by JackHagley. … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2014
How An Intelligent Text Message Service Aims To Tackle Ebola In Western Africa
A computer-controlled text message service could direct Ebola cases to appropriate medical facilities and track the spread of the disease in the process–provided it can raise the necessary funding. Back in July, Cedric Moro started a crowdsourced mapping service to keep track of the spread of Ebola in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Moro is a risk consultant who has created … [Read more...]
Worldreader: E-books on Cell Phones and Kindles in Schools
Literacy is transformative: it increases earning potential, decreases inequality, improves health outcomes and breaks the cycle of poverty (UNESCO). Yet there are 740 million illiterate people in this world and 250 million children of primary school age who lack basic reading and writing skills (UNESCO). Books are necessary for the development of these skills, and still 50% of … [Read more...]
infoDev announces the winners of the first competition for clean-tech SMEs in Vietnam | infoDev
Vietnam has already suffered the effects of climate change in increasing toll from typhoons, floods and saline intrusion due to the rise of seal level. To help the country mitigate and adapt to these effects, infoDev’s Climate Technology Program (CTP) is working to support the profitable development and commercialization of local climate solutions and businesses. To identify … [Read more...]
First private university gains permanent licence – University World News
Botswana’s first private university, the Malaysian-owned Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, has become the country’s first fully licensed private tertiary institution, after seven years of operating under an interim licence. Vice-chancellor Dr Raphael Dingalo said staff and students were upbeat about the development, announced early last month – just before the … [Read more...]
Old toilets transformed into new London restaurants
For those who like toilet humour, here's an amusing article: "With spiralling land prices turning even the darkest corners of London into potential goldmines, the city's forgotten spaces, including 19th-century public toilets, are blossoming into restaurants, cafes and boutiques. Many Victorian urinals remained abandoned for decades after World War II, but encouraged by … [Read more...]
Stealing Africa – Why Poverty?
Rüschlikon is a village in Switzerland with a very low tax rate and very wealthy residents. But it receives more tax revenue than it can use. This is largely thanks to one resident - Ivan Glasenberg, CEO of Glencore, whose copper mines in Zambia are not generating a large bounty tax revenue for the Zambians. Zambia has the 3rd largest copper reserves in the world, but 60% of … [Read more...]