Technology

Today we profile the efforts of 23 year old Mehvish Mushtaq, a young Kashmiri entrepreneur who is using the power of technology to bring about a change in Kashmir. In fact, Mehvish is the first Kashmiri woman to develop an android application. Read about how her app "Dial Kashmir" is bringing about this change.

If you have any working knowledge of building software, applications, digital marketing, website development, and other aspects of IT, Code4Cause makes it easy for you to contribute your knowledge and skills to help NGOs build capacity. Read about their simple and effective model, which has enabled them to enrol thousands of volunteers and help scores of NGOs across teh globe in just two years!

Narendra Patil, a third year engineering student from Karnataka and his fellow mates tapped the positive side of technology and their engineering knowledge, to come up with a unique model of an eco-friendly refrigerator. It not only runs without electricity but can also be available to the poor as an inexpensive and necessary utility option. Read about the wonderful innovation here.

>Dimagi, which means 'of the mind', is a team of intellectually committed professionals who envision applying innovative, scalable, open-source technology solutions to improve community health programs around the world. Here we present the Dimagi founders, Jonathan Jackson and Dr Vikram Sheel Kumar, two enthusiastic young men with Harvard and MIT background.

An advertising creative professional, Swasti Ray, went beyond just feeling bad for the disabled, and worked hard to create a product that helps bring colour and art in the lives of the visually impaired. Read about his innovation and what inspired him to think out-of-the-box!

One of the main obstacles in the path of students in India is the absence of reliable sources of illumination. Electricity is non-existent or at best patchy in most parts of rural India, and other sources of light like the humble kerosene lamps pose health hazards, are ineffective, expensive and unreliable. Read how one organization is dispelling the gloom with a viable alternative.

Continuing our series on disability and the strides made in this field, we visit the office of one of India’s leading accessibility technology firms, and meet their visually impaired tester Priti Rohra, who decided to break away from the conventional jobs offered to persons with disability in India and try something new!

As a social enterprise committed to providing some of the poorest households in India with solar power, Mera Gao Power is making great inroads. Starting from Sitapur district in Uttar Pradesh, the venture has reached out to more than 3500 customers in just over a year. In this lovely photo essay, Anna Da Costa shows us some of the impact when people living off the grid are finally included in the growth story and shown the possibilities.

Random Hacks of Kindness provides a platform for geeks from all over the world to come together and utilise their combined technological prowess in creating innovative open source solutions for challenges facing humanity, both locally and globally. In India, techies can join in the hackathons held in Bangalore or Pune.

Professor Vikram Dinubhai Panchal has designed a Do-It-Yourself Light Torch that can be assembled with low-cost and easily available materials. This torch has the potential to be mass-produced for a fraction of the cost of conventional torches currently available, and is easy enough to be created by a lay person.