Intel Atom Processor: Disruptive Innovation in Energy-Efficient Computing
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.
Segundo: The Best 37th Birthday Present Ever
Welcome our new child
I turned 37 years old today, which means its only 3 short more years till I’m 40. Or mid-life. Halfway from birth to death. And I couldn’t be happier.
Just three years ago, I was a whole different person on my birthday. No wife, no kid, no house, and no dog. I was young and free, sporting a fine Puerto Rico tan. But I was all alone.
Today, I am much different person. I’m blessed with a wonderful, loving wife, an angle child, our own (affordable) home, and the amazing Snow Dog Taxi. Today, I am so much happier than 3 years ago.
Read MoreSnowpocolypse 2010: A Taxi Dog Delight
Snow Dog Taxi on patrol
What happens when you mix 30+ inches of snow and one Taxi Dog? You get happiness that can only be expressed with a yelp of delight. That’s how “Snow Dog” Taxi greeted the great Snowpocolypse 2010 in Washington DC.
First out the door as the snowflakes started, Snow Dog Taxi is in love with the white fluffy stuff from above. She knows it means extended exploration of the neighbourhood as her owner shovels the sidewalk. She can also cross streets without care, as cars are rare, and when present, slowing to a crawl to keep control.
Read MoreDriving 35 Hours with 1 Year Old Hanalei
Which way to go?
Just think about this for a minute – driving 35 hours with a 1 year old daughter. Any parent starts to cringe, preparing for a tale of crying, seat-kicking, marriage-ending woe. You’ll read about that in some other place, for here, I have only happiness to report.
Amy, Hanalei, Dog Taxi and I – that’s 2 parents, 1 child and 1 dog, drove from Washington DC to Atlanta, to Vero Beach and back to Washington DC over Christmas without a single scream, tantrum, or pork rind. Yeah, I’m in shock too.
Read MoreHow Donors Can Expand National Health Information Systems
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.
Move past mHealth (Img: DataDyne)
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.