Idea generation #51: How to do good with 2.0

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Tim O’Reilly / Flickr

via CrunchBaseTim O'Reilly had a great post on what has been posted here quite frequently: using 2.0 in to organise information to solve real problems.

Instedd's approach to early detection of infectious diseases, Ushahidi's approach to crowdsourcing crisis information, Witness's harnessing of consumer video to report on human rights abuses, and AMEE's APIs for exchanging carbon data between applications

All the above are first steps in collecting and organising information for real problems. What is important is to recognise is that we need markets, networks and communities to derive and unlock the value in these information. In order words, we need to use these information to hack real world processes to solve real world issues.

We need to hack infectious diseases. We need the information to build a network of medical suppliers, transportation, temporary hospitals to provide nimble responses to disease outbreaks.

We need to hack carbon emissions. We can channel the information into the creation of a vibrant market for carbon reduction enterprises in developing countries. A microfinance market that funds innovative enterprises that reduce carbon and uses the resulting carbon credits to repay the loan. Microenergy is one great example. More can be done.

We need to hack the weather insurance market. We need to have a open initiative where creative and cheap insurance products can be created, shared and built upon to provide better coverage for those in developing countries.

We need to do a lot of things. Let's get cracking.

Posted in: idea generation,marketplace,network