By 2030, every rural town in Africa could be equipped with an undulating red brick droneport, designed by starchitect Norman Foster, to serve as a hub for deliveries of crucial medical supplies. Dubbed the “world’s smallest airport,” a full-scale prototype of the first droneport has been unveiled at the 15th International Architecture Biennale in Venice.
American Media Institute staffs up
After more than two decades at The New York Times, editor Tom Kuntz left the paper of record earlier this year to head up American Media Institute (AMI), a donor-supported nonprofit news organization dedicated to “in-depth investigations, city news and regional spot stories.”
At a time when the information world becomes increasingly shallow, journalists ought to join forces with experts. The alliance would bring deeper knowledge to journos and sharper story-telling to eggheads.
Michael E. Porter has announced the launch of the Social Progress Imperative, a new rigorous index rating the social performance of more than 50 countries. Developed with the AVINA, Rockefeller, and Skoll foundations, this is the first index to fully separate social indicators from economic ones. In examining data on basic needs, well-being, and opportunity it creates a global agenda for country level policy.
The continent skipped land lines for mobile phones. Now a new generation of start-ups is trying to bring sun power to rural Africa – and leapfrog the fossil fuel era.
The chairman of Volans John Elkington and the B Team’s Jochen Zeitz say leaders need to do more than talk; they need to take action – fast. The B Team announces its Plan B for Business to help steer the global economy on a more sustainable course this week in Davos, Switzerland
Today, an increasing number of academic scientists are paying attention to how their hair looks in photos, considering whether they should blog, and figuring out how to translate their life’s work into a brief and attention-grabbing YouTube clip for strangers.
Global efforts have halved the number of people dying from malaria - a tremendous achievement, the World Health Organization says.
It says between 2001 and 2013, 4.3 million deaths were averted, 3.9 million of which were children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa.
Each year, more people are being reached with life-saving malaria interventions, the WHO says.
In 2004, 3% of those at risk had access to mosquito nets, but now 50% do.
Winning the fight
The Sunlight Foundation is releasing “Fixed Fortunes,” a groundbreaking analysis and dataset of the money the biggest corporate political donors put into campaigns and lobbying and what they get in return.
Value is the only commonality in an increasingly complex, challenging and interdependent world.
Laurance Allen: Editor + Publisher