From BluWiki

Outline of concept / paper

Exhibits

• Sam
  • overview of STB
  • example webframe from STB
• Staples:
  • Title page (or mike
  • Turn his paragraph into an exhibit
  • pros/cons of gambia (jeff might finish his stuff before)
• Jeff
  • financials & atlernative comparison
• Langman:
  • family structure diagram
  • Alekaloo diagram
• Julie:
  • map of gambia (got it)
  • diagram/chart of other possible places

-infrastructure choices/metrics for choosing countries

• • map of poverty (charles, can you bring this in please tomorrow so we can scan it?)

Global Problem

• Poverty (Global disparity in wealth & opportunity between developing and developed countries) (1 page) (Jeff and Charles):
  • Why #1? From a humanitarian perspective, we can't have people living on $1/day
  • Why #2? Disparity creates resentment

• What our vision is- in essence, what technology will do for Gambia*

Solution:

• (Sam and Mike Staples)

"One of the major approaches to solving the world’s poverty problem is to promote the adoption and diffusion of new technologies in less developed regions." -Zhao, "Information and Poverty in Technology Adoption and Diffusion"

• • clearly tie the global problem as it applies to Gambia
  • describe necessary components- capital, labor, technology (as solutions, and why we are focusing on technology)
  • discuss barriers to technology, capital and information (we are focusing on information)

Problem as it applies to Gambia:

• • (Charles and Jeff)
• Profile of Gambia (context)
• profile the poverty level in Gambia
• Why poverty exists in Gambia

Why we focused on Gambia

• • (Jeff and Charles)
• farming practices, farming problems, peanuts as primary crop
• clearly tie how access to information increases productivity

Implementation:

• Need:

(sam and mike s)

• • A profitable & sustainable means of developing, distributing and / or teaching technology to impoverished communities
• Specific solution:
  • What is the STB (general)
  • Sam's description of slice of internet
  • Box will focus on dissemination of information, including:
    • Wikipedia style information resource about technology
  • Necessary infrastructure in communities (TVs, electricity)

Mode of Entry:

• (Sam and Mike S)
  • Going in through the hierarchical community structure, alikaaloo

• • A low cost (<$100) set top box, distributed to villages (1 / village?).
  • compare to alternatives/costs, benefits of this solution
  • entrance strategy (exporting)
  • strategic alliance with co that sam knows
  • costs?

Business plan

• (Julie)
  • These boxes will be sold to governments
  • Go through alikaaloo council?? make a council, see Hatch's comments about grass-roots vs. top down stuff
  • non-Profit model
  • governmnent buy-in
• technology will have built in incentives for government to disseminate the consoles
• ex. water conservation technology
  • Describe financing
• from World Bank/IMF for government to fund the project
• micro-financing for the individual communities to adopt new technologies

Risks and Challenges (Mike L.)

• getting the community to use the technology
• corruption rates in Gambia (if there is a corruption problem)
• selling the STB on black market?
  • community engagement- training program (create one)
  • convince the alikaaloos to utilize the information

Intermediate term (Mike L.)

• ways to replicate the system
• is it replicable? where? where not? criteria for country selection
• metrics

Long- term vision

• conclusion

Research

Cross cultural

Gambian culture notes:

• http://mygambia.typealice.com/info.html
• http://csinburkinafaso.com/reflec.htm

Technology

• Articles: [http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-5989067.html Intel calls MIT's $100 laptop

Images

Images Sam used

• [1]
• [2]
• [3]
• [4]
• [5]
• [6]
• [7]

For presentation:

• [8]
• [9]
• [10]
• [11]

Images that Mike used:

• [12]
• [13]
• [14]
• [15]

Contact Info

• Sam Odio
  • sam@odioworks.com
  • 703-725-6442

• Julie C
  • jc5cf@comm.virginia.edu
  • ask her yourself if you don't already have it

• Langman
  • mpl8z@virginia.edu
  • 757-635-8481
  • AIM: socr15swim

• Ronald (Jeff)
  • jbarry@virginia.edu
  • (708) 426-4152
  • AIM: Gumby5858

• Staples
  • mss6d@virginia.edu
  • 804.304.7575
  • AIM: innyaface

• Charles B
  • CSB3T@virginia.edu
  • (703) 209-7835