If you're in the web dev business, start planning your trip to Stockholm. This year, the Internet is up for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Vinton Cerf, who’s often called the “father of the Internet”, recently seconded the nomination in an article in Memeburn. Cerf wrote, “I have no doubt that [the Internet's] social repercussions will take decades to be fully understood, but it has already produced much benefit to the world.”
Yet the Net’s biggest potential for positive change is probably still to come. In developing countries, Internet penetration is only 18 per cent – and just 14 per cent if China is excluded (according to U.N. stats).
This could change fast. There are about 4.6 billion mobile phone subscribers globally compared with 1.7 billion Internet users. In the next few years, a lot of those 2.9 billion talkers and texters are likely to get web-enabled phones. And initiatives like Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child will bring an increasing number of durable, low-cost computers to homes and classrooms in the developing world.
The benefits are clear: U.N. research shows that educational performance and female labour force participation (and the potential for improved gender equality) have a positive statistical association with greater Internet access.
This got me thinking: how can we practice web development philanthropy? How can web developers in places like Australia help make a difference in the developing world?
Here are good starting points: the Worldwide Web Foundation, the W3C Mobile Web for Social Development and its Wiki. You can learn about dozens of projects designed to reduce the digital divide and have a real impact on improving people's lives.
These sites are inspirational in the best way – reading about what others are doing, you're likely to come up with ideas of your own. And if you've got a good idea, funding is available from a range of sources. You can try Australian NGOs – the Australian Council for International Development will point you to dozens of potential partners. The Digital Media and Learning Competition is another good source. This annual competition awards more than $2 million annually to projects like Mobile and Immersive Learning for Literacy in Emerging Economies. Award-winning work really can change the world.