From BizDom Blog
Tech Humanitarian Awards
The genesis of the awards ceremony, which also serves as a fundraiser for the downtown San Jose Tech Museum, was the 1990s United Nations study, "The State of the Future at the Millennium," which focused on challenges facing the planet and the importance of assisting the developing world. The museum has since highlighted the work of hundreds of global entrepreneurs, academics and nonprofit workers using technology and innovative business plans to improve the lives of millions.
The first honor, the James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award, went to Jeff Skoll, who was hired by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar to become the online auction company's first employee and first president in 1996. (Previous winners include Bill Gates, Al Gore, and Jordan's Queen Rania Al Abdullah.)
The Tech Awards also honored fifteen laureate organizations from around the world, which competed for five $50,000 cash awards funded by Microsoft, Intel, Nokia and other major tech firms. The winners, announced at Thursday's ceremony, were:
AguaClara, an initiative of Cornell University that was honored for building gravity-powered water-treatment facilities that provide safe drinking water to 20,000 people in five communities without the need for electricity.
PhET Interactive Simulations, the University of Colorado's group that teaches students from elementary school to universities via animated "science projects" that have been translated into 64 languages.
Universal Subtitles, a collaborative platform for captioning online videos that brought 25,000 videos on subjects such as the Arab Spring and the Japanese Tsunami to the deaf and hard of hearing in its first nine months.
We Care Solar, whose "solar suitcase" provides lighting and power to clinics in Africa, Asia, and Central America that might otherwise be forced to deliver babies and conduct other medical care by candlelight.
Eko Financial Services, which aims to democratize financial services by allowing 800,000 clients in India, such as migrant workers, to access bank accounts via inexpensive mobile phones.
Scan It!
A customer uses the Scan It! Mobile app on her Android phone to scan groceries at the supermarket. Retailers are in the midst of the technology revolution. Research firm VDC Research estimates retailers worldwide will spend 12 percent more on installing self-check-out kiosks -- which require fewer staff -- by 2015. Outlets are piloting the program that allows shoppers to use their smart phones to scan groceries as they pull them off the shelves -- a move that could lead to even fewer check-out clerks.
ITC's initiative ‘wealth from waste'
The diversified business group, ITC Ltd, through its Papers and Speciality Papers Division (PSPD), has roped in Infosys, Google, Mahindra Satyam and Dr. Reddy's into the WOW (wealth from waste) initiative.
The group has also dovetailed the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity of the company into its overall business plan, according to Division Chief Executive, ITC PSPD, Mr Sanjay Singh.
“By linking CSR activity into the overall business plan, we ensure it gets greater focus; also there is something to look forward to by the company. Both the farm forestry and WOW initiative have now been linked,” he said.
Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Singh said that within a short span, the collection of dry receivables is touching 4,000 mt a month. It is proposed to take this up to 6,000 mt a month during the current financial year. By covering the entire south, ITC expects to manage a collection level of about 15,000 mt a month. That would be sufficient to run a mill.
Mr Jogarao Bhamidipati, Division Head (Commercial), ITC PSPD, said that 20 major groups with over 200,000 employees like Infosys, Microsoft, Google, Mahindra Satyam, Dr. Reddy's Labs have agreed to join the WOW initiative where the waste is segregated and collected. By paper waste segregation, this would be better suited for recycling.
The Chairman of Ramky Group, Mr Ayodhya Rami Reddy, said that the company now works with over 35 municipalities and 35,000 hospitals and over 800 corporate houses across the country and is keen to play a role in ITC's WOW initiative .
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