I have just now posted an entry in the SOCAP10 Impact Challenge, sponsored by the Social Capital Markets Conference. I'm here to ask for your vote to make such people take note of our work, and the work of a multitude of others around the world.
What, they want to know is the Next Big Thing in Social Capital that will unlock the projected $120 billion business opportunity in helping the poor. Naturally, I pushed the global OLPC program, to educate a billion children and lift all of the world's poor out of poverty. Equally naturally, if you know me, I told them that they aren't thinking big enough.
If I win, I get to attend the conference at Fort Mason, San Francisco in October, and present this idea at much greater length. Here is what I said, within the word limits that the challenge sets, except that you get to see it with links. Unfortunately, the word limit means that I didn't get to talk about many important issues, such as low power consumption, ruggedness, green design, total cost of ownership, teacher training, and the like. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about them.
You know about those naysayers, right?
- Microsoft
- Intel
- The Wall Street Journal
- The American Enterprise Institute
- The government of India
- Irvin, down in the comments
Oh, and I always tell Irvin, "Thanks, Irvin. Coming from you, that's high praise." Because Irvin is always telling me I'm crazy, but I always wonder whether I am crazy enough to have a chance of being right.
