Youth Economic Opportunities Conference: Janet Longmore (Digital Opportunity Trust) on technology and youth as agents of change

Insights from the 2012 Youth Economic Opportunities Conference

September 11-13, 2012 | Washington, DC

Watch an interview featuring Janet Longmore, President and CEO of Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT), following her participation in the Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference plenary session, "Use of Technology for Linking Youth to Markets: Elixir or Achilles’ Heel?" Digital Opportunity Trust's model is a unique, youth-led model, that taps into the excess capacity and talent of unemployed or underemployed university graduates in the developing world. DOT transforms young people into change agents as they facilitate technology, business, and entrepreneurial learning experiences to peers in their own communities.

In the interview, Longmore discusses the difference between technology adoption and innovation, and stresses that we have to focus on adoption and how we can use technology to improve our development work. Longmore also discusses challenges to youth economic development, and explains that we need to foster more youth as agents of change leading the charge for economic development. In terms of rural development, Longmore highlights the importance of mobile phones and shares an exciting pilot project that uses a blackberry in combination with a projector to bring content, training, and learning to rural areas via mobile networks. Visit dotrust.org and watch to learn more.

Bio: Janet Longmore

Janet Longmore is the founder of Digital Opportunity Trust. A determined leader and inspiring role model, she has dedicated her career to the creation of new approaches and sustainable solutions that have successfully helped people in less fortunate societies improve their lives. She has earned an international reputation as an innovative social entrepreneur. Under her leadership and vision, DOT has risen to the forefront of social enterprise, an international leader and innovator in enabling people to access and apply information and communications technologies to create education, economic and entrepreneurial opportunities. In 2010 Longmore was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Women of Influence by the Women’s Executive Network; the CATA CanWIT Woman in Technology Entrepreneur of the Year for 2011 and a TIAW World of Difference 100 Award winner in 2011.