Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 3, 2013

At Benetech, we agree that braille is an essential literacy tool and that every child who needs it has the right to be taught braille. One major roadblock is the affordability of braille reading tools. We also know that braille materials must be far more available to braille readers of all ages in order to realize their full benefits.

Literacy 208

Literacy eBook Images Accessibility 208

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 28, 2014

His innovation is the PEEK software tool : a low-cost smartphone ophthalmic system that delivers comprehensive eye examinations in the developing world, to those who need it most. It is, however, a very narrow tool even for a social enterprise, let alone for a profitable business opportunity. This time, I jumped up!

Ideas 223

Ideas Kenya Brain Software 223

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 1, 2016

Whatever the power of search engines or social networks, it’s really the smartphone that is the most incredible tool for tracking our every move and activity. Forcing tech companies to weaken their products through compelling the creation of backdoors would be a massive step backwards. Who they love.

Develop 100

Develop Government United States Africa 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 11, 2015

This is a recurring question that we get at Benetech about Martus —our free, strongly encrypted tool for secure collection and management of sensitive information, built and provided by the Benetech Human Rights Program. Likewise, we didn’t need to reinvent anonymity tools, as we integrated Tor into Martus. No, it does not.

Open Source 100

Open Source Open Software License 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 5, 2013

I’ve been actively advocating for an international copyright exception model that would greatly benefit people with disabilities, as anyone who has read my blog over the years can attest!

Morocco 127

Morocco United States Copyright Library 127

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 15, 2012

Succeeding through partnerships is a recurring theme that runs through all of Benetech’s programs and that informs our activities as we work to deliver the next generation of innovative software solutions for social good.

Library 164

Library Student eBook Accessibility 164

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

DIAGRAM This increase in accessible images would not have been possible without great tools. Click here for more info on this work, including tool demos. In addition, we are active members of the DAISY Consortium, where we are able to contribute back code and other technical expertise so that all may benefit. Or all three?

Literacy 166

Literacy Program United Arab Emirates Student 166

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 5, 2008

We developed it in what's called an agile way, where we do frequent releases and actively engage users in shaping the software. So, spread the news to folks you know who need project management tools for environmental projects!

Conservancy 100

Conservancy Press Software Environment 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 28, 2011

In the comments to our last post, Jon from Ushahidi said "If a tool's fitness cannot be absolute, then neither can it's fallibility." Our concern is that if in the future decision makers depend on crowdsourcing, bad decisions are likely to result -- decisions that impact lives. So, we’re speaking up. Why is this something worth arguing about?

Issue 160

Issue Data Haiti Stream 160

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 18, 2007

The opening paragraphs are excerpted below: As technology races ahead at an ever-increasing pace, more and more of society's activities are moving into an online digital world that requires unfettered access. It's something within our power, and it will bring out the best in our community.

Sacramento 100

Sacramento Raise California Sound 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 5, 2010

Actively optimize for search engines so that the people who need to find the information will. • Make it an indispensable tool for people with disabilities, their families, educators, rehab professionals and the assistive and mainstream technology industries. The biggest enemy of a Clearinghouse is irrelevancy. . •

Accessibility 100

Accessibility Award Proposal Phase 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 4, 2007

Benetech melds the mission and heart of social activism with the powerful methods and tools of the technology community. I found Bookshare's interesting history on its Web site's About Us section: "Benetech, a new kind of nonprofit enterprise, is sponsoring the Bookshare initiative.

Award 100

Award San Diego New York New York City 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 5, 2016

The difference is that the social entrepreneur pursues change at scale primarily as a tool for social justice, not private enrichment. We provided a tool that blind individuals could use to scan and read their own books independently. The Arkenstone reading tools became a key mode of independent access to books.

Change 100

Change eBook United States Conservancy 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 11, 2013

We’re actively participating in initiatives such as the Taproot Foundation Pro Bono Summit and the A Billion+ Change campaign , and we’re working closely with tech giants like HP and VMware to match and structure the right opportunities for their engineering teams to collaborate with our Project Partners.

Open Source 118

Open Source Lesson Tech Project 118

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 24, 2016

I encourage groups to begin collecting data as part of their basic program activities, and I make the claim that it will eventually allow them to connect their data to other, larger databases and maybe begin to take advantage of big data. Something tells me that this is definitely fundable.

Uruguay 100

Uruguay Luxembourg New York Database 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 13, 2012

Those activities must be on the path to accomplishing something big. Because technology is our signature tool for creating impact, we can easily build in the metrics. Quality: building a great technology tool or doing science to world-class standards. We measure what we do, so that we know we’re getting stuff done.

Articulate 137

Articulate Open Source Metrics Open 137

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 7, 2008

This critique does make the strong case that activism and advocacy are not separable from social entrepreneurship, they are foundational to a field whose defining single point of commonality is a commitment to social mission. they are not.

Philanthropy 100

Philanthropy Technique Policy Empowerment 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 30, 2011

The event helped create an extended dialog between participants of the Arab Spring and the developers of technology tools that activists have used to circumvent government censorship. It is the vision of the mission goal that leads to successful projects, rather than just saying, 'I got a cool tool.'" How do we tell the truth?

Conference 167

Conference Yemen Syria Skype 167

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 13, 2011

Men being trained to use Martus to enter testimonies.Our human rights team is active all over the world. The human rights team trains groups how to use their number one asset, information about human rights violations, as a strategic tool to advance their social justice mission.

Conservancy 140

Conservancy Norway Congo Sweden 140

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 19, 2009

Human rights activists there operate in a dangerous climate and it is important that they be trained and supported with the very best tools. The current conflict in Afghanistan has been ongoing since 2001. My second presentation was an introduction to the Martus software.

Cambodia 104

Cambodia Training Train Sri Lanka 104