Our Responsibility: Making the World Better with Technology and Open Communities

What do you say when people ask, “Why do you do your job?

Is it a mix of I’ve-done-it-for-years, I’m-good-at-it, and it-makes-me-money?

That’s all fine and good, but please take a moment to think about the bigger picture: Our world is heading to a peak population of 9 billion people within our lifetime.  More than two billion people have no access to drinking water.  Over a billion people live in urban slums.

The same skills that you already have — designing and building technology and online communities — could solve problems like these for billions of people.  So as important as your day job may be, think about how to use what you already know to make a bigger difference.  When you are part of something bigger than yourself, you’ll find it giving you a fresh sense of purpose and making you feel more alive as well.

That is what we are going to be doing as well.  Going forward, please go to opentaps.com to follow the development of our business application software.  Meanwhile, here we will be focusing on how technology — specifically open source software — and open communities could help solve some of the world’s bigger challenges, such as energy, water, and housing.