Technology for the good of society

I sat with a group of very interesting people at dinner (it's Wed night in NY). Dinner conversation started with us sharing the definition of "innovation" - for the companies that we work for, for us as employees and for us as human beings. And that launched us into a discussion on how technology can be used for the good of society.

A lot has been written about the great technology divide - the technology haves having an upper-hand over technology have-nots. And about technology advancements that encroach into our personal space, putting our privacy at risk.

So the question is, what is the role of technology for the betterment of mankind, for society? Two people at the table jumped up and talked about the project they are currently involved in - the Habitat Jam.

A "jam" is an initiative where anyone can post ideas at a specific website on a specific topic, and these ideas are distilled and some actionable items are derived.

The Habitat Jam is a collection of ideas on sustainable urbanisation, and maintaining the delicate urban/rural balance, owned by the UN-Habitat.

Another example of how technology is helping society is the Genographic Project where the search is on to discover human ancestry and migration, through the study of our DNA. Very interesting project that's been on for a while now.

Check out the links above, peoples.