Improving Lives One Message At A Time

All my life I have always strive for making the world a better place through technology, through philanthropy, through sustainable food production… When the world started calling with mobile phones I help improved quality of communications through automated planning. When the world of simple voice call changed to complex data communications I help improve quality of delivered services through secured on-device customer experience. Now in the world of Internet of things and converging media I am finding my calling. No longer as a trailblazer in introducing something new but by innovating on what is already available in front of us.

Being a trailblazer is never easy, in a lot of cases in world of technology the timing might be too early, there are of course early adopters but there are more skeptics. I started and sold/exited my companies, some I keep on growing and investing on specially the ones that directly help people to have better lives. Now I am at a crossroad, do I want to continue being a trailblazer or do I want to innovate? How can I make a better difference in the world, in the life of many? How can I be a better contributor to make this world a better place? How can I be of better service to more people?

Looking at today’s world where communications and information makes the world go round, I am inclined to at this moment to help make this world a better place in my own small way where everyone can communicate and have access to information for free whether they have internet connection or not. Internet.org have taken the the stand for free internet for  everyone, following that why don't we aim for free access to information and  communication? At the end of the day communication is free, nature never intended it to be a money making venture…. So why don't we follow the cues of nature and provide free communication and information to everyone….

Is Open Source the ANSWER?

Having written my thoughts on what the issues are today concerning existing proprietary software and platforms, you might ask what the solutions in solving these issues are. Is open source technology the ANSWER?

NO, open source is not the only answer. Open source as defined by the Open Source Initiative and gives users freedom to do what they want on a piece of code but more importantly collaborate to improve the code so that in return more people are able to use it as a complete software. There of course multiple foundations and communities supporting open source such as the Eclipse Foundation , the Free Software Foundation , the Apache Software Foundation and a lot more. However in some cases these communities does not agree with each other regarding the definition of open source which is evident in the non-compatibility of their OSI approved open source licenses.

To truly address the issues concerning proprietary software, part of the ANSWER lies within the organisation who provides the platform or software. YES, you need open source licensing to deliver total freedom to users and it should also be fully supported with an enterprise level of support and not only form the user community. Just imagine how bad it is for a company acquiring a piece of software for free, implements it in their business and then later can't get support to address any problems or mistakes they might have created.

Furthermore as user requirements evolve, the platform should be very agile to be always in the forefront of technology advancement. In this sense part of the ANSWER is through collaboration between organisations and community contributions to ensure that evolution and revolution are captured and implemented as innovations during the platform's lifecycle.

Making a Difference

We live in a world with more than 6 billion people, each one of us are different from each other but similar in a way that we are but a small dot in a bigger universe. The question is how do we make a difference in the world? Some of us have left their legacy to history, some are more influential than others, a few are on the path of giving something wonderful to mankind.

Let me compare the world to a sandy beach, where people are the sand and stones across the entire beach. Most are small grain similar to each other unnoticed, some are stones which are visible and a few like rocks that are conspicuous. Common people are like the small grain of sand going about their own business almost completely ignored. More famous people are like stones, which leaves their mark in history and are more prominent. The rocks are the prominent ones, well known to many and are influential to society.

The rocks can be seen from afar, followed by many and can change the way the beach looks when they move. To each an every grain of sand, the challenge is how to make a difference on the beach. Although rocks are popular and prominent they are outshined by grains of sands working in coordination with each other to build beautiful structures that are admired by all.

Organisations such as the ones focused on open source software and educational foundations were created to make a dent in history, give sands a facility to outshine the rocks on the beach. This is achieved by pioneering disruptive but supportive concepts and technologies that will forever change the way telecoms business is operated. Furthermore, it gives the opportunity for the common staff to become a part of something beautiful, like a gorgeous sand castle.