Social Media for Social Entrepreneurs

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Raj Melville

With Twitter and Facebook revolutionizing the business of marketing, can social activists lag behind? How does one turn followers into funders? Motivate movements with your messages? And leverage social networks to create social change? The experts on this panel have shown others how to maximize their impact with the latest online tools and techniques and they will help you figure out the right approach to integrating social media within your strategies. Find out more about the panel at
http://blog.ambientengines.com

Filed under: Conference, Information Technology, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, non-profit | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

TIECON Social Enterprise Track Provides New Perspective

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Raj Melville

For the first time TIECON EAST – TiE Boston’s annual conference on entrepreneurship and innovation – had a dedicated track on Social Enterprise. The three panels for the track were all well attended. Here are some excerpts from an article I wrote for Lokvani about the sessions.

Filed under: Agricultural Development, Conference, Food, Health, India, Information Technology, Investment, Micro-enterprises, Rural Development, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, environment, international development, micro-finance, microfinance, mobile technology, social Innovation, sustainability | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

The 140-Character Mission: Social Media & Social Entrepreneurship

Posted on April 15, 2009 by Raj Melville

My notes from a great interactive panel discussion on using Social Media for non profits. The panelists represented a spectrum of cutting edge users in the social media space

Filed under: Information Technology, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, non-profit, social Innovation | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Mobile Solutions for the Masses

Posted on September 16, 2008 by Raj Melville

The internet and personal computers have had a significant impact on the developing world. The advent of cell phones provided a cheap technology platform that has penetrated the farthest reaches of the world. No place better exemplifies this than India, with over 8.5 million additional subscribers in 2007, making it the country with the second largest wireless subscriber base. The cheap and pervasive technology platform has spawned a number of innovative solutions to address the social challenges at bottom of the pyramid, such as access to finance, illiteracy, and health care. This track will highlight some of these innovative solutions that have a significant potential for impact in the developing world.

Filed under: BOP, Conference, Information Technology, OLPC, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, mobile technology, non-profit, social Innovation | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

ForSE 2008 signups off to a great start

Posted on September 13, 2008 by Raj Melville

We finally opened registration for ForSE 2008:Forum for Social Entrepreneurs on Wednesday, September 10th. The response has been terrific!! We had over 60 people register within 48 hours. This is shaping up to be a great gathering of like minded people interested in social entrepreneurship.

Filed under: Conference, Education, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, non-profit, social Innovation, sustainable development | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Registration Opens for ForSE 2008-Forum for Social Entrepreneurs

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Raj Melville

The Forum for Social Entrepreneurship, or ForSE for short, brings together social innovators with leading business professionals, investors, donors, government officials, academics, and students to facilitate the sharing of new technology and business ideas along with hard-earned management learnings to foster informed discussion and action on new social venture concepts. Registration for the ForSE 2008 is now open. Registration is limited. Register early for the discounted registration rates available to the first 180 registered attendees.

Filed under: Conference, Education, Health, Information Technology, Micro-enterprises, Poverty, Rural Development, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, environment, international development, micro-finance, mobile technology, non-profit, social Innovation, sustainability, sustainable development | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

OLPC India Tidbits

Posted on August 21, 2008 by Raj Melville

For those who are tracking the progress of OLPC in India, here are few tidbits gleaned from the web: A fairly in-depth description of the OLPC pilot and a recent update on Nick Negroponte’s visit to Mumbai in August.

Filed under: Education, Information Technology, Politics, Poverty, Rural Education, Schools, Social Ecosystem | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

BusinessWeek – One Laptop per Child Lands in India

Posted on August 6, 2008 by Raj Melville

The MIT-spawned OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project has finally penetrated India with a tie up with the mega-corporation Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG). After several failed attempts Negroponte, the godfather of the OLPC, has realized the way to get around India is thru the Ambanis.

Filed under: Education, Information Technology, Politics, Rural Education, Schools, Social Ecosystem | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Innovative bus technologies go green

Posted on July 27, 2008 by Raj Melville

The Stagecoach Group seems to be an innovator in the transportation area, bringing inexpensive modes of mass transportation to market, encouraging more commuters to take their buses, trains and hovercraft and reducing carbon as a result. In addition the company has also introduced a number of innovative environmental initiatives.

Filed under: Social Ecosystem, Transportation, renewable energy, social Innovation | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Motomen make Wireless Internet happen

Posted on July 12, 2008 by Raj Melville

A couple of years ago, I met with Amir Hasson Alexander, an enterprising young man from MIT with a vision of bringing internet connectivity to the 2 Billion underserved in the farthest regions of the world. Using buses equipped with WiFi. Amir’s company provides web content to computers with no internet connection.

Filed under: BOP, Information Technology, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, international development, social Innovation | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »