The X PRIZE for Healthcare

Turns out that even insurance companies are frustrated with the healthcare system in the US. Wellpoint, one of the largest insurance companies in the US, has sponsored an X PRIZE to improve the current healthcare.

The Healthcare X PRIZE, as it is called, has just opened up calls for review of its initial prize design. If you are interested or vested in the American healthcare system, definitely check it out here. Also, I've had a look at their blog a bit, which I would highly recommend.

Surprisingly, inspite of the multitude of text, the concept is relatively easy to follow. Personally, I don't know that much about the healthcare system, but I do know that it is flawed. Yet, looking at the way the prize is designed, its HARD for me to give any sort of input. I once got into a discussion with Dr Vijay Goel, who is the spearheading the Healthcare X PRIZE, and came out feeling even stupider and more ignorant. I feel like I know even less about the flaws of the healthcare system. So I don't know how much I can contribute to this discussion.

Essentially, if I can direct any educated people towards this cause, I'll be better off in the long run. I, like many Americans, need better healthcare...so get on it folks!!

Friendship, healthcare, and a gym

Find a friend, says the NY Times, and your wellness factor increases!

The American healthcare system sucks. Not because the doctors or quality of healthcare sucks; but because of insurance issues. You can't get decent care in this country without buying into the insurance system. Ironically, frustration, rather than being about the medical system, is about measly insurance companies who couldn't cure a patient even if their life depended on it.

Because I'm an independent consultant, I'm responsible for my own health insurance (most Americans get their insurance through their employers). And because its so expensive and so hard to decide what type of health insurance to get, I've been living without health insurance for several years now. But the tables are turning (as they always do).

I'm getting out-of-shape, and everyone is scaring me about terrible calamities to come. So I went to several gyms yesterday and found out that insured people have lower monthly fees, which really pushed me to start hunting for an insurance policy. I am having SO much difficulty picking something. Every one of my friends then gives me an opinion about which one to pick and they are all different, further confusing me.

In the midst of this, I read three different articles in the same issue of the NY Times, all relating to healthcare: this one about a family struggling to keep their son free of cancer, and this one about friendship being good insurance.

I'm lost and frustrated, have high gym rates, run the risk of taking my wonderful family into financial bankruptcy; but I have friends and hopefully that will keep me alive and well. Maybe I should take my friends to the gym, and we really will be alive and well to an exponential degree! :-)

TED starts its search for TEDIndia Fellows

TED is searching for 100 innovative world-changing world citizens to be a part of its TEDIndia Conference. Read more about the Fellows program here.

You all know that I was a TED2009 Fellow in Long Beach and how wonderful the experience was. So I encourage everyone to apply. If you'd rather nominate someone, please email their name and email address to fellows AT ted DOT com.

The TEDIndia Fellows program is a part of the larger TED Fellows Program, a new international fellowship program designed to nurture great ideas and help them spread around the world. This year, organizers will select 100 promising individuals from around the world to attend the very first TEDIndia Conference. At the end of the year, organizers will select 20 individuals from a pool of the TED, TEDGlobal, and TEDIndia Fellows to participate in an extended three-year Senior Fellowship, bringing them to six consecutive conferences. The principal goal of the program is to empower the Fellows to effectively communicate their work to the world.

Benefits of the Fellowship include conference admission, round-trip transportation, housing and all meals. Fellows will also participate in a two-day pre-conference with the opportunity to present a short talk for consideration for TED.com, elite skills-building courses taught by world experts, social opportunities and surprise extras.

The TEDIndia Fellows program will have international representation with a distinctly South Asian majority, with approximately 75% of the Fellows representing the South Asian region, and 25% representing other regions of the world. South Asia is defined as including the countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, Myanmar, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. For the global pool, applications will also be sought from the other five target regions: Africa, Asia/Pacific, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Middle East, with consideration to the applicants from other countries.

The program seeks remarkable thinkers and doers who have shown unusual accomplishment, exceptional courage, moral imagination and the potential to increase positive change in their respective fields. The program focuses on innovators in technology, entertainment, design, science, film, art, music, entrepreneurship and the NGO community, among other pursuits. Applicants are generally between 21-40 years of age, though anyone over 18 and over 40 may apply. They must also be fluent in English; though moderate fluency will be accepted on a case-by-case basis.

Cool job studying water footprints

I don't usually post jobs here, but I thought this one was super cool. If I didn't have a contract already, I probably would have jumped on this. The idea of a "water footprint" is fascinating to me. Its essentially studying the overall water consumption of a process from cradle to cradle (or to grave, depending on your system of thinking); and then figuring out how and where you can cut down on water consumption.

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The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is seeking a senior water specialist/hydrologist to support IFC in the design and supervision of water footprinting pilots. The IFC (www.ifc.org) is the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group. In 2008, IFC became a founding partner of the Water Footprint Network
( www.waterfootprint.org).

IFC now wishes to undertake Water Footprint pilots with selected IFC corporate agribusiness and mining clients in developing countries, initially focusing on India and Africa. The expert would be offered a part-time consultancy assignment with IFC, initially for up to 50 days, spread over 12 months. There is a strong likelihood of additional consulting work becoming available through the Water Footprint Network.

The announcement is posted at
http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/vacancies/Expert-for-IFC-water-footprinting.pdf

Deadline for applications: April 27.

Rafe Esquith: Teaching hero

Someone I met recently told me about Rafe Esquith, teacher extraordinaire, who has been teaching 5th graders in the Los Angeles inner city schools for almost 25 years. A little research showed me what an extraordinary teacher he is. See this video (also embedded below)



Look at a write-up on Rafe here and his young crew of the Hobart Shakespeareans here.

Links I liked

1. What's really good and green in food... a GREAT guide that I've started using for food.

2. A refreshing look at the new MBAs, who actually have a conscience and believe in changing the world in the right way.

3. Is venture funding really the best way to get funding for your startup?? Maybe there's a better system.

4. Recycling bins from around the world.

5. How two friends built a $100M company for household cleaning products.

Preston Merchant's look at the Indian Diaspora

Thanks to a friend (aka Chickpea), I was turned onto Preston Merchant's brilliant coverage of the South Asian diaspora through a photography lens. You can view some samples of his work on his website. Unfortunately, they are very well protected, so I can't link to a lot of them...





Also read his amazing blog, that chronicles his travels while putting his book together.