One of the great things about Christmas Break (besides my mom’s cooking and sleeping in) is the ability to catch-up on things I’ve bookmarked, starred or left open in tabs for weeks. Many of these provide for great blog posts.

Andrew McLaughlin is one of those guys who I hope I get to meet at some point because his work seems to align so nicely with my interests. Not only is he in charge of Google’s international public policy work (the topic of a recent paper of mine), he has years of experience with technology, Africa and development.

The latter was the subject of a ten minute talk he gave at BarCamp Africa this past fall. In it, he posits three notes about the role of technology in development. His focus is Africa, but the principles are applicable around the developing world.

His three notes are:

1. Pay attention to the economic ecosystem: OLPC is disrupting domestic business efforts by forcing local entrepreneurs to compete with free. Experience shows that charity isn’t always as sustainable as for-profit markets. A better approach would be to open-source the designs and let manufacturers and distributors compete, bringing profits to the developing world.
2. Ignore statistics: A look at the spending capability of Africans suggests that Safaricom and other carriers in Africa should not be successful. But they are. McLaughlin says ignore the economic indicators and find ways to appeal to African consumers.
3. Realize that some of the most innovative companies are African. McLaughlin points to Nation Media Group, an African media company whose work shows the future of journalism. Stop thinking about Africa as a charity case of disfunction and focus on their capabilites because, as Eric Hersman says, “if it works in Africa, it will work anywhere.“

McLaughlin’s points are salient and smart – I look forward to the rest of the BarCamp Africa vides for more insight.