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As per recent conversations on the Talk:Ken Banks page, here's my attempt to provide a clean, appropriately-cited version of my page. This follows a more recent message exchange with User:Z1720 who suggested posting here would make most sense. I'm a real novice at Wikipedia editing so please excuse any issues with how I've compiled this.

Ken Banks (born 1966) is a British social entrepreneur, author, and consultant in areas covering technology and global development. He is best known for developing FrontlineSMS, a mobile messaging platform that enabled people in remote areas of the world where Internet access is scarce to connect with each other for free.

Early life

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Banks was born and grew up in Jersey.in the Channel Islands.[1] He has an older brother and two younger sisters and was raised by his mother, who was an amateur naturalist.[2]

He taught himself computer programming on a Commodore PET at the age of thirteen in a youth club he attended.[2][3] After leaving school in 1985, he worked for Hambros Bank, where he gained experience in commercial computing operating Burroughs B1900 mainframe computers, and as a systems analyst for NatWest Finance, before starting his own computer consultancy.

Banks studied Social Anthropology and Development Studies at the University of Sussex and graduated in 1999.[4]

Career

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In 2001, Banks worked in a primate sanctuary in Nigeria, helping rescue and rehabilitate a range of primate species. In December 2002, he began working on one of the earliest mobiles for development initiatives with Fauna and Flora International, a global conservation organisation based in Cambridge, UK.[5] His work resulted in the launch of the wildlive! mobile portal in December 2003, which provided images, animal sounds, conservation-themed games, and live news to subscribers.[6][7]

In 2003, he established kiwanja.net, an NGO focused on applying mobile technology for social and environmental change in the developing world, especially in Africa.[6] In a special report on the use of mobile phones in development, World Watch Magazine described Banks as "probably the world's leading voice in promoting mobile phones as an appropriate technology".[8]

Use existing photo: Ken Banks carries out a demo of FrontlineSMS (2009)

In 2004, Banks was approached by Kruger National Park (South Africa) officials asking for a solution to update Bushbuckridge community members on changes and developments in the park using their mobile phones.[3][6] After research it turned out that all solutions at the time required Internet access which, back in 2004, was a problem in the area.[6] In early 2005, Banks realised that a simple piece of software could be developed to send and receive multiple text messages (SMS) to and from mobile phones using a laptop with no Internet connection.[2] Banks started to develop FrontlineSMS in summer 2005 and completed it within 5 weeks.[6] The software was officially launched in October 2005.

Just over two years following its launch, FrontlineSMS was used by a Nigerian organisation called Humanitarian Emancipation Lead Project to help Nigerian citizens report on their 2007 national elections.[9] Since then, it has been used in many other countries including India where it was used to help run a rural care network,[3] in Afghanistan to keep humanitarian workers safe from Taliban attacks, and in Cambodia and El Salvador to communicate commodity pricing information.[5][10]

In 2007, Banks’ organisation, kiwanja.net, in collaboration with Stanford University, were awarded a $200,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to further develop FrontlineSMS.[11] His work later received funding from the Hewlett Foundation, Open Society Initiative, Rockefeller Foundation and Omidyar Network.[12]

Use existing photo: Ken Banks presenting his Means of Exchange initiative at PopTech in 2012

In 2009 Banks was made a Laureate of The Tech Awards[13] and in 2010 he was named one of ten National Geographic Explorers.[1][14] He was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2010.[15] and in March 2012, Banks won the Cambridge News Business Excellence Award thanks to a special "Corporate & Social Responsibility" nomination.[16] In 2011 Tides Foundation awarded him the Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest for creating FrontlineSMS[17] and the Curry Stone Foundation awarded him the Curry Stone Design Prize.[18] In 2016, the Association for Computing Machinery presented Banks with the Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions within Computer Science and Informatics.[19] In the same year, Banks became the first Entrepreneur in Residence at CARE International.[20] In 2018 he was appointed a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School.[21]

In 2011, he was invited to join the UK Prime Minister’s delegation to Africa.[22]

In 2012 Banks launched a new startup and his first initiative was a "cash mob" which took place during the London Olympics.[23]

He has written about technology and global development for The Guardian Global Development[24] and for a number of years ran a regular series on technology-for-good on the National Geographic website.[25]

Publications

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Banks' first edited book, The Rise of the Reluctant Innovator, with a forward by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was self-published in late 2013.[26]

His second book, Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation, with a forward by musician Peter Gabriel, was published by Kogan Page and released in March 2016.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mobile technology earns major award for Jerseyman". jerseyeveningpost.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  2. ^ a b c Society, National Geographic (2011-01-21). "Inventor and Social Anthropologist: Ken Banks". National Geographic Society. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  3. ^ a b c "Leapfrogging the Internet". National Geographic. Retrieved 2021-01-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Geography. "Ken Banks, BA in Social Anthropology and International Development (1999) talks about his career : Why International Development at Sussex? : International Development : University of Sussex". www.sussex.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  5. ^ a b "Look Ma, No Internet! Free Software Gives Text-Messaging New Reach". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Solving eco challenges with grassroots messaging – National Geographic Society (blogs)". web.archive.org. 2017-12-03. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  7. ^ "Mobile boost for conservationists". 2003-12-12. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  8. ^ Mulrow, John (2010-05-22). "Think Mobile, Act Local" (PDF). World Watch. Vol. 23. p. 27. Retrieved 2021-01-25
  9. ^ "Texts monitor Nigerian elections". 2007-04-20. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  10. ^ Society, National Geographic (2011-01-21). "Spreading the Message". National Geographic Society. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  11. ^ "Digital Vision Program". web.archive.org. 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  12. ^ Livingston, Steven; Walter-Drop, Gregor (2014). Bits and Atoms: Information and Communication Technology in Areas of Limited Statehood. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-994159-9.
  13. ^ "The Tech Awards 2009 The Katherine M Swanson Equality Award Kiwanja net". AWorkstation.com. 2017-06-24. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  14. ^ Society, National Geographic (2011-01-21). "Inventor and Social Anthropologist: Ken Banks". National Geographic Society. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  15. ^ "Ken Banks | Ashoka | Everyone a Changemaker". archive.is. 2017-12-09. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  16. ^ "A New Era for Banks" (PDF). web.archive.org. 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2021-01-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ "Prize Winners". Tides. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  18. ^ Zeichner, Baruch (2015-11-01). "Curry-Stone Design Prize Winner 2011: FrontlineSMS - Ken Banks". Paradigms Podcast. Retrieved 2021-01-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ "ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award", Wikipedia, 2020-11-23, retrieved 2021-01-25
  20. ^ International, CARE. "Embracing innovation with our new Entrepreneur in Residence". insights.careinternational.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  21. ^ "Identity matters - News & insight". Cambridge Judge Business School. 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  22. ^ "David Cameron heads for South Africa with Bob Diamond and business delegation". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. ^ "Cash Mobs: how the internet can revive local shops". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  24. ^ "Ken Banks | The Guardian". the Guardian. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  25. ^ "Ken Banks". National Geographic Society Newsroom. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  26. ^ "The Rise of the Reluctant Innovator". The London Publishing Partnership. 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  27. ^ Page, Kogan. "Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation". Kogan Page. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
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