Speaker, consultant and founder of MediaPlant LLC, Rob Salkowitz was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions about his groundbreaking and thought provoking book Young World Rising: How Youth Technology and Entrepreneurship are Changing the World from the Bottom Up. The author shares the seldom reported story of how young people, in the developing world, are leveraging the power of global networks and information technology to lead a revolution in entrepreneurship that will turn the global economy upside down.
Thanks to Rob Salkowitz for his time and for his interesting and informative responses. They are greatly appreciated.
What was the background to writing this book Young World Rising: How Youth Technology and Entrepreneurship are Changing the World from the Bottom Up?
Rob Salkowitz: I’m a futurist specializing in the impact of the “digital generation” on work and business. After I’d finished my first book, Generation Blend, which focused on the integration of the pre- and post-digital generations in the US workplace, I started looking at this issue in a global perspective. Over half the world’s population is under 30, but most live in developing or emerging economies, where widespread Internet access and mobile devices are just reaching critical mass, so there’s the potential for a huge groundswell of new ideas, new talent and new energy.
I started looking at the kinds of organizations these young people were creating using these new-found tools, and was amazed to see how many commonalities existed in their approach, despite vast differences in their cultural backgrounds.
Are there similarities between the members of the Millennial Generation regardless of whether they live in developed or developing countries?
Rob Salkowitz: Absolutely. While some of the traits we associate with Millennials in the US are unique to the way these kids were socialized in the 80s and 90s, the impact of technology is common across the whole global cohort that has been exposed to it. Access to digital technology and digital culture early in life fundamentally changes the way people look at certain kinds of problems.
If you grow up assuming that most knowledge is easily accessible (and free) on the Internet, that you are able and even expected to interact with content that’s sent to you through various media, that people are constantly available online or via mobile device, that it’s really easy to form groups with people anywhere around common interests, and all the other things that technology allows us to do, then I believe you end up with a very different “default” approach to problem-solving than someone who grew up with linear, hierarchical organizational models and one-way broadcast communications media.
Older people can master and appreciate the possibilities of technology on an intellectual level, but there’s always a process of translation going on – “how does this new technology help me do a process (I think) I already know how to do?” Digital natives understand the tool better than they understand the problem, so their approach is fresh. This has been observed in advanced economies for a while, and it’s equally true in developing countries, where serious problems are really crying out for new thinking and new solutions.
Is there a difference in the way these young people in developed and developing countries use the power of the internet and Web 2.0?
Rob Salkowitz: I think so. In advanced economies, we take bandwidth and computing power for granted, so there’s a tendency for applications to get bigger, richer and more complicated. Fast connections are only starting to become available even for elites in parts of Africa, Latin America and South Asia. Most people have to make do with older equipment, often in cybercafés or public places, slower connections, and mobile devices that have limited data connectivity. In those cases, the emphasis needs to be on interactivity and immediacy, rather than building a lot of richness into the experience with stuff like fancy graphics and video.
Your book focuses on young entrepreneurs. Is there a growth in the number of young entrepreneurs around the world?
Rob Salkowitz: The growth has been incredible because of the convergence of several powerful trends. Many cultures and countries are inherently entrepreneurial based on their history, and the arrival of digital technology has just provided a new, more powerful outlet for that impulse. Countries that had been skeptical of capitalist development strategies have been revising their policies to be more open and business friendly, which reduced a lot of the friction that inhibited business creation.
Private companies and non-government organizations have been spending a lot of resources developing high-tech skills and increasing access to technology, which has improved workforce capacity and made it easier for high-value businesses in the services, IT and knowledge sectors to find qualified workers. Finally, the arrival of the Internet and social networks have reduced some of the barriers to entry for young people starting businesses, making it easier for them to attract the attention of customers and investors.
What do these young entrepreneurs share in common, regardless of their home countries?
Rob Salkowitz: In my research, I identified six traits common to Young World entrepreneurs.
1. They bend social and commercial missions within their organizations
2. They align public, private and NGO resources around common goals
3. They capitalize on the spread of communities and collaboration as a way of scaling up
4. They are well-adapted to low-resource environments
5. They embrace the globalization of the knowledge workforce by thinking and acting global from day one
6. They find market-based solutions for systemic needs
Rob Salkowitz (photo left)
We often hear of a global technology gap between rich and poor nations. Does this gap affect young entrepreneurs, and is it shrinking?
Rob Salkowitz: The global digital divide is still too wide, especially for countries toward the bottom of the development spectrum, but things have improved dramatically for those in the middle. Wireless phone and data service has been a huge boost, because you can reach more people with lower investment, and you can leapfrog past underdeveloped or dilapidated landline infrastructure. As a result, the penetration of cellphone technology even in very poor countries is huge: it’s the fastest-growing market in the world. Last year for the first time, the majority of cellphone subscribers in Africa had data plans, not just voice-only.
So you see huge momentum on mobile application development of all kinds – mobile banking, mobile apps for agriculture and traditional business, e-government, mobile healthcare, etc. This improves the economic growth in those places, making those markets even more viable, which is attracting additional investment in infrastructure, which is improving access. Closing the gap is a big challenge, but the dynamic is definitely moving in the right direction.
How are young entrepreneurs world wide finding the funding for their business ventures?
Rob Salkowitz: Some countries such as India and South Africa are rather far along developing their own venture capital infrastructures and/or taking advantage of the wealth of expatriate communities to reinvest in the home country. International innovation contests such as the TICAmericas, which I discuss in the book, are spotlighting promising ideas and business plans for potential investors, as well as providing modest resources for the winners. The creation of software and online digital content does not require much capital investment at the outset, and global platforms such as Facebook, Microsoft Windows, the Apple App store, etc provide ready-made access to a huge number of customers.
What are some of the products and services that are being offered by young entrepreneurs?
Rob Salkowitz: In my work, I only look at knowledge-economy entrepreneurship – that is, content, software and services delivered digitally – but even within that narrow band, there’s a huge range of innovation and great ideas. Three young college undergraduates in Colombia invented a device to help blind people perceive what’s happening on a computer monitor, and their company, Duto, is now prototyping the device for Latin American classrooms. Ushahidi, an African open-source project, maps incident reports from mobile phones, Internet services and GPS systems to coordinate crisis response. It’s been used in everything from the Haitian earthquake to the Gulf oil spill.
Starsoft, from Mysore, India, makes software to help people in the regional textile-making industry practice their craft at higher levels of productivity to compete in the world market without disrupting their traditional practices. Personera is a South African startup that helps businesses design and print custom calendars based on Facebook information.
What current and future trends do you see that will continue this entrepreneurial revolution among young people?
Rob Salkowitz: Success is the biggest factor. Suhas Gopinath, an Indian IT entrepreneur who started his company at age 14 and is now a member of the World Economic Forum at age 22, wanted to be like Bill Gates. Now tens of thousands of young Indians want to be like Suhas Gopinath. All across the world, in Argentina, the Philippines, Nigeria, India – successful entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial businesses are reinvesting in training and education, promoting entrepreneurship as a means of economic prosperity, social progress and national pride. The more successful role models the system can produce, the more policy-makers will pay attention and the more the public will support entrepreneurship as a good path for young people.
How can people of all ages collaborate with and assist young entrepreneurs whether in their own country or in one half way around the world?
Rob Salkowitz: The Web is full of great resources to support entrepreneurs, share success stories, make connections, and find local groups that are developing entrepreneur skills in the community. There are some great programs for inner-city kids, for example, to teach business skills. They need mentors and role models. There are sites like Kiva, which allow people to make direct micro-loans to entrepreneurs around the world. Successful entrepreneurs can go and speak at community colleges and groups, or have their businesses sponsor mentoring and training programs.
What is next for Rob Salkowitz?
Rob Salkowitz: One of the biggest issues at the intersection of demographics, technology and development is urbanization. Most of the world’s fastest growing cities are in the Young World, and their already-poor infrastructures are groaning under the weight of 10, 15, 20 million people. I’d be very interested to explore the new innovations that entrepreneurs and others are developing to improve the urban experience in the 21st century.
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My book review of Young World Rising: How Youth Technology and Entrepreneurship are Changing the World from the Bottom Up by Rob Salkowitz.
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