While the areas of Literacy and Human Rights have been a primary focus,
Benetech continues to look in other directions for opportunities where
technology can have a significant effect on the improvement of human
life. Ideas come in many flavors. Based on our work in the human rights
community developing software for field activists, we were approached
by major conservation groups. We see an opportunity to not only provide
project-specific tools, but also tools that will lower the barriers
to collaboration across this globally crucial sector. In the disability
and literacy fields, we are building on Bookshare.org and Route 66 to
launch something called the Raising the Floor Initiative.
Following are descriptions of these two developing Benetech initiatives:
- Miradi Conservation Management Software.
A joint venture between the Conservation Measures Partnership
(CMP) and Benetech, the Miradi conservation management software program
is designed to bring quality project management tools to the global
conservation community. Conservation practitioners will be able to
use Miradi to help implement CMP's Open
Standards for the Practice of Conservation (PDF), a series of
best practices for designing, managing, and monitoring conservation
projects — standards that have been field tested in conservation
projects of all types and sizes around the world, ranging from the
management a small county park to managing an entire ocean.
- Raising the Floor. Benetech wants to be a catalyst
for a movement that will ensure that every person with a disability
has access to technology and content that enables full participation
in education, employment and society. Assistive technology is beyond
the financial reach of almost all disabled people around the globe,
even in rich countries like the United States. We want to make it
possible for every person who can get their hands on a cheap cell
phone to get access to the books, information and news they need for
daily living. With this approach, we will see that everyone has access
to the basics. It’s well within the grasp of the technology
community to make this happen.
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