I am sitting in my hotel room looking straight at Times Square, New York City, listening to Steve Ballmer on CNN. Tomorrow about 424 competitors within 124 teams and representing 73 countries will showcase their solutions to solve some of the world’s toughest problems. These students made it to New York after many months of work and were selected among their peers. They represent best of the best. If they do not find the way to solve these problems, who else will?
For the third year I am proud to be part of the Microsoft’s Imagine Cup 2011 judge team. This time I arrived three days prior the event to have a chance to walk by in NYC. I met some fellow RDs here and had time to get known with USA history and culture. Seeing this amazing and very vivid city is truly amazing experience. It also led to think about some facts that our American friends do not pay attention too much at.
People in USA, and corporations here at large, must do better job preserving our planet. In NYC it is very important that stores and public places are very well air conditioned. NYC weather is extremely hot and humid in summer. However it is a common thing to see such stores keeping doors wide open and basically wasting energy and our planet’s vital resources. Should Imagine Cup finalist come up with a solution for that – I would surely like so. May be tomorrow we can even see some smart homes based on Kinect – I hope so.
Another fact – did you know that 1 of every 6th American is suffering from hunger by some extent? Washington Post says:
According to a new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 17.4 million American families – almost 15 percent of U.S. households – are now “food insecure,” an almost 30 percent increase since 2006. This means that, during any given month, they will be out of money, out of food, and forced to miss meals or seek assistance to feed themselves.
Just think about for a second how huge is hunger problem worldwide, even when one of the best economies is having a struggle. Will there be an Imagine Cup finalist to solve that problem – I bet you. As I walked over the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn bridge the other day, I was thinking how good is walking compared to driving in terms of saved CO2. Our Imagine Cup finalist team from Bulgaria – Walk2Help is offering solution to help preventing hunger while saving CO2.
I am eagerly looking forward for Imagine Cup 2011 Awards. As the final launch of the NASA’s Atlantis was successful today we are looking forward to see what tomorrow will bring us. Tomorrow, technology will enable us to solve some of the toughest problems on the earth today.