The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
The Best of iRevolution in 2013
iRevolution crossed the 1 million hits mark in 2013, so big thanks to iRevolution readers for spending time here during the past 12 months. This year also saw close to 150 new blog posts published on iRevolution. Here is a short selection of the Top 15 iRevolution posts of 2013:
At the time of writing, Bitcoin has fallen from its $1000-plus value, but it’s still sitting high at just $100, or so, less. Because of the ruthless competition involved in Bitcoin mining, intrepid internet entrepreneurs have been moving over to the cheaper, though less competitive alternative, Litecoin. If the trend continues, Litecoin will soon mimic the cutthroat community of Bitcoin, losing its practicality. Furthermore, if you find all of the cryptocurrency rhetoric and serious-business economics articles sucking all of the fun and joy out of trying to make a digital buck, then the internet’s most beloved Shiba Inu is here to save the day.
Dogecoin: Not a viable alternative to Bitcoin, but possibly the best invention on the internet
It appears Dogecoin is a real (insofar as any digital currency — or currency, for that matter — is whatever “real” means) digital currency for which you can mine using a computer. In this case, though, you’re digging using a doge house, because there’s still humor left in the world.
Video: Humanitarian Response in 2025
I gave a talk on “The future of Humanitarian Response” at UN OCHA’s Global Humanitarian Policy Forum (#aid2025) in New York yesterday. More here for context. A similar version of the talk is available in the video presentation below.
Some of the discussions that ensued during the Forum were frustrating albeit an important reality check. Some policy makers still think that disaster response is about them and their international humanitarian organizations. They are still under the impression that aid does not arrive until they arrive. And yet, empirical research in the disaster literature points to the fact that the vast majority of survivals during disasters is the result of local agency, not external intervention.
I’ve been invited to give a “very provocative talk” on what humanitarian response will look like in 2025 for the annual Global Policy Forum organized by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in New York. I first explored this question in early 2012 and my colleague Andrej Verity recently wrote up this intriguing piece on the topic, which I highly recommend; intriguing because he focuses a lot on the future of the pre-deployment process, which is often overlooked.
Continue reading “Patrick Meier: Humanitarian Response in 2025”
Forget about Growth Hacking, the future is in the Collaborative Economy
VIDEO
Anyone working in digital can somewhat relate to the overuse of loosely defined marketing words – think ‘big data’ or ‘cloud computing’ (bzzzz). Growth hacking seems to be just another one of them.
In colloquial terms, growth hacking is associated with the exploitation of loopholes and the use of illegal techniques online to grow business development. Of course, in some cases this has been reality. When PayPal was first used on eBay, it was actually breaching the retailer’s T&C’s. Similarly, when Airbnb first started they poached their customers from Craigslist by spamming listings and inviting users to join their directory instead.
However, growth hacking can also simply be described as the ingenious use of tools, platforms and environments for business development, online AND offline – Google campus in East London, for example, is a good case of growth hacking taking place offline as start-ups use a shared working environment to maximise their potential. Online, growth hacking is the use of tracking and metric tools that teach us where our time is best spent; and the leveraging of platforms where target audiences and key players are.
‘Hacking’ does not necessarily equal to detrimental consequences for larger corporations either. Indeed, Paypal was then bought by eBay, and when Airbnb developed its interface it added the option to ‘post to Craigslist’.
Combining Radio, SMS and Advanced Computing for Disaster Response
I’m headed to the Philippines this week to collaborate with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on humanitarian crowdsourcing and technology projects. I’ll be based in the OCHA Offices in Manila, working directly with colleagues Andrej Verity and Luis Hernando to support their efforts in response to Typhoon Yolanda. One project I’m exploring in this respect is a novel radio-SMS-computing initiative that my colleague Anahi Ayala (Internews) and I began drafting during ICCM 2013 in Nairobi last week. I’m sharing the approach here to solicit feedback before I land in Manila.
The “Radio + SMS + Computing” project is firmly grounded in GSMA’s official Code of Conduct for the use of SMS in Disaster Response. I have also drawn on the Bellagio Big Data Principles when writing up the in’s and out’s of this initiative with Anahi. The project is first and foremost a radio-based initiative that seeks to answer the information needs of disaster-affected communities.
Continue reading “Patrick Meier: Combining Radio, SMS, and Advanced Computing for Disaster Response”
You sir are a lonesome voice of sanity reason and common sense in the asylum of todays political landscape. I ran across this video online and thought of you immediately. Brad Barker CEO of Halo Corporation is giving a TED talk. He proves the value of OPEN SOURCE INTEL in the real world. In the video he explains how a bunch of Hatian teens with cell phones schooled the GOVT and relief agencies on how to operate with tactical efficency. Don't let the bastards get you down!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Phi Beta Iota: See everything by Patrick Meier on this web site. One day we will see Amazon, Avazz, CrisisMappers, and WISER fully integrated and operating on an Open Source Everything (OSE) technical foundation. THAT will be a revolution.
