, give stakeholders the knowledge and ability to make the change at an individual level, and finally, ensure that Ministries of Health will reinforce the change to data-driven decision making at the organizational level through its hiring and budgeting processes.

Notice there wasn't one mention of information and communication technologies in any of those steps. Why? Because if the donor community really wants to expand national health information systems in the developing world, it needs to recognize the inhibitors are human, not high-tech, stop focusing on the shiny toys, and build human capacity to accept change. Its only then, we'll see any real impact from national HIS, no matter the technology.

This post was original published on Insights on Health Information

Washington, D.C. -- December 1, 2009 -- Facebook today announced that Wayan Vota, the last social networking expert without an active Facebook account, has finally acquiesced to the need to be "friended" by those known and unknown to him through the world's largest social networking site. See Wayan Vota's Facebook here

"We are honored that Wayan Vota got off his high horse and accepted the reality that Facebook is driving adoption in Africa. To continue to lead an exploration at the intersection of technology and international development, he needed to have a presence with us," said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.* "We've worked hard to bring more than 200 million people - 70 percent outside of the U.S. - onto Facebook to share with friends, family and co-workers. Wayan Vota represents the pinnacle of that effort."

Wayan Vota concours, "It was time that I entered the Facebook. I am excited to expand its ability to connect and share with thought leaders in both the information and communication technology (ICT) industry and the international development community. This will be a wonderful voyage of discovery for both initiatives."

Wayan Vota will continue his work with Inveneo - a social enterprise that puts the tools of ICT (like Facebook) in the hands of those who need it most in the developing world. In fact, he's already developed the ICTworks presence on Facebook to empower Inveneo's Certified ICT Partners in 21 countries across Africa and South Asia.

About Wayan Vota
Wayan Vota starting blogging from before it was a word and now publishes seven different websites and commands LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, and Twitter from his world headquarters in Washington DC.

About Facebook
Founded in February 2004, Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment. Facebook is a privately held company and is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.

*To the best of Wayan's knowledge, Mark Zuckerberg has no clue who Wayan Vota is - but he should!