Putting Faculty on blast (in a good way)

The chronicle of higher ed was also my source of news this week, there is an interesting piece on a new website aimed at displaying inventions of university faculty members to scientists and practitioners in various fields. I thought this was amazing because I have seen and heard of AMAZING ideas, concepts, work that have been developed at universities that sometimes go un-noticed because of lack of funds to further research or lack of right connections to put the invention to good use.

The piece says "
The site, iBridge Network, ... lets institutions share information about inventions and research tools developed by their faculty members. It also includes features that allow scientists or companies to sign up for alerts about new developments in certain fields. In some cases, they will be able to license rights to technologies listed on the site with the click of a button...the iBridge site will make those exchanges easier. It will also be a way for industry to learn about the work of academics that might be of commercial interest.

I hope this website is advertised properly because it has great potential. Our own UGA Research foundation is registered on the site. I am excited to hear about collaborations that will be conceived from this concept.

Google playing its part to bridge the gap

This post is inspired by an article sent to me by our ever resourceful Tony. This New York Times article focused on Google's latest experiment in an East African town called Entasopia. The technology giant has financed a small satellite dish powered by a solar panel, to connect a handful of computers in the town's community center to the internet. This recent development is a huge step for rural developments and will open a lot of doors for citizens of that region. Individuals have the opportunity to access various educational sources that they would not have had access to in the past(there are educated individuals that reside in the rural areas for various reasons ranging from high cost of city living to caring for their aged parents), they can take advantage of Kenya's online university. Missionaries that visit small towns like Entasopia can use the internet to gather training materials for the locals.
The community center can use this opportunity to train community members on becoming computer literate and learning how to use the internet as a tool for personal growth and enrichment.
People might argue that small towns like Entasopia need basic amenities and basic education before they can consider large scale upgrades like internet connection. I agree 20%, the other 80% of me says such developments are good because of the opportunities mentioned above and it can be a source of empowerment for the small town citizens. What Google did will either open the government's eyes to do better or draw attention from other organizations that will invest in Entasopia's development.
I give Google a big thumps up for this one. Although I worry about the cost of maintaining such a satellite and lack of computer infrastructure(aside from computers in the community center) available to the people, I am sure that Google will take advantage of he widespread use of mobile cellphones as another means to connect Entasopia to the internet.