Thursday, June 19, 2014

International Conference on Appropriate Technology in Nairobi this November (yay!)

I'm helping to plan the International Conference on Appropriate Technology * in November. This year (the conference happens every other year) we'll be in Nairobi, Kenya at Kenyatta University!

The details of what I want to bring to the conference are still being worked out (watch this space!), but I'm leaning towards (1) an Appropriate Technolgy Hackathon and (2) an unconference around Sustainability & Responsibility in the Tech Industry (I'm curious what kind of meaning that will have to an international audience).

Appropriate tech, in context of this conference, is tech that is designed with special consideration for the environment, both social and natural, into which it will be deployed. Often it is considered in contexts of constrained resources. Think solar cookers in places with inconsistent access to public energy. Think heavy use of mobile tech where access to computers is low. Appropriate tech is tech whose means of production can be owned by the communities who will be benefiting from it. It's tech that empowers people.

To get into the groove, I'll be sharing some appropriate technology related tidbits here through the next few months.


* High on my list of to-dos is a website refresh...