September Technology Salon: USAID ICT4D Challenges
Let’s solve his ICT4D challenges
The Technology Salon returns to Washington DC this September 25th to explore an innovative initiative from USAID: ICT4D Challenges.
Akin to the contests that had Lindbergh cross the Atlantic and Rutan/Branson cross into space, ICT4D challenges (contests, makeovers, and competitions) will leverage user-driven innovation to create ICT-based solutions for major development challenges, with the incentive of cash prizes and possible inclusion in a USAID project. These challenges will spur innovation at the nexus of development and technology while forging new connections between the technology and development communities.
What better forum to explore where USAID is going with these challenges and help shape that path than the Technology Salon, our intimate and informal discussion of technology and development?
Commuting Like the Romans
Roman subway crowds
When in Rome for a work meeting, one commutes to the office like a Roman. On a random Wednesday in September, I did just that – commuted like a Roman – and was shocked by the similarities and uniqueness of a Roman commute.
First, most Romans live in apartment buildings. So you’ll wipe the sleep from your eyes as you navigate winding stairwells down to the street. Then you’ll walk to the nearest bus stop, maybe a block or two away from your apartment building.
Read MoreHitting My Hippodrome Stride
My morning run route
Back in Roman times, the Piazza Navona was not a piazza, it was a hippodrome, a chariot racecourse where Rome’s fastest drivers competed for fame and glory in front of cheering crowds.
Two-thousand years of history later, I am competing with myself as I run the very same course as those chariot drivers. I have not their horses, crowds, or any real glory. Just the clear morning air and the joy of running seven laps around history:
Read MoreWater Fountain Wealth in Rome
Water from death
Image that you lived in Roman times. When clean, fresh water was a rarity in most cities of the world, cholera was a constant risk and dysentery was the norm. Now image coming to Rome where every city block had a fountain that ran all day and all night, gurgling with clear mountain water drinkable from the tap.
This water wealth was one of the defining characteristics of Rome, a stunning accomplishment before the advent of indoor plumbing or even urban sewers. And when the Goths broke the aqueducts that brought this water from afar, the city crumbled and fell into a thousand year disuse.
Trevi Fountain’s Tourist Traffic Jams
Too many tourists!
The Trevi Fountain is a famous landmark in Rome mainly due to a myth that says coins thrown in the fountain will ensure you return to Rome. While I can only confirm that means you threw your money in a fountain, I can predict that no matter if you return or not, there will be crowds at the Trevi Fountain.
Amy and I stayed at a hotel just around the corner of the fountain, and no matter the time, day or night, the Trevi Fountain was crowded. And not just a few tourists crowded, but mobbed by people watching the waterspouts. Check out the Trevi Fountain scene yourself:
Read More