Fighting Poverty via Web 2.0?

I like to think I'm an early adopter when it comes to technology...

You can follow me on Twitter.
You can ask me questions on Aardvark.
You can check out my CV on LinkedIn.
You can friend me on Facebook.
If you're lucky, you can even date me online.
(Or at least buy my couch on Craigslist)

However, it's just recently dawned on me how useful all of this is to my work in development! I've met friends, colleagues, and business partners on LinkedIn, and found relevant new ideas about poverty on my Twitter feed. Just today I asked Aardvark to help me with a business problem, and "Jack" from Red Deer sent me an answer in under 60 seconds.

But the coolest moment of Web 2.0 use happened yesterday...

I got an email from a business contact asking if I can supply him with a "thermal lance" from the Suame Magazine.

Err... I think I know what you mean... but is that more like a "light saber" or a "cosmic death-ray"?

I called in one of our best artisans, Abdula. He didn't know. We called a couple more guys, but they seemed perplexed too. And then... "AHA! The internet!"

Thirty seconds later I had Wikipedia pages full of information on the exact operating temperature of a thermal lance, and several Youtube videos of mechanics around the world showing off their fire power. It was awesome to see people (who had likely never used the Internet before) crowded around my laptop excitedly watching, learning, and asking questions!

Our major goal as an organization is to move people out of poverty and vulnerability by providing new opportunities for education and business development. I can't think of a cooler way of facilitating technology transfer and educating people on the leading industry practices.



It also turns out I DID know what a thermal lance was... I saw it a couple of weeks ago in the movie Bank Job, where they used it to cut through the concrete floor of a bank in central London. Cool stuff!