Tech Matters: Using tech for positive social change

It's time to grow the Benetech team again! Over the next few months, we'll be searching for new employees and fellows to join us in saving the world with technology. Our first position to be formally posted is for the head of our Bookshare.org project. Alison Lingane, who did a great job of designing, launching and operating Bookshare.org for the last three years, has stepped down to take a job (outside Benetech) that involves less travel to better match her family priorities. This is an opportunity to run one of Benetech's flagship enterprises and join my management team. I'd love to find someone with both relevant business skills and a passion for serving humanity's needs! The job description and response instructions are already posted on our website. If you know somebody outstanding: point them in our direction!

More stories from my recent trip to Africa. Although Benetech has no projects planned in the area of HIV/AIDS, I was interested in learning more about this. Being part of the Schwab Social Entrepreneur program, I had met Garth Japhet from South Africa, who works in this field, and I wanted to understand more of what he does. I attended a dinner at the Africa Economic Summit on the topic, and what was surprising was how little interest the business community showed in it. The attendees joked about how it was the "usual crowd," of NGO leaders, religious leaders such as Archbishop Ndungane (Tutu's successor), pharma company staff and the handful of business leaders with an active interest in the topic. People shared stories from the front lines of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. I was interested enough in learning more to take off for a tour of facilities in Maputo the next afternoon, hosted by the Catholic Community of Saint'Egidio , a group well known for having ...

One of the issues I was exploring on my trip to Africa was the expansion of the use of our Martus software there. When we started working on Martus four years ago, we didn't look too closely at Africa. We assumed that Martus would require PCs and telecommunications that didn't exist there. Times have changed dramatically. Cybercafes are found in quite poor areas. And, of course, there are many human rights and social justice issues in Africa. We have multiple projects going right now in Sierra Leone. Our big news is major support for more work by Benetech in Africa, thanks to the U.S. Department of State. We're just announcing this project. State has an active program tracking the state of human rights around the world. There's more in the press release, and we will be expanding our efforts in Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria. We are already working on the translations of Martus into Arabic and French.

I am just back from the Africa Economic Summit in Mozambique. I was very impressed with President Chissano, the former Marxist revolutionary who is stepping down next year after leading his country for 18 years. His embrace of business development, reform, and advancing the interests of his people made quite an impression on me. He also has a terrific sense of humor. I usually doze off when politicians start their pre-programmed speeches: Chissano was riveting and real. Chissano Urges World to Note Positive Changes in Africa I'll post more stories and ideas from my trip to Africa as I get back into the California swing of things!