But Internet access isn’t important just because it supports the exercise of other human rights—framing Web access that way undervalues the power of being connected.
The Internet, built on top of the brick-and-mortar society we call civilization, is its own unique society. It grants a global perspective to our lives. Internet access, in fact, makes people a part of a global citizenship—it gives them the ability to collaborate, learn, interact, and empathize with the rest of humanity.
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Kosta has researched at and consulted for the MIT Media Labs and has worked on projects ranging from bionic eyes, satellites, spacecraft, and vision testing systems for developing countries. Projects he has worked on have been awarded TIME’s best invention of 2009, Vodaphone’s Wireless Innovation Award, and won the MIT Global Challenge and a Google Innovation Grant. He has spoken at TEDx, the United Nations, and numerous space and communications conferences. He started A Human Right because he believes the Internet is a tool that helps people to help themselves.
He is founder and chief optimist of.. [http://ahumanright.org/team.php]
time shares on Kosta and ahumanright… and…. oluvus:
all of us…
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Even if Oluvus does land paying customers, the most likely scenario is not that it will become the next big telecom juggernaut, but that it will become an example for other players, like Facebook and Google, who have the financial and technological brawn to scale these projects. “If he is able to demonstrate a successful working model, Facebook may say: ‘Instead of us doing all this research, let’s have Kosta help us,’” says Amir Dossal, an Oluvus advisor who spent 25 years at the United Nations before launching the Global Partnerships Forum.
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We realized how people around the world, and I’m talking about in America too, benefit from knowledge and are empowered by information, so they can start to solve those problems, themselves,”
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He says doesn’t care who ultimately gets credit for bringing the world online. What’s important is that it gets done. “You can give a man a fish, and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and feed him for a lifetime,” Grammatis says. “But give the man the internet, and he can teach himself to fish and anything else he wants to do.”
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kosta’s site:
eyeborg site:
the eyeborg project – where Kosta helped create a battery-powered, wireless video camera, eye, for Rob Spence…
Grammatis spoke passionately about the power of the knowledge that the internet contains and how easy access to it could help to improve the human condition worldwide.
Two teams I was part of made it to the final round of the XPrize pitching session for new prizes! My team won first place at the XPrize visioneering conference, and we tracked down $15 million in commitments for new prizes.
I think its safe to say that I finally found the family I’ve always been looking for, they were hiding at XPrize. Such a blast!!
Survival Research Laboratories was conceived of and founded by Mark Pauline in November 1978.
41 min – did talk at un – ended with a standing ovation.. he talked about his adhd..
my college ed was less about going to school… more a fu to society and the way school works.. so many kids.. end up getting put on meds as opposed to be given challenging work they’re going to enjoy..
i had some champions in college that allowed me to do my own thing.. so i didn’t have to be on meds anymore..
46 min – one thing i did leverage.. was the internet.. the internet taught me everything i know.. so to me.. internet access absolutely enables people to teach themself what they want to know… as it did for me..
june 30 2014 – 7.18 billion, internet users 3.05, so more than half no access
Cara saying – how people have to wait while they look things up.. to be more accurate.. Kosta saying – that’s exactly my point..
50 min – not been possible before.. real time global conversations.. people who are disconnected are left of those convos.. if we want to succeed and solve global problems we’re facing today.. connectivity is the way we all get on the same page.. in real time.
started 6 yrs ago – to connect as many people as possible.. so when i started – there were about 5 billion w/0… – ahumanright
54 min – command a rocket to do things from space..
58 min – (the un would own it and would not be centrally controlled – peace keeping mission) if we can have gps to cover the world and have a way that people won’t be lost.. why can’t we have an internet system where everyone is connected
1:00 – (one of the things i love most about Kosta) – Elon doing the satellite thing.. and i’m not jealous.. i’m just – do it do it do it..
1:03 – politics and money in the way of satellite idea.. so kickstarter – made enough noise – Kosta got invited to wef
1:05 – fiber optic cables connect each continent.. bandwidth – is the overall capability of that data to flow.. there’s a lot of unused bandwidth.. – bandwidth bank – use it while not being used.. like restaurants.. giving out unused food..
1:06 – enforcing monopolies.. the spectrum.. the little airways that people use for cellphones.. the requirement used to be – given to people who have best public interest in mind.. today – it’s to the highest bidder.. spectrum warehousing.. where companies can hold spectrum an never use it..
1:10 – many of the problems with access is political.. i’d say 99%
1:11 – but.. change is happening..
1:14 – got invited to speak at satellite conference – and i was the youngest there by like 20 yrs
1:15 – questions to Kosta –
future concerns – i’m actually not concerned about anything.
future visions – life today is the best it’s ever been. … we just keep getting better and better… the news would have you believing the world is ending.. but we’re working on them. talking about them. as a humanity we have never been closer and tighter knit than before.. ie: internet… compassion – we care about each other, walk in each other’s shoes..
we have a lot of work to do for sure.. and i’m excited to be a part of the generation that’s going to do that..
if one were to prototype a means for 7bn people to leap to a nother way to live..via a mech to facilitate their daily whimsy/curiosity.. thru some common connectivity/wifi..
what might you recommend for that connectivity..?
my current wondering/thinking.. of where to tap/hack:
1/ something like comcast/xfinity.. because many in potential space (115 units) already using it.. but too expensive.. but if could get xfinity to treat entire complex as one unit. reducing each of 115 units pay for just wifi to $10/mo
2/ potential unit already wired for nextlight ness.. but process stopped there http://www.longmontcolorado.gov/departments/departments-e-m/longmont-power-communications/broadband-service
3/ some other type of hack in your brilliant mind
it’s got to be cheap/smart enough infrastructure..and/or via co w means/money and willingness to hack prototype.. so that potential is there to leap anywhere.. today.. ie: detroit, kampala, syria,…any/all refugee camps.. et al
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I’m THRILLED to announce my new role as ‘Chief of New Space’ for the space laser telecommunication company http://ViaLight.de
As you know, my love for telecommunications and space runs deep ViaLight is a startup that has perfected the art of using lasers to build fiber optic cables, without the cable, in the sky. Literally connecting anything that can fly to the internet – from airplanes to spacecraft.
Needless to say, I’m pumped. SPACE LASERS!!!
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not kosta.. just didn’t know where else to put it just now – also added here: oluvus:
“Science and the people who do it are enabled by a society that believes science is useful and worthwhile. When JFK said we’re going to the moon, we put a bunch of money into science and billions of dollars in blank checks later, we got to the moon. There are always going to be people who rise to the occasion to solve a problem because that’s exciting and fun. But that doesn’t mean that the public wants to support science. We all reap the benefits of technology every day, but there seems to be a lack of understanding that science brought us to where we are as a society, and that is a huge problem. If we don’t believe in the scientific process and the people who are doing it, that’s when society starts to go backwards. Science is always working to solve problems, but without the support of the public understanding of the importance of scientists, you run into scientists being politicized and discredited because science becomes a belief system. Science is not a belief system, it’s a process that got us to where we are today, and it’s being taken for granted. That scares me a lot and I don’t have a solution, so I’m curious to see what scientists do.”
Kosta Grammatis is an engineer and science communicator who takes on a wide variety of invention and technology projects. He was an engineer for SpaceXSpaceX where he led the design of a satellite now in orbit, a visiting scientist at the MIT Media Lab where he worked on vision systems for the developing world, and co-founder of the bionic eye ‘Eyeborg Project‘ which was named one of TIMEMagazine’s best Inventions. He also created a non-profit ‘A Human Right‘ which has informed and engaged millions on the pressing issue of the digital divide. Kosta is motivated by serving the greater good and has won numerous awards for his innovative work. In his free time he enjoys flying his kite and renovating his home.
from another post 3/3
“Every single success of mine was built on a bedrock of failure. I built a satellite that got put into space, I built a bionic eye that won time magazine’s best invention of 2009, and I built a non-profit that got a lot of people excited about why internet matters in developing countries. But my biggest successes are the little things. I bought a house and I live in it. My parents love me, I’m a good son, and I have a dog. Success is such a moving target for me. Some days it’s like ‘Oh I got out of bed today and I don’t feel that great, success!’ Or sometimes it’s something really big.”
Kosta Grammatis is an engineer and science communicator who takes on a wide variety of invention and technology projects. He was an engineer for SpaceX where he led the design of a satellite now in orbit, a visiting scientist at the MIT Media Labwhere he worked on vision systems for the developing world, and co-founder of the bionic eye ‘Eyeborg Project‘ which was named one of TIME Magazine’s best Inventions. He also created a non-profit ‘A Human Right‘ which has informed and engaged millions on the pressing issue of the digital divide. He is currently building an *ultra-smart home on wheels for the artificial intelligence company Snips. Kosta is motivated by serving the greater good and has won numerous awards for his innovative work. In his free time he enjoys flying his kite and renovating his home.
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…clients cancelling up a storm – with no payment. Le sigh, the recession is here (for me at least).
PSA: I have several 3D printers and access to more. If you hear of ANY hospital or medical facility who runs out of a part or component that can be 3D printed (say a nasal Canula) I am more than happy to get it made for you and (try my best) to mass produce it.
be you. 