FrontlineSMS

Just returned from listening to Ken Banks, the founder of FrontlineSMS. His tool allows NGOs to create mobile networks to liaise with people out in the “front lines” through text messaging, with only a laptop and a mobile phone. You can read more at their site here.

What struck me was how Ken structured his project. He created the software, made it open source and basically gave it free to anyone who wanted it. He asks for no recognition even when people use his software to do fantastic things, like the Mobiles in Malawi project done by Josh Nesbitt, a senior in Stanford.

One thing he said while walking back from dinner struck me today. “The true test of your work is that it continues on even after you leave it”, and indeed this is true. It reminded me of the many projects that I had started, and how some had sizzled off, while others had continued to grow. Wise words that could only have come from a humble man.

In other news, the “needintel” project now has a name- www.unseenpeople.org. It aptly describes what the database does: an infobase for the “unseen” people of this world, in the refugee camps, slums, and villages. More news on this next time.