Television media influences people unlike any other medium before or after it. This influence also implies responsibility, and it is instructive to examine the ethics of media from an earlier era.

When President Roosevelt was running his election campaign, televisions did not exist so most of the news spread via newspapers. What is notable at the time was that until the president actually came to power, the public at large was never actually aware that Roosevelt was handicapped and confined to a wheelchair. The newspapers of the time all collectively chose to not mention that disability to retain his public image. They made the responsible judgement that his capacity to serve as president was not dependent on a physical disability but more dependent on his ability to make tough strategic decisions. This is important, because if they had chosen to, they could have completely obliterated any chance he may have had of becoming president.

This is a great example to learn from when we look at the state of media here today. It’s not just the fact that the public image of candidates today is not protected, but news media in Pakistan often just does too much to create entertainment on behalf of public figures. There is also too much negativity about anything and everything they cover.

Society needs to know that their elected government is working to solve some of the pressing issues at hand - that there is hope. If media will only choose to focus on the negative or depressing news from society, people are likely to get discouraged. Ironically, our media then looks at those discouraged, hopeless people, and highlight them when talking to the government.

Social Responsibility starts from recognizing your ability to influence others - the Jang Group already owns 62% of the mind-share of public attention and perception in Pakistan. This monopoly position gives them unfiltered authority to influence how we think about issues.

E.g. whether or not we worry today about an impending bird-flu epidemic depends entirely on how many times a day we are reminded of the "impending, unconfirmed" crisis.

I just hope they choose to get influenced from honorable examples from the past and take their responsibility ethically.

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Pakistan Foundation for Fighting Blindness (PFFB) and Al-Shifa Trust Eye Low-Vision Center were awarded a project which will help visually impaired people to effectively use IT and Telecom services. Funding for this project is being done by Universal Service Fund (USF), Following is the press release from USF

Islamabad, May 17, 2008: Universal Service Fund has launched a special project for “Enabling Persons with disabilities to use telecom services” which aims to increase accessibility of IT and telecom for people with different disabilities.

This announcement was made by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, at an event organized by Ministry of Information Technology to mark the World Telecommunications Day. The theme for this years world telecom day was “Connecting Persons with Disabilities: ICT Opportunities for all”. In this connection, two programmes were launched under the Special Projects of USF.

Chief Executive Officer of USF, Parvez Iftikhar, shed light on the desired objectives of the said projects. He informed the audience that Board of Directors of USF in its 10^th Meeting approved the projects submitted by Pakistan Foundation for Fighting Blindness (PFFB) and Al-Shifa Trust Eye Low-Vision Center. The main objectives of these projects are to expand and upgrade the Audio World and IT helpline programmes being run by PFFB and up-gradation and establishment of computerized Low Vision Rehabilitation Centres by Al-Shifa Trust. These projects will also create job opportunities for such people by providing them telecom and IT related trainings and create an environment for them to get educated using appropriate technologies. Moreover, this initiative will enhance the social development, through ICTs, for the persons with disabilities and integrate them fully as productive elements in the society. He further said that he hoped this programme will help people with disabilities overcome their disability and assist them to compete on even basis with their non-disabled peers by using Telecom and E-services.

few days back Ministry of Information technology celebrated the ‘World Telecommunication and Information Technology day’ the theme for which was ’Connecting Persons with Disabilities: ICT Opportunities for all’.

This is a very pleasant news, now that the project is awarded what needs to be seen is how these two entities execute it, Alshifa-Trust has a very good reputation of being one of the best centers specially for the visually impaired, I am sure they will be able to utilize this fund to the best extent.

This small contribution from the telecom companies signifies the importance of giving back to the community, the telecom sector has reaped huge benefits from the untapped market in Pakistan and their gesture to help the soceity is a very welcome step.

Netxpress online also has detailed coverage of this here with, here is an exceprt from their story on what the CEO of USF Parvez Iftikhar had to say

Al-Shifa Tust Eye Hospital is one of the organizations, awarded the project. The project was awarded keeping in view the profound services of Al-Shifa Trust and their fight against blindness.” said Chief Executive Officer USF, Parvez Iftikhar.

He said that the project aimed at expanding and upgrading the Low Vision and Rehabilitation center at Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital.

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A couple of months ago I had the misfortune of traveling on Airblue to Karachi, and was surprised to see that their feature entertainment had changed.

When the company started out, they used to have fairly well-chosen entertainment, from "the 4 man show" to other shows that appealed to the thinking individual - such choices helped the brand attract an "alternate" set of travelers, who were bored with the status quo.

I was very surprised to see then, that their new choice for on-flight entertainment was to show mujras!

Those were the worst couple of hours I have spent in an airplane because Airblue planes are the old planes where TV-screens flap in from the roof - so even if I wanted to, I couldn’t avoid the disgusting set of flight content.

It should be obvious that this particular choice of entertainment is nothing but pandering to the lowest common denominator; as such, it creates more revenue, but is incredibly irresponsible in light of the fact that such open flights also serve traveling families, a lot of them with children. 

When did Airblue transition from being a leading family-friendly service to one that caters to the basest desires of the human psyche?

Social Responsibility in Airblue’s case goes beyond charity or donations, but comes down to first taking the responsibility of not contributing to the moral decay of society.

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Al Gore recently made another eye-opening speech at TED2008. The brand new presentation does a followup of the discussions of The Inconvenient Truth to see how people reacted and what the latest scientific data shows.

The results are astonishing - take a look:

One of the key parts of the presentation that really opened my eyes that in The Inconvenient Truth, Gore predicted that the nothern polar ice caps would be completely gone by 2050 and the severe world-changing events that could result from it such as triggering another ice-age in europe. In this presentation, he shows that within just the last year this effect has accelerated so much that we could see a giant pool of water on the north pole in just 5-6 years. One of the key takeaways is the message of taking up our own responsibilities on this matter. As I mentioned yesterday, this issue goes beyond recycling… for a start, corporations can actively seek out and ratify themselves with global sustainability initiatives - we have to enlist in the global army, if you prefer the metaphor, that is going to stand for sustainable operations for the future.

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This is the graph you’ll see if you search CleanTech in Google Trends, which indicates the number of people searching for the term.

The spike seen in the graph is likely to be because of a number of varying reasons, but they coincide pretty well with The Inconvenient Truth (Nov 2006), rising oil prices, and others that werent covered in the mainstream. But the trend is fairly sharp and immediate - its just interesting to see how clean technology has gained so much interest in the minds of people all over the world.

I cant tell from this, though, whether or not a similar interest has brewed in Pakistan.

I’ve spoken to people who argue that "environmental sustainability" is an area of interest of the elitist who wish to try and give back - that the average man is just too preoccupied with basic self-sustainability challenges in food, water and shelter.

But in another way of looking at this - the threat that an unsustainable environment poses is on all three of food, water and shelter. Without a doubt every year is getting warmer than before - every years is a season of new records in heat intensity, storm intensity and otherwise unexpected weather.

We expect Karachi to hit 50 degrees (approx 125F) this year - a new record, but what would that really mean? How do we prepare for crippled productivity, increased cost of healthcare, greater shortage of drinking or productive water (for electricity etc.)

The issue goes beyond recycling and programs to benefit schoolchildren - we may not have 15+ years to create responsible citizens.

In what ways do you think companies can or should get involved in helping to either raise awareness on sustainability issues, or to make a significant contribution to this looming problem?

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Riaz Haq points to an interesting story of a 41-year old British Entrepreneur who is leasing out small portions of 25,000 acres of farm-land to poor farmers in Western Ukraine. They hope to capitalize on the high price of food with a big harvest later in the Fall.

The opportunity for entrepreneurs is to find ways to increase arable land, by finding a way of re-possessing land in former communist countries and boosting production. According to Mr. Haq:

The total combined arable land in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan that fed the former Soviet Union adds up to about 437m acres, almost the same as the total arable land in the United States. Among other nations with large arable acreage, India has 400m acres, China has about 350m acres and Brazil 146m acres. Of these countries, only China and Brazil have increased total arable land by about 10% over the last decade while others have shrunk. Compared to these nation, Pakistan has about 50m acres of arable land. And, given appropriate investments, Pakistan can increase its arable land by 10-20% over the next decade.

The current food crisis presents an opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors to invest in Pakistan’s farm sector and reap big benefits. The new government in Pakistan should seize this opportunity by formulating a new policy of investment in the agriculture sector to bring prosperity to rural areas in Pakistan and help feed the nation and the world.

I wonder what other types of initiatives by enterprising minds can help with the food crisis. More thoughts on it later (I’m still hopping between airports and hotels so need to think about this with a clearer head).

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This is interesting - Dr.Anwar Nasim from COMSTECH has recently introduced a new concept among social vocabulary called Non-Govt Individuals (NGIs). Dr. Anwar recognizes that not all social development is influenced by the government or NGOs alone. In fact there are some very credible set of individual people who deserve to be considered an important part of the social development ecosystem.

They have also created a network of NGIs that would not only create a list of people doing some remarkable social development activity, but also allow anyone to recommend someone else to be recognized as an NGI.

So far they have nominated the following people to start off the network.

• Abdul Sattar Edhi - for creating the Edhi Foundation
• Dr. Abdus Salam - for his work in pioneering work in physics and other sciences, winning the Noble Prize and more.
• Imran Khan - for Shaukat Khanum Hospital
• Ansar Burney - Human Rights activist
• Hakim Muhammad Saeed - Reformer and inventor in the field of medicine
• Dr. Sania Nishtar - Institutionalizing change in the health sector
• Ruth Pfau - Humanitarian  

Is this only meant for people who have built exceptionally large success stories?

Thats the nice thing - even though their initial nominations show some exceptional success stories, COMSTECH wants the NGI network to be open to any and all individuals who are making recognizable social contributions.

They dont have to be related to charitable causes too - anyone who is using their place of influence to create social value can be considered.

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LUMS within the past year installed the JAWS and MAGic software to provide equal opportunity and access to their labs to people with greater physical challenges. The JAWS software has screen-reading capabilities that will speak out via speakers whatever is seen on the screen. It also has fairly extensive support for braille. MAGic provides magnification and contrast management.

Currently, TWO PCs out of each lab are equipped with the system.

I do recognize this as a positive step in creating equal opportunity for everyone, but they cant (and shouldn’t) count this as something that demonstrates a "strong sense of social responsibility".

The truth is, if they did NOT provide these systems, they could easily be sued. Just the same as companies that dont provide wheelchair ramps can be sued, these things are expected to support equality and equal rights statures, and people who dont find these required facilities have the to right to seek damages.

Wheelchair ramps on your office isnt an example of social responsibility or some exemplary act of social awareness. Neither are these.

Still, I’m glad that they’re installed now.

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When I was visiting Quaid-e-Azam university a month ago for a seminar, I stopped in my tracks to notice this very interesting custom-modified motorcycle parked in the garage. The students with me started telling me the story of this gentleman who drives this highly modified vehicle that helps him overcome his physical challenges.

I think this is a highly inspiring example of overcoming any personal challenge with innovation, even if it doesnt relate to physical disability. I also think this vehicles like these can tap into an amazing new niche market.

Atlas Honda - why are you guys missing this opportunity? It just requires one new mechanical harness at the back and you can create these niche bikes and make good money selling them. We wont blame you for earning profits from your product, rather we’ll recognize you for your socially aware product design.

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Whenever I’m talking to or dealing with MNCs, I feel like they live on another planet - they run by rules that are completely different from the basic "universal" set of rules that govern businesses and their relationships with customers.

While everywhere in the world the customer has a place of very high importance to a business’s life, the truth is that the customer really doesnt matter to an MNC.

Maybe its because customers are assumed and taken for granted (like in FMCG firms), or because the day-to-day decisions made by individual in departments in that company dont immediately affect business or customer relationships. The truth is that I’ve seen a number of MNCs willing to make decisions that make customers unhappy to serve "greater" goals - e.g. one of the points of view I hear is "We cant always please customers… look we’re a global company, we have a brand to protect."

Does that sentence make anyone else’s brain twist around itself and feel like exploding?

So when I inquire more about this thinking, there’s some even more brain-squeezing revelations that result.

Read more…

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