MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 10. Panel on Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Africa

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:07:02 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 11. Panel on Entertainment, Media, and Technology

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:07:02 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 2. Speech by Makhtar Diop

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:07:02 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 3. Vision Talk By Daniel Heyman

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:07:02 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 4. Vision Talk by Adetayo Akinsanya

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:07:02 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 5. Vision Talk By Daniel Obaseki

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:07:02 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 6. Vision Talk By Aminata Kane

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:07:02 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 7. Incubation and Seed Capital Panel

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:07:02 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 8. Food and Agriculture Panel

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:07:02 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 9. Speech by Njeri Rionge

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:07:02 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 12. Speeches by Obi Asika and Marcus Glover

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 07:07:18 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 13. Pitches Introduction

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 07:07:18 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 14. Pitches - Recoplastic

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 07:07:18 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 15. Pitches - Education

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 07:07:18 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 16. Pitches - Inflection Media

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 07:07:18 GMT

1. Introduction and Speech by S.P. Kothari

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 07:07:17 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 17. Pitches - Love Grain

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 07:07:17 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 19. Audience Voting and Spider Stories Pitch

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:30:48 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 20. Birama Sidibe

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:30:48 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 21. Competition Results and Closing

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:30:48 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013 - 18. Pitches - Organic Waste Charcoal

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:30:47 GMT

Aminata Kane MBA '13

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 07:05:46 GMT

Aminata Kane, co-president of the Africa Business Club, talks about the positive environment of entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan.

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Business Plan Competition - Jamela

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 07:03:49 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2012
Sharing Ideas, Sparking Innovation
April 14, 2012

Africa is the new frontier for entrepreneurship based on disruptive new business models. There are many success stories of entrepreneurs pioneering innovative solutions, creating new markets, solving persistent problems, and generating new wealth. We seek to identify, inspire, and illuminate the ideas and support the entrepreneurs that aim to innovate in business across Africa.

What’s your idea?
How does it innovate?
How can it directly impact over one billion people on the continent?

Pitch it in the Sloan Enterprise Africa Business Competition. Win it!

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Business Plan Competition - LIFT Investments

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 14:30:13 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Business Plan Competition - The Practical Energy Network

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 14:30:13 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Business Plan Competition - Wecyclers

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 14:30:13 GMT

MIT 21A.453 Anthropology of the Middle East - The Merchant of Art

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 07:03:00 GMT

MIT 21A.453 Anthropology of the Middle East, Spring 2004
View the complete course: http://ocw.mit.edu/21A-453S04
Instructor: Susan Slyomovics

Directed and produced by: Susan Slyomovics

Awadallah Abd al-Jalil Ali is the "merchant of art," a professional epic singer. The son and grandson of itinerant illiterate poets who have for generations recited the cycle of Arabic heroic tales called Sirat Bani Hilal. Awadallah narrates the epic and other tales in his repertoire in the marketplace, local small cafes, and at saints’ pilgrimage sites. He is also commissioned to perform at certain festive occasions, such as weddings, circumcisions, Ramadan breaking the fasts, and welcome parties to celebrate the return of pilgrims from the hajj to Mecca. Accompanying himself on the tar, the large Nubian frame drum, he sings rhymed quatrains in Sa’idi Arabic dialect. Filmed in 1986 in Awadallah’s home village of Mahamid, Aswan Governorate, Egypt.

MIT 21A.453 Anthropology of the Middle East - Wedding Song

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 07:03:00 GMT

MIT 21A.453 Anthropology of the Middle East, Spring 2004
View the complete course: http://ocw.mit.edu/21A-453S04
Instructor: Susan Slyomovics

Directed and produced by: Susan Slyomovics, Amanda Dargan

This film brings the viewer into a Pakistani living room in Queens, New York, where Shenaz Hooda uses henna dye to paint intricate patterns and designs on the hands and feet of a bride-to-be, while the bride’s friends sing humorous wedding songs mocking her future in-laws. The film explores the exquisite mehendi body painting tradition as it is found in India and Pakistan and provides insight into new immigrant traditions.

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Business Plan Competition - Winners and Final Remarks

Mon, 21 May 2012 07:03:07 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Address by Iqbal Quadir

Wed, 09 May 2012 20:30:10 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2012
Sharing Ideas, Sparking Innovation
April 14, 2012

Address by Iqbal Quadir

Iqbal Z. Quadir is a Professor of the Practice of Development and Entrepreneurship and Founder and Director of the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT. He is also the founder of Grameenphone in Bangladesh. For two decades, he has been advocating for the critical role of entrepreneurship and innovations in creating prosperity in low-income countries.

Read more: http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate/

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Panel - Media and Empowerment

Wed, 09 May 2012 20:30:10 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2012
Sharing Ideas, Sparking Innovation
April 14, 2012

Panel - Media and Empowerment

Lights, Camera, Africa! Building a formidable creative industry
The African media and entertainment sector has experienced explosive growth in recent years; it is home to the third largest film industry in terms of revenue and is becoming more relevant on the world stage. In addition, Africa is second only to Asia in cellphone penetration. Recent innovations in the digitization of content and new distribution models have opened the doors to a captive audience.
The Media and Empowerment panel will discuss innovative ways to empower the African media and entertainment industries to take centerstage in digital media and entertainment.

Panelists:
Ndubuisi Ekekwe, African Institute of Technology
Amadou Mahtar Ba, African Media Initiative
Rahman Oladigbolu, Author and Award winning filmmaker

Read more: http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Panel - Mobile and Technology

Wed, 09 May 2012 20:30:10 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2012
Sharing Ideas, Sparking Innovation
April 14, 2012

Panel - Mobile and Technology
Driving economic growth and entrepreneurship through mobile technology in Africa
The growth in the mobile telecoms is considered a major factor in the strong growth rate in Sub-Saharan economies. Also the introduction of business, social and health solutions facilitated by the growing availability of mobile technologies show the potential for rapid transformation in the African market.
The Mobile and Technology panelists in the MIT Africa Innovate conference will explore what innovations have been effective in promoting economic change. They will also explore evolving trends in the African mobile market, how these trends are shaping business and give their thoughts on what the future could look like for mobile entrepreneurs in Africa.

Panelists:
Mazunzo Chaponda, MFS Africa
Funke Michaels, Trilogy USA
Brian Omwenga, Nokia

Read more: http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Panel - Food and Agriculture

Wed, 09 May 2012 14:30:09 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2012
Sharing Ideas, Sparking Innovation
April 14, 2012

Panel - Food and Agriculture

Yielding results: innovations in the agriculture value chain
What will it take to transform the current state of African agriculture into a sustainable system that can support livelihood of more than 1 billion people and serve as an engine for economic development?
The Food and Agriculture panel at the MIT Africa Innovate Conference will explore innovations throughout the agricultural value chain in Africa that can unleash Africa’s fertile potential, empower entrepreneurs and consumers, and contribute long-lasting results at a scale that is needed on this continent. To envision the future of food and agriculture in Africa, we will look at new technologies, business and financing models, community engagement initiatives and policy approaches pioneered by the most innovative private and public organizations.

Panelists:
Calestous Juma, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School
Dave Ramaswamy, Karuturi Global
Robert Paarlberg, Professor, Wellesley College and Harvard Kennedy School
Matthew Forti, Founding Board Chair, One Acre Fund

Read more: http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Panel - China & India in Africa

Mon, 07 May 2012 07:03:19 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2012
Sharing Ideas, Sparking Innovation
April 14, 2012

Panel - China & India in Africa: Pros-and-Cons of the New South-to-South Cooperation

Pros-and-cons of the new south-to-south cooperation
Economic activity and investment from China and India to Africa is growing at a very healthy pace. Indian mobile operator Bharti Airtel purchased African telecom operator Zain for $9B in 2010. China has executed a lot of infrastructure development projects in Africa, building roads, railways, bridges and ports and recently donating the new African Union headquarters in Ethiopia.
With its rapid economic growth and young workforce, Africa is becoming the new frontier in the race for new markets. The China and India panel will look into the next chapter in the growing relationship of Africa with China and India and determine how it will shape Africa’s future.

Panelists:
Dr. Martyn Davies, Director, China African Network
Professor Yasheng Huang, Faculty, MIT Sloan School of Management
Sunil Tandon, Head of Non Voice Business and Device Management, Tata Teleservices Limited

Read more: http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Vision Talk 4 - David Sengeh

Sun, 06 May 2012 07:03:13 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2012
Sharing Ideas, Sparking Innovation
April 14, 2012

Speaker: David Sengeh, PhD candidate, MIT Media Lab

David’s research at the MIT Media Lab is focused on the design of comfortable prosthetic interfaces. David’s work is at the intersection of medical imaging, material science, human anatomy, and computer aided design and manufacturing.

David was born and raised in Sierra Leone before attending the Red Cross Nordic United World College in Norway on scholarship. He earned his Bachelors degree in Biomedical Engineering at Harvard College where his research at the Edwards lab focused on aerosolizing the TB vaccine BCG for delivery to the lungs.

David is the founder of Global Minimum Inc. (GMin), an international NGO that has distributed over 15,000 mosquito nets in Sierra Leone. Currently, GMin is partnering with students at MIT to facilitate a high school-oriented innovation challenge in Sierra Leone. David is also a co-founder of one of Popular Mechanic’s Innovators of the Year 2009, Lebone Solutions Inc. – a company that won $200,000 from the World Bank to produce microbial fuel cells in Africa. He has worked in Zambia, Namibia, Dubai and other locations on various projects on education, health care delivery, and medical device design.

Read more: http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate/

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Ben Murray Bruce - Keynote Address

Sat, 05 May 2012 20:30:10 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2012
Sharing Ideas, Sparking Innovation
April 14, 2012

Keynote Address - Ben Murray Bruce, CEO Silverbird Group

Ben Murray-Bruce started his career with borrowed capital of N20, 000.00 (~$200) to start Silverbird Group, which has now become a conglomerate with three radio stations in Nigeria; a TV network; a Pageant and a chain of movie theatres.

Mr Bruce has served as Executive Director for the Black Music Association of America with Quincy Jones, Dick Griffey, Stevie Wonder as well as Executive Director for the Coalition for a Free Africa with the late President Samora Machel of Mozambique and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. He was also on the board of National Arts Theatre Management, The Federal Film Censors Board, The Board of the Nigerian Film Corporation, National Film Distribution Company and Nigerian Anti-Piracy Action Committee

Read more: http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate/.

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Vision Talk 3 - Eric Osiakwan

Sat, 05 May 2012 07:03:01 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2012
Sharing Ideas, Sparking Innovation
April 14, 2012

Speaker: Eric Osiakwan, Technology Entrepreneur

Eric M.K Osiakwan has over 10 years experience helping setup ISPs in 32 African countries. Notably, Eric was part of the team that built the TEAMS submarine cable in Kenya, and is an ICT consultant for the World Bank, Soros Foundations, UNDP, USAID and numerous African governments. In addition, he has founded numerous companies and associations including Novica.com, Internet Research, BusyInternet, InHand, PenPlusBytes, the African ISP Association and the Ghana ISP Association. Eric co-authored the “Open Access Model” which has becomes a global model for the communication industry. He also served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Ghana New Ventures Competition, as a board member of the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA), and was part of Ghana Connect, an initiative focused on making broadband accessible and affordable. Eric is studying towards an MSc in Practising Sustainable Development at the Royal Holloway University of London and is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Berkman Centre for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

Read more: http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate/

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Vision Talk 2 - Tunde Kehinde

Fri, 04 May 2012 17:30:11 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2012
Sharing Ideas, Sparking Innovation
April 14, 2012

Speaker: Tunde Kehinde, Co-founder Bandeka.com

Bandeka.com is an invite-only social community where Africans around the globe can connect to create meaningful relationships online and offline. Tunde formed Bandeka with his classmate from business school, Yaw Boateng with the view that it should be easier for Africans looking to connect with other talented Africans and friends of Africa to meet. Thus, Bandeka’s vision is to be the premier platform where exceptional Africans around the world can connect to make new friendships, form new business contacts or date.

Prior to Bandeka, Tunde worked as a Business Development Manager for Africa at Diageo in London and in Investment Banking with Wachovia Securities in New York.

Tunde grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, holds a BBA in Finance from Howard University and an MBA from Harvard. He is also an avid fan of Liverpool Football Club.

Read more: http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Address by Consul General George Monyemangene

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:03:07 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2012
Sharing Ideas, Sparking Innovation
April 14, 2012

Speaker:
George Monyemangene, Consul General, South Africa

George Monyemangene was born in Botlokwa (Limpopo Province), South Africa. He earned a Master of Management: Public & Development Management (MM: P&DM) at the University of the Witwatersrand, and in addition, he completed a certificate in the Practice of Trade Policy: Economics, Negotiations and Rules from Harvard University and a Diploma in Trade Policy with the WTO.

Prior to joining DIRCO and assuming the post of Consul General-New York, George Monyemangene was the Executive Director of Sekhwama Consulting, a consultancy that provided services in trade and investments on the African continent and beyond.
In his tenure at the Department of Trade and Industry (henceforth referred to as the dti), he has served as a Foreign Economic Representative for South Africa in Mozambique and Angola and as the Head: African Economic Relations (Bilaterals and Multilaterals). The latter post was subsequently split into two and prior to his departure from the dti, he occupied the position of Head: African Economic Relations (Bilaterals) within the International Trade and Economic Division (ITED). Responsibilities primarily encompassed the co-ordination and facilitation of South Africa’s bilateral economic engagements on the rest of the African continent. This entailed the advancement of the overarching objectives of NEPAD, negotiation of and the implementation of economic co-operation frameworks and bilateral investment treaties, the promotion of intra-Africa Trade, the leveraging of bilateral economic relations to foster regional economic integration and oversight of the Regional Spatial Development Initiatives Programme.

During his tenure, he was also a member of the Credit Insurance Committee of the Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (ECIC) and represented the dti on the Counterpart Group of the Fund for Research into Industrial Development, Growth and Equity (FRIDGE), which is administered by the IDC. He also sat on several committees comprised of government departments, research organisations and donor programmes, such as the Africa Business Network (ABN).

Read more: http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate/

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - Vision Talk 1- Magatte Wade

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:03:07 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2012
Sharing Ideas, Sparking Innovation
April 14, 2012

Speaker: Magatte Wade

Magatte Wade is a serial entrepreneur who was born in Senegal, educated in France, and who started her entrepreneurial career in the U.S. Her first company, Adina World Beverages, was based on indigenous Senegalese beverage recipes. She recently launched her second company, Tiossan, which sells skin care products based on indigenous Senegalese recipes at high-end boutiques and at www.tiossan.com. She was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum at Davos for 2011 and Forbes named her one of the “20 Youngest Power Women of Africa.” Magatte is a frequent speaker on college campuses, including Harvard, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, MIT, etc. She writes for The Huffington Post and reviews books for Barron’s. She blogs at www.magatte.wordpress.com and at www.tiossano.com/blog.

Read more: http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate/

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate - His Excellency President Banda Keynote Opening Address

Thu, 03 May 2012 20:30:17 GMT

MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2012
Sharing Ideas, Sparking Innovation
April 14, 2012

Speaker:
His Excellency President Banda, Former President of Zambia - Keynote Opening Address

President Rubpiah Bwenzani Banda, Popularly know as “RB”, is the fourth President of Zambia. He was elected in 2008, having been the overwhelming choice for presidential candidate of the MMD party. As President, Rupiah Banda has dedicated himself to improving Zambia’s economy, ensuring security, stability and prosperity for all Zambians. He has worked especially to improve healthcare and education, to increase agricultural production and to secure and increase the number of jobs in Zambia, particularly for people living in rural areas.

Read more: http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate/speakers/president-rupiah-banda/

Dr. Ashok Gadgil - 2012 $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Global Innovation Winner

Thu, 03 May 2012 07:03:13 GMT

Video profile of Dr. Ashok Gadgil, winner of the 2012 $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Global Innovation for scientific solutions to the global water crisis, and energy and fuel efficiency.

Legatum Lecture: Redefining Business in Africa with Dr. James Mwangi

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 07:03:19 GMT

Under Dr. James Mwangi, Equity Bank challenged conventional banking wisdom and redefined their business model to focus on microfinance and low-income consumers.

Jackee Budesta Batanda: Cutting aid to Africa won't help gay rights

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:30:08 GMT

Jackee Budesta Batanda "Audits the Conventional Wisdom" of Washington's response to the anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda.

ghdLAB: in the world, for the world

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:30:36 GMT

FALL 2011 OVERVIEW: OUR VISION OF THE VALUE OF ghdLAB

Learn about why ghdLAB blends classroom learning and action-based field projects. MIT Sloan Senior Lecturer Anjali Sastry, students, and field partners explain what they've gained from taking on practical health care management and delivery challenges in Africa and India.

By Fall 2011, the experience of the first three years of ghdLAB had borne out our initial idea: that we could generate an amazing learning experience for MIT students while aiming to deliver practical help to partners on the front lines of health care delivery. We set our sights on continuing to develop both teaching and impact, while asking: can we build a base of experience and ideas for the emerging study of innovation, implementation, and improvement in healthcare delivery and management?

In this MIT Sloan class, teams of four students each partner with an organization on the front lines of care delivery. Together, they design an action learning project to address factors that limit their delivery of health care. Over the course of several months, including an intensive period on site, students work with MIT faculty, domain experts, and the leaders and staff in the partner enterprise and bring to bear the best of their MIT toolkit to help generate value for all.

Since 2008, over 150 experienced MIT graduate students have conducted around 40 unpaid projects in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Malawi, and India, each involving around 1,000 person-hours of student work. Partner organizations set their own project’s focus and offset some costs. Support from MIT Sloan School of Management’s generous alumni and friends makes up the rest.

3 minute interviews: 2010 MIT Sloan students on their experience in Africa

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 20:04:14 GMT

This video was filmed by students in May and June 2010, after the second set of global health delivery lab student teams returned to campus from various project locations in sub-Saharan Africa. It presents the personal experience of a sample of students and is one of a planned five-chapter series of student reflections.

A dozen student teams had spent January of that year tackling operational, business, and management challenges in health care delivery in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Ghana, working on the key issues that each partner framed. Before they left for the field, students had spent four months preparing for their work on the ground, designing a practical solution to the problem they'd learned about from extensive conversations with their host organizations and with faculty, experts, and classmates at MIT. Our partnering host organizations included for-profit, faith-based, multinational non-governmental and community organizations, both large and small.

MIT Sloan Africa 2.0 Conference Opening Montage

Tue, 03 May 2011 22:27:01 GMT

Opening Montage for Africa 2.0 Conference

Pres. Amani Abeid Karume Keynote at MIT Sloan Africa 2.0 Conference

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 17:54:10 GMT

Former President of Zanzibar, Amani Abeid Karume delivering the afternoon keynote address at the MIT Sloan Africa 2.0 Conference on April 1, 2011

The Evolution of Economic Science: Macroeconomics, Growth, and Development

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:00:00 GMT

01/27/2011 10:45 AM KresgeDaron Acemoglu, James Killian Professor of Economics, MIT; Peter Diamond, PhD '63, MIT Institute Professor; Esther Duflo, PhD '99, Abdul Latif Jameel Prof of Poverty Allev & Develop Department of Economics; Robert Hall, PhD '67, Robert and Carole McNeil Professor of Economics and Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Robert M. Solow, MIT Institute Professor, Emeritus 1987 Nobel Laureate in EconomicsDescription: This panel first looks inward, at the evolution of macroeconomics in the past century, and the emergence of microeconomic foundations in macroeconomics, then shifts outward, to the application of economic analysis to such issues as structural unemployment, the ongoing U.S. recession, and the best ways to help developing nations. When he took his first economics course in 1940, Robert Solow tells us, "There was no such thing as macroeconomics." The general framework for discussing large"scale fluctuations in economies , "born in Keynes' general theory in 1936," took a while to evolve. Keynes, says Solow, wanted a "macroeconomics that would keep closely in touch with data and with actual events." From the 1950s through the 1970s, macroeconomics "was all Keynesian," but there was "lots of room for ideology to be dragged in." A sea change occurred in the late '70s, driven by stagflation. Macroeconomists could not explain the phenomenon, providing an opening "for opponents of this way of doing macroeconomics." After the '70s, "paying close attention to events got to be a bad thing," says Solow. Some economists declared it was time to erase the distinction between macro and microeconomics, but says Solow, "You can't answer the questions macro has asked by modeling whole economies as the interaction of tens of millions of households, firms and products It's like trying to design an airplane molecule by molecule." Peter Diamond was part of a generation of researchers in the 1960s who hoped to construct a micro foundation to macroeconomics. In particular, he worked to incorporate into the basic general equilibrium model two Keynesian ideas that didn't fit so comfortably: the significance of current income, and "the stickiness of wages." Economists explored how the labor market functioned in the economy, and learned to model vast flows of workers moving in and out of employment. Analyzing such flows helps inform policy discussions about unemployment insurance, says Diamond. While these approaches have been incorporated into "otherwise conventional macro models," he looks forward to "a big expansion of range of micro foundation models that will be consistent with the general equilibrium views of thinking about the whole economy, and Keynesian views that we get events that really affect things." Robert Hall defends economists attacked for not predicting "the big slump." Says Hall, "We did a lot of research that turned out to be highly material." He boils down the financial crisis to such factors as deregulation of financial institutions, a massive build"up of consumer debt and the overshooting of housing prices. Financial fallout from the 2008 crisis continues today: credit card interest rates remain high, and available credit is extremely restricted, impeding recovery. The Federal Reserve's hands are tied, because it can't lower interest rates anymore; "the normal equilibrium process of the economy fails in a situation like this," says Hall. Paradoxically, a little inflation would be good, because it might "get people to perceive that now is a great time to buy stuff instead of later." Over the next four years, Hall believes unemployment will get back to normal, and households will work down accumulated debt. He frets that current legislation has "only scratched the surface" of correcting the regulatory lapses that triggered the crisis. Says Hall, "We need robust financial institutions with lots of capital." For years, people have debated the effectiveness of aid to developing nations. Development economics is trying "to move away from big questionsto smaller questions for which we might possibly have the answer," says Esther Duflo. She studies the economics of public health aid in poor countries, where diseases like malaria are responsible for millions of deaths. Even where the benefits of aid are clear, there are still "heated arguments, ideology and passion." Studies by Duflo and her colleagues have largely quieted concerns that people offered free health services such as bed nets for malaria, or immunizations, decline them, or after receiving them, refuse to purchase subsidized healthcare in the future. This research is changing policies: Kenya has begun distributing bed nets for free, for instance. Small investments in health pay large dividends. Duflo cites a study that school children who are de"wormed for a year longer than their peers earn 20% more each year when they are adults. "A patient step"by"step approach is a productive way of trying to understand how the poor behave and how we can possibly help them get out of poverty traps." About the Speaker(s): Daron Acemoglu studies political economy, economic development and growth, technology, income and wage inequality, human capital and training and labor economics, among other fields. He has taught economics at MIT since 1993. Previously, Acemoglu was a lecturer in economics at the London School of Economics, where he also received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. Acemoglu is a fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the Econometric Society and a fellow of the European Economic Association. He is the author of Introduction to Modern Economic Growth.Host(s): Office of the President, MIT150 Inventional Wisdom

About the MISTI Program

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:11:57 GMT

The MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives--better known as MISTI--connects MIT students and faculty with research and innovation around the world. MIT's primary international program, MISTI is a pioneer in applied international studies--a distinctively MIT concept. Working closely with a network of premier corporations, universities and research institutes, MISTI matches hundreds of MIT students annually with all-expenses-paid internships and research abroad.

MIT Rambax Rehearsal

Wed, 19 May 2010 18:17:11 GMT

A sneak peek into a typical rehearsal of Rambax, MIT's Senegalese Drumming Ensemble.

The Engineer's Burden?

Tue, 18 May 2010 19:47:00 GMT

Video by: Melissa Edoh
Lately, seeing flyers about technology-oriented development projects targeting Africa around MIT has had me reflecting on the history of "technology transfer" in Africa; mainly because the language of international development often sounds to me like an updated version of the language used to justify missionary work and colonial ventures on the continent in the 19th and early 20th centuries. And so (without getting into the specifics of this particular issue - that will hopefully come later), this short video attempts to make a case for the importance of paying attention to the social, historical and political dimensions of technological development, especially in a transnational context.

The Engineer's Burden?

Mon, 17 May 2010 21:16:22 GMT

Lately, seeing flyers about technology-oriented development projects targeting Africa around MIT has had me reflecting on the history of "technology transfer" in Africa; mainly because the language of international development often sounds to me like an updated version of the language used to justify missionary work and colonial ventures on the continent in the 19th and early 20th centuries. And so (without getting into the specifics of this particular issue - that will hopefully come later), this short video attempts to make a case for the importance of paying attention to the social, historical and political dimensions of technological development, especially in a transnational context.

How Can Engineers Contribute to the Fight Against Malaria?

Tue, 11 May 2010 04:00:00 GMT

05/11/2010 6:00 PM MuseumSubra Suresh, ScD '81, Dean, MIT School of Engineering; ; Monica Diez"Silva, Post"doctoral fellow, DMSE; David Quinn, Graduate student, Mechanical EngineeringDescription: Malaria has afflicted mankind from time immemorial, confounding many attempts at its eradication. Hundreds of millions now contract the disease annually, and between one and three million -- primarily children -- die from malaria each year. But thanks to an alliance with engineering, medical science has some powerful, new weapons in its arsenal that may ultimately prevail over malaria. From the labs of MIT Dean of Engineering Subra Suresh comes a fresh approach to the disease. The parasitic microbe that causes malaria affects the ability of red blood cells to contract, or deform, as they move through the body's thousands of blood vessels, delivering oxygen and removing CO2. Several years ago, Suresh had the insight that the infection could be viewed as "an engineering problem." With the recent deciphering of the malaria parasite genome, and new methods for measuring forces on individual molecules and cells, says Suresh, "We have some hope of asking a question that we did not have the hope of answering 10 years ago." Researchers can now minutely and systematically track how biochemical and environmental triggers lead to devastating changes in red blood cell deformability in malaria. Suresh has assembled an international group of researchers to investigate different pieces of this complex disease, which involves mosquitoes and humans, and multiple phases of infection. From the Institut Pasteur Suresh recruited microbiologist Monica Diez"Silva, who is exploring how Plasmodium falciparum (the parasite responsible for the most severe form of malaria) produces mechanical changes inside infected red blood cells. This microorganism churns out thousands of merozoites that enter the cells, making them stick to each other and to the walls of blood vessels. They become so rigid that they can't squeeze easily through blood vessels, compromising circulation. Diez"Silva is especially concerned with infected cells that invade the brain. Another Suresh group member, mechanical engineer David Quinn, developed a home"made optic system to trap and stretch red blood cells. He learned that in the late stages of malaria infection, the membranes of these cells increase in stiffness by a factor of 50. He is also using microfluidics to model the flow of infected and uninfected red blood cells -- an "engineered obstacle course" -- which may some day yield a portable diagnostic tool. Suresh hopes his team's work will lead to a host of analytic and therapeutic aids for malaria. They have already made a great leap with the discovery of a Plasmodium falciparum gene that codes for a protein reducing the deformability of red blood cells. This same protein, they learned, also has greater impact when body temperature rises _ typical of high fever episodes in malaria. With research partners in Singapore, the Suresh group is working on a humanized mouse model in which different genes of the Plasmodium parasite are removed to see how they affect the disease. Some day, it might be possible to kill key parasite proteins in mosquitoes by widespread spraying, effectively defanging the disease. But Suresh warns, "We are very far away from therapeutic success. Mosquitoes adapt faster than we can study malaria." About the Speaker(s): Subra Suresh joined the MIT faculty from Brown University in 1993. He has served as the head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT, and became Dean of the School of Engineering in 2007. His current research focuses on the mechanical responses of single biological cells and molecules and their implications for human health and diseases. Suresh has published more than 210 articles in journals, and is co"inventor of 14 U.S. and international patents. Suresh is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Indian National Academy of Engineering. His honors include the Gordon Moore Distinguished Scholar award from CalTech, the Brahm Prakash Visiting Professorship from the Indian Institute of Science, selection by the Institute for Scientific Information as one of the most highly cited researchers in Materials Science, the Clark B. Millikan Visiting Professorship at CalTech, the TFR Swedish National Chair in Engineering from the Royal Instiute of Technology, Stockholm and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Host(s): Office of the Provost, MIT Museum

Thomas Barry, Founder and CEO of Zephyr Management

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:34:24 GMT

Legatum lecturer, Thomas Barry is the founder and CEO of Zephyr Management. A global private equity and marketable securities firm, Zephry Management, L.P. manages specialized investment funds in both the developed and developing markets. Since 1994, Zephyr has sponsored twenty-one funds with approximately $1.6 billion in committed capital which are managed from offices in New York, London, Bangalore, Mexico City, Johannesburg and Accra. With a global network of partners, Zephyr is positioned to identify sustainable secular growth changes which lead to attractive investment opportunities for our investors.

Darfur/Darfur: The Crisis

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

10/15/2009 7:00 PM 32"123Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution, Belfer Center, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government; Susannah Sirkin, Deputy Director, Physicians for Human Rights; Marcus Bleasdale, Author: One Hundred Years of DarknessDescription: Six years after Darfur made its appearance on the world stage, the horrific crisis burns on, as these panelists vividly attest. In a forum companion to the traveling exhibit DARFUR/DARFUR, the speakers provide big picture political context, as well as actual images from the field, which are not for the faint of heart. While the conflict may no longer be "hot news," the "genocidal years are continuing," says Robert Rotberg. Three million Darfuris are languishing in refugee camps on the border with Chad and in their own country. The leader of this desert nation, President Omar al"Bashir, has been accused by the International Court of war crimes, yet militias under his direction, including the feared Janjaweed, continue to rain death down on villages and refugee camps. Neither the world's condemnation, nor a multilateral force, has stopped the violence. China's support of Sudan (with its rich oil fields) presents another obstacle to peace. Rotberg worries about the appointment by President Obama of a special envoy, J. Scott Gration, who "has made welcoming noises to Bashiroffering carrots without carrying a big stick." A plan for peace, says Rotberg, should include a ban on overflights; dismantling of the Janjaweed and all the militias, and their repatriation into village life; a mechanism for power"sharing at all levels; compensation for genocide; and support for reconstruction. Susannah Sirkin and her investigators from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) are among those who have documented the Sudanese government's atrocities against the people of Darfur. People have been bombed, strafed and burnt out of their villages. Says Sirkin, "The government of Sudan knew full well what would happen when hundreds of thousands of people were forced out of their homes, knew they wouldn't make it to a place where they could receive the basic necessities of survival." In spite of harrowing conditions, including the regime's persecution of aid workers, PHR has collected ample evidence of "the crime of mass rape as a weapon in this war," a crime that goes on even at the refugee camps. The peaceful pre"war existence of women, tending animals, family and farming, is brutally shattered when militias massacre their families, and assault them sexually. PHR doctors describe their suffering as "unimaginable." Sirkin recounts the tragic story of one 18"year"old, whose experiences stand for the thousands who endure comparable horrors. The finale of the panel is a slideshow by photojournalist Marcus Bleasdale of his 12 trips to Darfur in the past six years. He captures the fear -- entire communities huddled under trees for fear of detection by government planes _ and the aftermath of Janjaweed attacks. There are charred villages, bodies left to rot in the sun and people burned by white phosphorus, dumped by helicopter. At the camps, there are child soldiers with amputated limbs, starving mothers and babies, and long lines for the plastic bottles of water provided by aid agencies. Says Bleasdale, "These aren't singular stories; they're happening thousands of times, in every village." About the Speaker(s): Robert I. Rotberg previously served as Professor of Political Science and History, MIT; Academic Vice President, Tufts University; and President, Lafayette College. He is the author and editor of numerous books and articles on US foreign policy, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, most recently, China into Africa: Trade, Aid, and Influence (2008); Worst of the Worst: Dealing with Repressive and Rogue Nations (2007); Building a New Afghanistan (2007); A Leadership for Peace: How Edwin Ginn Tried to Change the World (2006); Battling Terrorism in the Horn of Africa (2005); and When States Fail: Causes and Consequences (2004), among others. Susannah Sirkin joined Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) in 1987. Previously, she was director of membership programs for Amnesty International USA. Sirkin has organized health and human rights investigations in many nations, including recent documentation of genocide and systematic rape in Darfur and Sudan, exhumations of mass graves in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda for the International Criminal Tribunals, investigations into consequences of human rights abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law in Afghanistan, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Iraq, Israel/Palestine, Kosovo, Kuwait, Somalia, Turkey, Zimbabwe, and the United States, among others. She has conducted studies of sexual violence in Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Thailand, and Chad, and published numerous reports on the medical consequences of human rights violations, physical evidence of human rights abuses, and physician complicity in violations. Sirkin co"developed and directed the first postgraduate course in medicine and human rights initiated at Harvard Medical School in 1992, and lectures regularly on health and human rights in medical schools and schools of public health. She also served from 1992 to 2001 for PHR as a member of the Coordination Committee of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the co"recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Peace. Marcus Bleasdale has spent eight years covering the brutal conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and his work was published in the book One Hundred Years of Darkness. His new book, The Rape of a Nation, was published in 2009. He is widely published in the UK, Europe and the USA in publications such as TIME, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Harpers, Stern, Geo Magazine and National Geographic Magazine. In 2004 he was awarded UNICEF Photographer of the Year Award, the 3p Grant and the Alexia Foundation Grant. He exhibited in New York at Moving Walls 2005 and was awarded the OSI Distribution Grant 2005. Bleasdale's images have also been chosen by PDN as one of the most iconic of the 21st Century. In 2005, Bleasdalewas named Magazine Photographer of the Year by POYi. In 2006 Marcus was awarded a World Press Daily Life award and won the prestigious OPC Olivier Rebbot Award. In 2007, he was awarded a Freedom of Expression grant for his new project on our relationship with oil. He was also shortlisted for the Amnesty International Photojournalism Awards. Bleasdale was awarded a first prize in POYi for his work on DRC in 2009. Host(s): School of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences, Center for International Studies

Entrepreneurship, Government, and Development in Africa

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT

09/21/2009 4:00 PM 34"101President John Kufuor, President of Ghana 2001"2009Description: After centuries of insufferable oppression by colonial powers, bloody independence struggles, and corrupt home"grown regimes, "Africa today is quickly awakening, and determined to mainstream itself in the phenomenon of the globalization process," says John Kufuor, who served as Ghana's president for two terms starting in 2000. Kufuor recounts how Ghana transcended its dark history to attain astonishing political and economic progress, establishing the nation as an exemplar for fellow African states. In a brisk history lesson, Kufuor accounts for the lag between Africa and other continents in socioeconomic development: geography kept Africa outside ancient trading routes, and when "marauding" Europeans eventually encountered Africa, it was "more or less a one"sided, institutional gang rape..." Denied citizenship and rights, for 600 years "the African ego and personality was assailed and trampled upon." Following World War 2, colonial powers relinquished their African holdings, but successor native governments were often little better, says Kufuor, spouting revolutionary rhetoric, and stifling "visionary individualism and creativity." State control meant "private capital formation went underground." African rulers maintained attachments to their "former European overlords," who imported Africa's resources "raw on concessionary terms." Kufuor blames the "stinginess" of foreign entrepreneurs, their unwillingness to "add value" to these products, for African nations' current paucity of medium and large"scale business. But Ghana's trick was to transform this disadvantage -- a large pool of small, agriculturally based businesses -- into the centerpiece of an economic revival. Kufuor cites in particular cocoa farmers, responsible for one of Ghana's principal exports, who own on average no more than three acres. When he arrived in office, Kufuor determined to support the "self"reliant, risk"taking initiative" of such farmers and other small"scale businesses, recognizing that they were key to "unleashing the potential wealth of the nation." His government pursued debt forgiveness by the IMF; separating the central bank from the president's office; and distributing more banking licenses and lowering lending rates. Aid to farmers with trading, modernization, irrigation, and other infrastructure led to unprecedented economic growth: the GDP quadrupled over an eight year period beginning in 2000, with growth at 7.3% last year. Government "had promised to usher the country into a golden age," says Kufuor, and came through not just with economic policies, but with investment in education and a national health insurance plan for all citizens. Two years ago, oil was discovered offshore, and Kufuor, "proud of having laid a solid foundation" for Ghana, prays that this find will prove "a blessing and not a curse, for the good of all our sons and daughters." About the Speaker(s): John Kufuor helped lead Ghana during its first peaceful democratic transition, focusing on modernizing agriculture, improving infrastructure and attracting direct foreign investment. Kufuor championed the nation's entrepreneurs, and promoted transparency in government. He is also a former chairperson of the African Union (2007"2008). In 2008, Kufuor became a partner in the World Food Programme's "Fill the Cup" drive to provide nutritious school meals to millions of hungry children. "Every nation's future rests on nutritious food and education for its children," he said. Kufuor earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Oxford University before becoming a lawyer. But he soon turned to politics, serving as member of parliament, deputy foreign minister and secretary for local government before becoming Ghana's president in 2000.Host(s): School of Architecture and Planning, Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship

Legatum Lecture - Paul Polak

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:16:56 GMT

Paul Polak isn't your everyday global poverty fighter. He's a 75-year old former psychiatrist who believes that the world's poorest people, most of whom are farmers living on less than $2/day, are capable entrepreneurs and viable consumers. It's a philosophy that drove him to start International Development Enterprises (IDE), a non-profit providing these $2/day farmers affordable irrigation & high-yield farming strategies. After 25 years, Dr. Polak and IDE succeeded in moving over 17 million people out of poverty. He has since turned over leadership of the organization to Al Doerkson but remains actively involved as a board member and advisor. Still driven to do more, he decided to start another non-profit venture, a for-profit venture, and to write a book, all aimed at harnessing the market to combat poverty. The non-profit, called D-Rev: Design for the Other 90%, aims to create a global "design revolution" to change the way the world's best designers view and serve the 2.8 billion people who live on less than $2 a day. Dr. Polak outlines the principles for this design revolution in his book Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail, explaining how designers can profitably serve the world's lowest-income consumers while simultaneously providing them a path out of poverty. His for-profit venture, called Windhorse International, will demonstrate that big business can be a part of this revolution. Poverty better watch out!

Sadik Antwi-Boampong: Nsuta Community Library Project

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:14:47 GMT

Sadik Antwi-Boampong '09 participated in the MIT Public Service Fellowship program. Sadik established the Nsutaman Community Library, the only library in the town of Nsuta, Ghana. Sadik convinced Books for Africa to donate 7,000 books and two computers to the library. Next, he negotiated with a member of Parliament to donate and renovate a building to house the library. Sadik subsequently arranged for students at the nearby university to cover library shifts and build shelves. Sadik was anointed with the honorary title of Development Chief responsible for Student Affairs in January 2008 at the official opening of the library.

A Conversation with Admiral William Fallon

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:31:44 GMT

ADMIRAL FALLON led U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) from March 2007 to March 2008. During that time, he was responsible for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and directed all U.S. military activities in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Horn of Africa. Admiral Fallon also served as the commander of U.S. Pacific Command (Feb 2005 - March 2007), commander for U.S. Fleet Forces Command and the U.S. Atlantic Fleet (Sept 2003 - Feb 2005) and was the 31st Vice Chief of Naval Operations (Oct 2000 -Aug 2003). Admiral Fallon joined the MIT Center for International Studies as its 2008-09 Robert E. Wilhelm Fellow upon retiring from the military after 41 years of distinguished service.

Composing a Career and Life

Thu, 07 May 2009 04:00:00 GMT

05/07/2009 12:00 PM Wong AuditoriumLinda A. Mason, Chairman & Founder, Bright Horizons Family SolutionsDescription: Linda Mason was originally going to make a case study of Bright Horizons, her $1.3 billion, early childhood care business, but reconsidered in light of the current economic crisis -- to the benefit of her audience. Instead, she takes up her own story as a recession"era entrepreneur who built several hugely successful, socially oriented ventures, navigating very real pitfalls and challenges along the way. Her "nonlinear path" yielded important life lessons, which she shares in this talk. Some highlights from her story: Mason took a major detour from a planned career in management consulting when she and Roger Brown, who was to become her husband, left Yale in 1979 with their MBAs to work in Cambodian refugee camps. After a year, they returned to corporate life. But some time later, she and Brown experienced a watershed moment at a New Year's Eve party, realizing their years of accumulating money and frequent flyer miles left them "depressed." They determined that night to make a change. Soon after, Save the Children called, looking for help dealing with the terrible famine sweeping western Sudan. Mason and Brown had 24 hours to make up their minds: There was "no time to make a list of pros and cons. It was a fork in the road, and we knew it was the path we were to take," says Mason. This experience taught her, "It's sometimes important to leap before you look." Management skills came in handy as the team set up a complex food distribution operation, one that challenged relief organization orthodoxy. This experience, which at the time "seemed crazy and risky," fueled Mason and Brown's next move in 1986: addressing the shortage of high quality child care in the U.S. The couple turned their Cambridge home into a start up headquarters, and developed a business plan, which they sold to enthusiastic VCs. But corporations balked at buying in, viewing the fledgling Bright Horizons team as "flaky Peace Corps types." Mason, reflecting on this period, counsels "do your homework extremely well, then be very, very stubborn." As New England sank into a recession, and their idea faced collapse, the duo transformed crisis into opportunity. They summoned all their energy for a final effort, marketing onsite childcare to real estate developers looking to attract businesses. In 1990, four years after starting, Bright Horizons was in the black. The two ran the business for 15 years, when they moved onto other interests. "Discover your passions," Mason advises, and combine them with your skills "to give your life meaning." About the Speaker(s): As Chair of Mercy Corps, Linda Mason shapes the strategy and development of this $300 million international relief and development agency, operating in 37 countries serving 17 million people, with major programs in some of the most difficult environments in the world including Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur, Somalia, and North Korea. Previously, Mason spent a large part of her career creating and building Bright Horizons Family Solutions, now a $1.3 billion education company. As the largest world"wide provider of worksite child care and early education, Bright Horizons operates more than 650 high quality child development centers for employers in 40 states and Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada. Clients include the US General Services Administration, United Nations, European Commission, Time Warner, Cisco Systems, IBM, Yale University, MIT, Universal Studios, and Paramount Pictures, among others. Bright Horizons also operates eight elementary schools, private and charter. The company employs 19,000 people and serves more than 80,000 families. Bright Horizons was selected by Fortune magazine in January 2009 for the 10th time as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For in America". Mason also co"founded Horizons for Homeless Children, a Boston"based organization that serves the needs of homeless children throughout New England. HHC has trained over 9,500 volunteers to work in 150 playspaces established by HHC in homeless shelters. In addition, HHC operates 3 full"service childcare centers for homeless children, also providing assistance to mothers to reach self"sufficiency.Host(s): Sloan School of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management

Oladapo Tomori, Legatum Fellow

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:44:06 GMT

Oladapo is a native citizen of Nigeria, where he studied medicine, but has also studied at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the London School of Economics. He combines his interests in medicine and health into a goal to use mobile technologies to help with health-care in Nigeria.

John Peter Nshimyimana, Legatum Fellow

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:26:42 GMT

John Peter Nshimyimana talks about the business he would like to start in his homeland. His idea is to provide clean water solutions to the rural villages in Rwanda.

Derek Brine, Legatum Fellow

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:23:00 GMT

Legatum Fellow, Derek Brine, plans to start a business in Kenya around an amazing useful tree that has health, economic and environmental benefits.

Craig Doescher, Legatum Fellow

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:17:32 GMT

Craig Doescher, Legatum Fellow, is designing a business in South Africa, that will fill a need in the shanty towns and enable small boutiques to become more profitable by improving the means of food distribution.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda - Compton Lecture

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:26:54 GMT

On September 18, 2008, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda delivered a lecture
entitled, "Imperative of Science and Technology in Accelerating African and
Rwandan Development." After the lecture, President Kagame took questions from the audience pertaining to this subject.

Imperative of Science and Technology in Accelerating African and Rwandan Development

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT

09/18/2008 3:30 PM KresgeH.E. Paul Kagame, President, Republic of RwandaDescription: The news these days from Africa isn't all bad. In fact, in some places, it's downright hopeful, as Rwandan President Paul Kagame attests. "Our continent is no longer all about violence and disease and human disasters that scarred many African countries in recent decades," says Kagame. "We are now becoming a continent of opportunities." There are those who doubted Rwanda could "constitute a viable state," says Kagame, but 14 years after bloody genocide and civil war, his country has managed an astonishing revival -- enough "stability and resilience to allow the economy to grow at an average 7% annually in the past several years." Other African nations have been expanding at the same pace; oil producers are zooming along at even faster clips. Kagame attributes this recovery to such factors as the "leapfrogging power of mobile technology," where hundreds of millions of new cell phone users, even in remote areas without electricity, drive the growth of new business. And the number of internet subscribers in Africa is growing more than three times as fast as the rest of the world, says Kagame. Cell phones and the internet allow Rwandan and other micro entrepreneurs to develop business networks. Kagame describes how technology helped a Kigali bakery expand beyond its neighborhood to reach more customers and suppliers, enabling workers to move into larger homes. In Kenya, Kagame recounts, a new agricultural commodity exchange "has reduced barriers between farmers, traders and consumers," with the internet and cell phone text messages providing timely market information. This network has improved the incomes of farm families by 25%, leading to better healthcare and education. Rwanda's power utility is also reaping the benefits of technology, keeping track of customers and accounts more efficiently, and no longer relying on government handouts. But while technology has enabled Africans "to leapfrog some features of underdevelopment," Kagame says it is not enough. "Our vision of becoming a middle income country by 2020 requires thinking and acting inventively, boldly and creatively." Kagame wants to build a foundation not just in technology but in science. Doing this requires a heavy investment in all levels of education. "Without a knowledge base," he says, "Africa's imperative for agricultural and industrial development to create wealth will remain unrealized." He calls for members of the MIT community to join "in overcoming our challenges and turning them into rewarding opportunities." About the Speaker(s): Paul Kagameis also the leader of the guerrilla Rwandan Patriotic Front, whose invasion of Rwanda is cited as the primary reason that the Rwandan Genocide ended. Born a Tutsi, Kagame and his family moved to a Ugandan refugee camp to escape the violence of the 1959 revolt sparked by the Belgian military and carried out by the Hutu population. Political instability and tribal conflict fueled the ethnic persecution that would take place for decades. Kagame helped launch a five"year liberation war in neighboring Uganda in 1980. He served as a senior officer in the Ugandan army between 1986 and 1990, during which time he received training as a distinguished ally in the US Army's Command and General Staff College. In October 1990, Kagame returned to Rwanda after 30 years in exile to lead the Rwandan Patriotic Army in the struggle for the liberation of Rwanda. On July 19, 1994, he was appointed vice president and minister for defense in the Government of National Unity. In 1998, he was elected chairman of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a partner in the Government of National Unity. On April 17, 2000, Kagame was unanimously elected president of the Republic of Rwanda by the Transitional National Assembly. He took the oath of office on April 22, 2000. Kagame has received a number of awards for his efforts to bring stability and peace to Rwanda, including the 2003 Global Leadership Award by the Young Presidents' Organization, the Andrew Young Medal, the Information and Communications Technologies Africa Award, the African National Achievement Award, the African Gender Award, and several honorary doctorates. He also received international recognition for outlawing the death penalty in Rwanda in 2007. Host(s): Office of the President, Office of the President

Global Health Equity

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 05:00:00 GMT

11/15/2007 4:00 PM Kirsch 32"123Paul Farmer, Founder, Partners in HealthDescription: Don't foolishly advise Paul Farmer that his bold projects can't succeed. For the past 20 years, Farmer's been toppling orthodoxies concerning the delivery of health care to people of developing nations, and to our country's inner city poor. In a talk full of insights and anecdotes, Farmer brings his audience up to date on his groundbreaking work and methods. In the early 80s, Farmer was a Harvard medical student studying infectious disease in Haiti. HIV was taking a deadly toll there and in the U.S., but Farmer was struck by the inequity of treatment. "The idea of a different standard of care for people 1 _ hours from Miami didn't strike me as a good idea." Health care, Farmer came to believe, is a basic human right. In the early 90s, antiretroviral drugs emerged in the U.S. as a powerful treatment for AIDS -- but were priced beyond the reach of developing countries. Farmer and his colleagues began a public battle against such global inequalities. They demanded affordable drugs, and support for community"based health care initiatives, viewed by international funders as unsustainable and cost"ineffective. With a loan from a commercial bank in Boston, Farmer set out to prove everyone wrong. Starting with one facility, Farmer established community medical clinics across Haiti, run by and for Haitians, securing and disbursing affordable drugs for HIV and TB, and educating the community in preventive medicine. Local workers spread out into neighborhoods, to initiate and follow up on care. Farmer used his AIDS programs "as a battle horse to ride into the fight against poverty, and to talk about education, food security and housing." Farmer's support broadened to include such powerful funders as the Clinton Foundation. This has enabled him to take his program into Africa, first to Rwanda and more recently to Lesotho and Malawi. Farmer's Partners in Health group rebuilds medical infrastructure weakened by war or years of neglect; takes care of the sick; and then trains hundreds of local citizens. Haitians, whom Farmer describes as his teachers, have been spearheading much of the work in Africa. The costs of scaling up come less from labor, than from basic goods like food, and bumps in the supply chain. But the biggest obstacle of all, says Farmer, according, is "nay"saying, low expectations, a certain undertow of censorious opinion. As if it weren't hard enough to do the work, you have to fight a lot of skepticism, not from patients, coworkers or family members, but from your peers." About the Speaker(s): Medical anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer is a founding director of Partners In Health, an international charity organization that provides direct health care services and undertakes research and advocacy activities on behalf of those who are sick and living in poverty. He is medical director of a charity hospital, the Clinique Bon Sauveur, in rural Haiti. Farmer has written extensively about health and human rights, and about the role of social inequalities in the distribution and outcome of infectious diseases. He is the author of Pathologies of Power (University of California Press, 2003); Infections and Inequalities (University of California Press, 1998); The Uses of Haiti (Common Courage Press, 1994); and AIDS and Accusation (University of California Press, 1992). In addition, he is co"editor of Women, Poverty, and AIDS, (Common Courage Press, 1996) and of The Global Impact of Drug"Resistant Tuberculosis (Harvard Medical School and Open Society Institute, 1999). Farmer is the recipient of the Duke University Humanitarian Award, the Margaret Mead Award from the American Anthropological Association, the American Medical Association's Outstanding International Physician (Nathan Davis) Award, and the Heinz Humanitarian Award. In 1993, he was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation "genius award" in recognition of his work. Farmer is the subject of Pulitzer Prizewinner Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World (Random House, 2003). Farmer received his Bachelor's degree from Duke University and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard University. Host(s): School of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences, School of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Human Rights and Politics in Israel"Palestine

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 04:00:00 GMT

10/22/2007 6:30 PM 66"110Jeff Halper, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions; Anat Biletzki, Professor of Philosophy, Tel Aviv UniversityDescription: Human rights are central to the fraught politics between Israelis and Palestinians, these two panelists argue. Any conceivable solution to such an endless conflict must begin by acknowledging the current bleak realities of Palestinian life under Israeli rule, they say. Anat Biletzki and the group B'Tselem have conducted painstaking studies of how Israel's longstanding agenda of allowing its civilians to settle on Palestinian occupied land constitutes an infringement of the Palestinians' basic equality, property rights, freedom of movement, their very "right to self"determination." The settlements were given a "cloak of legality," sanctioned as they were by one Israeli government after another. Geographically, the settlements break up what might have been a contiguous Palestinian state. Biletzki ties the settlements together with other work by the Israelis conducted in the name of security to demonstrate the existence of a forbidding, two"tier society : a system of roads off limits to Palestinians in the occupied territories, or permitted only via carefully guarded checkpoints; the wall (or separation barrier), which runs through Palestinian land; and the total control of Gaza, from the economy to communications, which increasingly makes it "a big prison." This barricading of Palestinians has become a "routine phenomenon" _and not worthy of the headlines, in the way bombs and torture are, says Biletzki. She insists that "our political conversation must become a human rights conversation," and hopes that she can make an impact on American Jews and policy makers, who don't believe in the possibility of making a deal with the Palestinians: "If we give them the land, they'll throw us into the sea." Jeff Halper describes the current situation for Palestinians as apartheid, knowing full well the awful resonance of the term. He sees the system of settlements, roads and the wall as a deliberate land grab, "imprisoning tens of thousands of Palestinians within cities, towns and villages." The word apartheid "cuts through -- immediately you get it." This is important because the situation in Israel "is a global issue that affects everyone. It's the epicenter of instability in the entire regionone of the reasons you can't take toothpaste onto an airplane." Reframing the issue will bring the kind of negative attention that South Africa once drew, as well as international sanctions, and corporate divestment. While Halper believes Israel has essentially foreclosed a viable two"state solution, he still imagines that the U.S. might persuade Israel to pull out of the settlements, so Palestinians can move back in. "There would be dancing in the streets of Tel Aviv," Halper predicts, because so many Israelis "want this albatross off their back." About the Speaker(s): Anat Biletzki has been teaching at the Philosophy Department in Tel Aviv University since 1979. She has traveled widely, as a visiting scholar and fellow at, among others, Cambridge University, Harvard University, Boston University, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, and the Wittgenstein Archives in Bergen, Norway. Her publications include Paradoxes (1996); Talking Wolves: Thomas Hobbes on the Language of Politics and the Politics of Language (1997); What Is Logic? (2002); and (Over)Interpreting Wittgenstein (2003). Biletzki has been active in the peace movement and in several human rights projects in Israel for over 25 years. In 1997"1998, Biletzki helped establish the human rights movement "Open Doors" which worked on liberating Palestinian administrative detainees in Israel. She is on the board of Faculty for Israeli"Palestinian Peace,and was chairperson of the board of B'Tselem " the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, from 2001"2006. In 2005 she was chosen as one of "50 most influential women in Israel" by Globes, the Israeli business monthly, and was nominated among the "1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005." Jeff Halper is an Israeli anthropologist. He retired recently from Ben Gurion University. He is a harsh critic of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and, as founder of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), one of the leading peace and anti"occupation activists in Israel. A transplant from Minnesota, Halper has lived in Israel since 1973. He has researched and written extensively on Israeli society and is the author of the book Between Redemption and Revival: the Jewish Yishuv in Jerusalem in the Nineteenth Century Westview, 1991. Halper founded and directed Israeli's Committee to Save the Ethiopian Jews.Host(s): Office of the Provost, Program on Human Rights and Justice

HIV Lymphocyte Dynamics and Implications for Therapy

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 05:00:00 GMT

03/23/2006 David Ho, Founding Scientific Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center; ; Irene Diamond Professor at The Rockefeller UniversityDescription: Few researchers become legends in their own time, but David Ho's relentless quest to understand and conquer the AIDS virus has earned him worldwide renown. He elucidates the approach his lab has taken in the last decade to understanding how HIV replicates in cells, and how effective drugs have been developed to stymie the progress of the virus once a patient is infected. Within weeks of contracting HIV, there is exponential growth of the virus, which peaks swiftly, followed by a long period where the number of virus particles produced equal the number of particles cleaned out by a patient's liver and spleen. There's a "steady flow out and a steady flow in," says Ho. During this period, which might last 10 years, the virus may not cause symptoms, but it steadily depletes the patient's supply of a type of crucial immune cell. Ho's research in the 1990s took a quantitative approach to the dynamics of viral infection. By using a drug that helped block the reproduction of the virus, Ho discovered that virus replication and clearance happened very swiftly. "Half of what's in circulation is removed in a half-hour, to be replaced by an equal amount of virus." He also measured the total virus production per day, which for an average patient, meant somewhere between 1010 and 10 12 virus particles. Ho says that one of the implications "of this relentless replication at very high levels" is a high mutation rate. HIV can shape shift and evade control by a single drug. Ho's research helped generate the AIDS cocktail -- multiple antiretroviral drugs to block the progression of HIV at different points in its replication cycle. While these therapies have diminished the AIDS mortality rate, mainly in western nations, Ho hopes to slow the spread of HIV worldwide, especially in parts of Africa where it continues to grow exponentially in the population. A vaccine that could "put more pressure on the virus," at the earliest days of infection, could potentially "cause a shut off of infection and abolish it from taking hold." About the Speaker(s): David Ho has been actively engaged in AIDS research for 24 years, and has published over 350 papers on the subject. He received his degrees from the California Institute of Technology (1974) and Harvard Medical School (1978). Subsequently, he did his clinical training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center/UCLA School of Medicine (1978-1982) and Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School (1982-1985), respectively. Ho has received numerous honors and awards for his scientific accomplishments. He was named Time Magazine's Man of the Year in 1996, and was the recipient of a Presidential Medal in 2001. He has been elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Academia Sinica (Republic of China), Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Science in the United States. Ho served on the Board of Overseers of Harvard University, and he currently sits on the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology, and Board of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation. Host(s): School of Science, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and TechnologyTape #: T21078

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