Question Box Featured in New York Times!

Monday, September 28th, 2009

Dialing for Answers Where Web Can’t Reach

By RON NIXON

Published: September 27, 2009

KAMPALA, Uganda — The caller was frustrated. A new pest was eating away at his just-planted coffee crop, and he wanted to know what to do. Tyssa Muhima jotted down notes as the caller spoke, and promised to call back in 10 minutes with an answer.

Each day, Ms. Muhima and two other young women at this small call center on the outskirts of Uganda’s capital city answer about 40 such calls. They are operators for Question Box, a free, nonprofit telephone hot line that is meant to get information to people in remote areas who lack access to computers.

The premise behind Question Box is that many barriers keep most of the developing world from taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge available through Web search engines, said Rose Shuman, the service’s creator. That could be a drag on economic development.

“So I was thinking, why not bring the information to them in a way that’s most convenient and useful to them?” said Ms. Shuman, who is based in Santa Monica, Calif.

(more…)

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CEO Rose Shuman Made TEDIndia Fellow!

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Rose Shuman has just been named a TED Fellow. Joining the ranks of a hundred distinguished innovators, Rose will be attending TEDIndia in November. Jon Gosier, Open Mind – Question Box CTO, is also a TED Fellow.

Rose will make an announcement about an exciting new Question Box development at TEDIndia. Watch this space!

TED CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES 103 FELLOWS FOR TEDIndia 2009

NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2009 — Organizers of the TED Conference will bring 103 TEDIndia Fellows to Mysore, India, to participate in TEDIndia, the first-ever TED in Asia. TEDIndia, “The Future Beckons,” will take place Nov. 4-7, 2009, on the high-tech campus of Infosys Technologies Ltd.

The TEDIndia Fellows are a diverse group of men and women, representing not only India, Pakistan and Bangladesh but also Indonesia, Canada, Tajikistan, the United States, China, Nigeria and Oman. TEDIndia Fellows include engineers, environmental scientists and pollution experts, human-rights activists, musicians, athletes and filmmakers. One is a female Olympic-class sailor. One runs an innovative rickshaw business. One is a robotics developer. All are committed to the spread of great ideas.

“As the world’s influence moves to the East, the TEDIndia Fellows program is proud to showcase the work of 103 visionaries born or working in South Asia, especially in India, but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and the rest of the world,” says Tom Rielly, TED Fellows Director and TED Community Director.

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Interview with Grameen and Question Box

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Barbara Gruber interviews some of the Question Box operators in Uganda along with Jon Gosier (CEO Appfrica), Eric Cantor (Applab Grameen).

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Mumbai Lions Club Gives Warm Reception

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Open Mind – Question Box Founder and CEO Rose Shuman visited the Mumbai offices of Lion Ashok Mehta, Past President of Lions Clubs International.

In attendance were current and former Mumbai Lions Clubs Governors Jaysinh Babla, Shirish Jhaveri, Anil Goradia, Shirish Chiniwala, and Sudarshan Nair. They presented a very nice commemorative Lions Club clock to Rose.

The group had warm discussions about Lions Clubs and Open Mind – Question Box collaboration. We look forward to moving forward together to bring live information to the underserved.

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Freakonomics Profiles Question Box

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

via freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

At the front of the room, two phone operators busily answered ringing phones for QuestionBox, a pilot project with The Grameen Foundation. The service acts as a Google for rural Africans, providing information to those without Internet access. People can call in with questions or relay them to the staffers QuestionBox dispatches to rural villages.

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