I’ve now spent seven months working in the Asia Pacific region in my new role of Regional Technology Officer. It has been an interesting few months, I have learned a great deal, I have met a lot of great new people and I’m starting to see some ways that technology can have a really clear and beneficial impact on the region as a whole. Everywhere I go somebody is doing something very innovative with existing software and hardware technologies, or has a brilliant idea around how technology can be used in new and interesting ways.
I figured it was time to start blogging on some of the topics and thoughts that end up being discussed on my travels.
In the long term I expect I will look at issues such as new and innovative technologies that are relevant to this region, some of the creative eGovernment projects that exist in the countries that I visit, rural computing and some of the great strides that have been made in formulating neutral and inclusive technology policies. In the near term I expect there are still conversations to be had about the process of standardization of Open XML with the International Standards Organization. I have been directly involved in a lot of these conversations across the region and it is an area where I would continue to welcome the diverse and constructive viewpoints that have been put to me on this topic.
So, the blog starts now, I can’t promise to post daily or even weekly but I will share ideas as they come up and I’d welcome any conversation that follows.