The RDVP is actively seeking financial support for developing world fellows i.e. outstanding technologists from the developing world who seek to participate in our program. The academic expenses for these fellows are supported by the Reuters Foundation base grant to Stanford. However living, travel and administrative overhead for developing world fellows is required before they can be accepted into our program and receive visas to study. Over the past three years the program has received this support from the Reuters Foundation itself, Microsoft, Google, and Telmex of Mexico. Going forward we would greatly value a relationship with the Bellagio Forum and its members that helped bring outstanding technologists from the developing world to Stanford University.

Fulfillment of BFSD Members’ Project criteria:

• International or scalable on an international level:
The RDVP by definition is an international program, with a designated focus on the developing world. To date fellows have applied from more than 45 nations.

Of equal importance: the very nature of Information Technology solutions is that successful products and services will scale from one region to another. Already, solutions designed in our program have migrated from Brazil to India, from India to Mexico, and from India to Kenya.

Finally, there is growing interest in replicating the RDVP in other regions of the world, specifically, India, Venezuela and Quatar.

• Multi-cultural or adaptable for different cultures:
The founding premise of the RDVP is that Information and Communications Technology have the potential to benefit all of humanity. Much like Algebra – which was invented in the Middle East and has spread to virtually every culture in the world – the destiny of information technology is to become an intrinsic part of every culture.

• Contribution to humanity / natural heritage:

The role of Information and Communications Technology for humanitarian applications is wide and varied. Most prominent are the contributions to education, health care information and human rights. In addition, ICT promises to enable indigenous communities to communicate, sell and deliver their products to a global market. For example a project incubated by one of the Stanford Digital Vision Fellows makes it possible for textile workers in India to sell their products electronically in the United States.

• Sustainable Development aspect:

Sustainable development is at the core of nearly every RDVP fellowship project. Digital Vision Fellows are taught how to devise and create economic sustainability models as an essential component of their time at Stanford. Digital Vision fellows engage with students and faculty at the Stanford Business School. They participate in an annual Social e-Challenge on campus, and have won first place the past two years.

Another critical dimension of sustainable development relates to questions of environmentalism and/or the contribution a project makes to reversing unsustainable trends in the developing world. One such frightening trend is the massive urban sprawl that characterizes the cities of the developing world. Many Digital Vision Fellows’ projects are designed to use technology to help sustain rural lifestyles, so people in the countryside have viable economic alternatives to migrating to urban slums. The program believes that by brining information connectivity to rural populations it may be possible to improve their economic opportunities.

Finally, sustainable development has figured into many Digital Vision Projects focused on agriculture – in semi-arid areas of India, Kenya, and Mali. Several Digital Vision Fellows are focused on price discovery tools for farmers, and for Fair Trade products.

Participation:

• What type of collaborative effort might be possible?
With the sponsorship of a Bellagio Forum member(s) we believe that outstanding technologists from the developing world, or technologists who work for NGOs that address the critical needs of the developing world can spend a sabbatical year at Stanford University, working on ICT-based projects that will have a positive impact in many humanitarian fields.

 • What elements might additional partners bring?

The RDVP program is an incubator for new ideas and prototypes, which is a proper role for University-based efforts. To deploy a useful product and/or service, however, requires the support and commitment of larger organizations, particularly the members of the Bellagio Forum, who are inclined to support innovative humanitarian projects.

Additional Information:

• Web-link: http://rdvp.org 
                    http://reuters.stanford.edu

• Contact Information: Stuart Gannes,
                               Director Reuters Digital Vision Fellowship Program
                               Cordura Hall 220 Panama St. Stanford, CA 94305
                               Tel: 650-725-2105
                               sgannes@stanford.edu