Signals & Solutions

Applying human power to rotary motion goes back as far as the 10th Century in China and in Europe. Treadles were used to pump water, power machinery for producing textiles and working with wood. Pedal-powered machines boomed in the late 1800s, according to Low-Tech Magazine, and the rise of cheap electricity put an end to the continued development of human-powered machines. It was not until the oil crisis of the 1970s that pedal-powered machines witnessed a resurgence. Read more.

Last July, I reported on Mozilla's roll out of its Firefox HTML-based operating system for smartphones. Mozilla's innovative approach has enabled the first mobile device to be run completely on web technologies. This low-cost smartphone promises to expand global access to smart devices, make a huge contribution to the open-source movement, and create new entrepreneurial opportunities for developers around the world to meet local needs. Read more.

The internet has quickened the pace of globalization by speeding the flow of information, creating access to new markets and enabling cross-border collaboration. The African continent is witnessing this as fast-growth economies emerge. The McKinsey Global Institute, the think tank of the global business consultancy, has released a series of insightful analyses on Africa's growing economies and the role of technology. Read more.

Silicon Valley and the wider San Francisco Bay Area is a global innovation hub. The success of the region's highly adaptive innovation system can be attributed to multiple factors, and one of which is its strong ties with other places in the world. The Bay Area's global linkages are growing, they drive innovation, and they generate new value in and outside the region. Read more.

Jamaican youth are finding entrepreneurial opportunities in the $4 billion global ornamental fish market. The amenable local climate, visionary leaders, neighborhood collaboration, and raw personal initiative combine to pull young urbanites out of poverty. Read more.

Throughout the developing world, urban farming is taking root in a variety of forms and yielding not only food but also livelihoods and community. Above-ground planting beds, kitchen gardens, and rooftop greenhouses are cropping up in urban centers. Farming is transforming tall buildings, empty lots and abandoned warehouses. In many cases, people are using the most basic tools or extremely innovative new combinations of existing tools. Some examples are leveraging newer production methods and tools. Read more.

Some of the fastest-growing cities in the world are in Africa. According to the United Nations, there will be over a billion people living in slums in Africa by 2050. This concentration of humanity with little clean water and no sanitation yet with a surplus of refuse presents growing public health hazards. What signals are there of new solutions to meeting these urgent issues? Read more.

With the roll out of its Firefox OS phone on July 2, 2013, the Mozilla Foundation, nonprofit provider of Firefox browser, has made a huge contribution to the open-source movement and expanding global to smart devices. The Firefox OS phone is the first mobile device to be run completely on web technologies. Launched initially in Spain, Telefónica will sell the ZTE Open powered by Firefox OS for 69 Euros (about $90), and will include 30 Euros worth of credits for pre-paid customers. Read more.

The fastest growing urban centers are also home to the world’s worst commuter experiences. Eight of the top ten painful metro areas reported in IBM’s most recent Commuter Pain Index are in fast-growth economies. Development of public transit systems is moving at a rapid pace in many areas, and some places may be investing in more than they actually need or can afford. Read more.

In the area of health, mobile devices are enabling developing countries to not only leap-frog the wired world but also rise above persistent social, political, economic barriers. Examples from emerging economies around world illustrate a variety of innovations that hold promise and demonstrate success for improved health in urban centers with the greatest need. Read more.