NetSquared teaming up with Sun Microsystems to produce global Hack Days. Sao Paolo, Brazil was a success on October 1, stay tuned for an update. Next up, China!
Mark Surman, expert on collaboration, community building and social technology talks to us about how the Shuttleworth Foundation is kick starting South Africa's knowledge economy by using the principles that have made open source so successful.
David and Eric tackled a large topic, agreeing that the future of cell phones in helping developing markets is optimistic. They agree that If you want to see what's happening with cell phones you need to get out of the US to China, India & Africa. People aren't using them to just talk to people or check e-mails, but they're using SMS.
The uses of cell phones are coming because people are unserved, particularly around banking in Africa. The more regulated the market, the less creative the technology. The challenge is finding usage models that are of value to people. Lots of things are already being done, but they're not being done in an ecomically efficient way.