Successful people solve problems.  Look at any great fortune, whether it be Carnegie, Ford or Gates and you find that the source of their vast accomplishment was a problem solved.  Even more prosaic executives spend most of their time solving one problem or another, with greater or lesser skill.

The contrast in outcomes can be attributed to the scale and difficulty of the problems they tackled.  All too often, we get so mired down in day-to-day challenges that the bigger issues fall by the wayside, being left for another day which never seems to come.  That, in the final analysis, is the difference between the mundane and the sublime.

So we should pay special attention to those whose ideas had impact far beyond their own lifespan.  It is they who were able to see not only the problems of their day but ones that, although they seemed minor or trivial at the time, would become consequential—even determinant—in years to come.  Here are four such men and what we can learn from them.

Vannevar Bush and the Emerging Frontier of Science

By any measure, Vannevar Bush was a man of immense accomplishment.  A professor at MIT who invented one of the first working computers, he also co-founded Raytheon, a $30 billion dollar company that prospers to this day.

Yet even these outsized achievements pale in comparison to how Bush fundamentally changed the relationship of science to greater society.  In the late 1930’s, as the winds of war began to stir in Europe, Bush saw that the coming conflict would not be won by bullets and bombs alone.  Science, he saw, would likely tip the balance between victory and defeat.

It was that insight which led to the establishment of Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD).  With Bush at its helm, the agency led the development of the proximity fuze, guided missiles, radar, more advanced battlefield medicine and, not least of all, the Manhattan Project which led to the atomic bomb.

As the war came to a close, President Roosevelt asked Bush to write a report on how the success of the OSRD could be replicated in peacetime.  That report, Science: The Endless Frontier, outlined a new vision of the relationship between public and private investment, with government expanding scientific horizons and industry developing new applications.

He wrote:

Basic research leads to new knowledge. It provides scientific capital. It creates the fund from which the practical applications of knowledge must be drawn. New products and new processes do not appear full-grown. They are founded on new principles and new conceptions, which in turn are painstakingly developed by research in the purest realms of science

Bush’s report led to the foundation of the NSF, NIH, DARPA and other agencies, which have funded early research in everything from the Internet and GPS, to the Human Genome Project and many of our most important cures.  It has been Bush’s vision, perhaps more than almost anything else, that has made America an exceptional nation.

Oh, and he also wrote an essay in 1945 that not only laid out what would become the Internet, but influenced many of the key pioneers who designed it.

Marshall McLuhan and the Global Village

Where Vannevar Bush saw the transformative potential of science, Marshall McLuhan was one of the first to see the subtle, but undeniable influence of popular culture.  While many at the time thought of mass media as merely the flotsam and jetsam of the modern age, he saw that the study of things like newspapers, radio and TV could yield important insights.

Central to his ideas about culture was his concept of media as “extensions of man.”  Following this line of thought, he argued that Gutenberg’s printing press not only played a role in spreading information but also in shaping human thought. Essentially, the medium is the message.  Interestingly, these ideas led him to very much the same place as Bush.

As he wrote in 1962*, nearly 30 years before the invention of the World Wide Web:

The next medium, whatever it is—it may be the extension of consciousness—will include television as its content, not as its environment, and will transform television into an art form. A computer as a research and communication instrument could enhance retrieval, obsolesce mass library organization, retrieve the individual’s encyclopedic function and flip into a private line to speedily tailored data of a saleable kind.

McLuhan argued further that the new age of electronic media would disrupt the private experience and specialization that the dominance of printed media brought about and usher in a new era of collective, transnational experience that he called the global village.  Anybody who watches global news networks or surfs the Web can see what he meant.

Importantly, however, he did not see the global village as a peaceful place.  Rather than promoting widespread harmony and understanding, he predicted that the ability to share experiences across vast chasms of time and space would lead to a new form of tribalism, a result in a “release of human power and aggressive violence” greater than ever in history.

It has become all too clear what he meant by that as well.

Richard Feynman Sees “Plenty of Room at the Bottom”

When Richard Feynman stepped up to the podium to address the American Physical Society in 1959, he had already gained a reputation as both an accomplished scientist and an iconoclast (during his tenure at the the Manhattan project, he became famous for his safecracking and other pranks).

His talk, modestly titled There’s Plenty of Room At The Bottom would launch a revolution in physics and engineering that continues to play out to this day.  Starting from a seemingly innocent question about shrinking an encyclopedia down to the size of a postage stamp, he proceeded over the next hour to invent the new field of nanotechnology.

The talk, which is surprisingly easy and fun to read, also gives a fascinating window into how a genius thinks.  After pondering the problem of shrinking things down to the size of molecules, he proposes some solutions, then thinks some more about what issues those ideas would create, proposes some more fixes and on and on until a full picture emerged.

One of the most astounding things about Feynman is that his creation of nanotechnology was not a one-off, but part of a larger trend.  He was also a pioneer in parallel computing and did important work in virology.  All of this in addition to his day job as a physicist, for which he won the Nobel prize in 1965.

Tim Berners-Lee Creates a Web of Data

Tim Berners-Lee is most famous for his creation of the World Wide Web.  In November 1989, he created the three protocols—HTTP, URL, and HTML—that we now know as the “Web” and released his creation to the world, refusing to patent it.  Later, he helped set up the W3C consortium that continues to govern and manage its growth and further development.

The truth is, however, that the Web wasn’t a product of any great vision, but rather a solution to a particular problem that he encountered at CERN.  Physicists would come there from all over the world, work for a period of time and then leave.  Unfortunately, they recorded their work in a labyrinth of different platforms and protocols that didn’t work well together.

So Berners-Lee set out to solve that problem by creating a universal medium that could link information together.  He never dreamed it would grow into what it did.  If he had, he would have built it differently.  He wrote at length about these frustrations in his memoir, Weaving The Web.  Chief among them was the fact that while the Web-connected people, it did little for data.

So he envisioned a second web, which he called the Semantic Web.  Much like his earlier creation, the idea outstripped even what he imagined for it.  New protocols, such as Hadoop and Spark, have made data central to how today’s technology functions.  Increasingly, we’re living in a semantic economy, where information knows no bounds and everything connects.

The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Create it

Take a hard look at these four visionaries and some common themes emerge.  First, all except McLuhan took an active role in bringing their ideas into realities.  Bush played a central role in implementing the scientific architecture he designed.  Feynman offered prizes for people who could make things at nanoscale and Berners-Lee continues to take an active role at W3C.

Another commonality is that, while their ideas didn’t meet with immediate acceptance, they stuck with them.  McLuhan’s ideas made him an outcast for much of his career until he became an international celebrity in his fifties.  Berners-Lee created the Web partly out of frustration after the hypertext community wouldn’t pursue it.  Bush and Feynman met less resistance but were already prominent in their fields.

Probably most importantly, none of them were following trends.  Rather, they set out to uncover fundamental forces.  It was that quest for basic understanding that led them to ask questions and find answers that nobody else could imagine at the time.  They weren’t just looking to solve the problems of their day but sought out problems that transcended time.

In effect, they were able to see the future because they cared about it.  Their motivation wasn’t to beat the market, impress a client or attract funding for a startup, but to understand more about how the universe functions and what could be made possible.  In doing so, they helped us see it too so that we could also join in and make the world a better place.

ZBIN Continues to cover Diaspora Strategies and to date we have given you the importance of this important sector. We have covered the benefits that can accrue to a country that implements a successful Diaspora Strategy. Below we look at Diaspora Networks

Some diasporas are vast and global. For example, there are an estimated 70 million in the Irish diaspora, 25 million non-resident Indians and 60 million overseas Chinese, including significant numbers in nearly all countries. They create a web of cross-border connections.39 Some countries have cast the net wide in terms of engaging diaspora members and have developed global diaspora networks. The global networks may be just country-specific or they may be specialized global networks for particular professions in the diaspora. As noted by Ancien, Boyle and Kitchin, ‘Global knowledge networks are transnational networks linking global regions with the homeland, including trade missions, business forums, philanthropy, mentoring, advice and access to decision makers.’

Kutznetsov has set out several important points to consider when establishing global diaspora networks:

1. It is essential that there is a formal framework in place to maintain relationships and make sure that ideas are followed through.

2.However, if you formalise a network too much, you can kill it off. That has also been a common mistake of many developing countries – they try to put together a program that is very formal and it kills all the spirit of entrepreneurship and intrinsic motivation. People will only get involved in a network like this if they want to, not because someone tells them to.

Organizations should avoid launching a network in a blaze of publicity with a big conference before it has been tried and produced some successes. Rather, a conference should be a way of celebrating credibility through showcasing proven successes.

3. Furthermore, he suggests that successful diaspora networks combine the following three main features:

Networks bring together people with strong intrinsic motivation.

Members play both direct roles (implementing projects in the home country) and indirect roles (serving as bridges and antennae for the development of projects in the home country).

Successful initiatives move from discussions on how to get involved with the home country to transactions (tangible outcomes).

Examples of leading global networks include Advance Australia, GlobalScots, ChileGlobal, The Ireland Funds and KEA New Zealand. For further information on these networks please see the section entitled ‘Learn from others: Diaspora organizations share their stories.’ Other examples of global diaspora networks include: NLBorrels which is a global network of Dutch expatriate professionals and entrepreneurs, dedicated to facilitating social interaction, career advancement and exchange of information of interest to the Dutch community living abroad. It currently has 5,500 members in the US and an additional 6,500 members in 81 countries worldwide;43 International Council of Russian Compatriots (ICRC) was founded at the end of 2002 and its main aim is to consolidate the Russian diaspora and to attract the intellectual, economic and financial resources of Russian compatriots who are living abroad;44 Organization of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) represents Swiss expatriates’ interests in Switzerland and is supported by 750 Swiss expatriate associations  and Swiss institutions all over the world.

Every year, several hundred Swiss living all over the world meet at the OSA’s Congress of the Swiss Abroad; and Nigerians in the Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) which is a non-profit organization with its current focus is on professional networking, social advocacy, education, healthcare, technological and economic empowerment, as well as skills and cultural exchange projects in Canada and Nigeria. NIDO is recognized by the Nigerian government as the umbrella organization for all Nigerians around the world and as the vanguard of Nigeria in the international community, promoting the country’s image abroad. NIDO also assists in promoting Nigeria as an investment destination in Africa.
Regional diaspora networks Given the amount of resources and time needed to establish a successful global diaspora network, some organizations have decided to focus on connecting with diaspora members in particular regions.

The benefit of regional diaspora networks is that they allow for a more personalized and focused engagement with diaspora members within a smaller geographical framework. Regional diaspora networks can also act as a catalyst to creating global diaspora networks by building on the success of the regional network. The ‘Ireland Reaching Out Project’ (www.irelandxo.org) is an example of how local areas can develop their own targeted diaspora initiatives and is based on a simple idea – instead of waiting for people of Irish descent to come to Ireland to trace their roots, local Irish regions go the other way. At town land, village and parish level, local Irish communities identify who left their neighborhoods and trace them and their descendants worldwide and engage with them and invite them to become part of an extended ‘virtual community’ with their place of ancestral origin. Part of this program is an annual ‘Week of Welcomes’ which is held in each parish or community in which these newly identified people are invited to return.

Over time the objective of this program, which was founded by returned Irish emigrant, Mike Feerick in 2011, is to systematically identify and unify members of the diaspora, based on their ancestral origins and engage them in terms of them being advisors, investors and promoters of Irish products. Other examples of regional diaspora networks include: BayBrazil which fosters communication and entrepreneurship among professionals in the San Francisco Bay area who work with or wish to develop connections with Brazil; The Lansdowne Club in Sydney, Australia which has over 2,000 members made up of business professionals who are Irish and living in Australia and Australians who have business interests in Ireland. It is now a vibrant and active business network which has spread to other cities in Australia and New Zealand and runs a series of events annually with their St. Patrick’s Day lunch now the largest of its kind in the world and is attended by the Prime Minister of Australia and other leading political and business leaders; Uhollanzi Kenya Association which is the only registered Kenyan diaspora association in the Netherlands. Its goals are to support and promote the welfare of Kenyans in the Netherlands in collaboration with local authorities and partners as well as to enhance Kenyan migrants’ capacity to meaningfully give back to their country of origin; and United Haitians in the United Kingdom network is made up of a group of Haitians, Haitian descendants, and friends of Haiti, living in the United Kingdom. Its main goal is to make a positive contribution in the development of Haiti and to keep the Haitian culture alive in the United Kingdom. They financially support worthwhile non-governmental and sustainable educational projects throughout Haiti with an emphasis on children’s school fees, uniforms and supplies.

City diaspora networks

A number of organizations around the world are now focusing on connecting with their diaspora members and, moreover, affinity diaspora members by launching city diaspora networks. Indeed, the affinity diaspora is an important segment of the diaspora to engage in building such networks, as so many people move to cities to work or study for certain periods or take repeated city breaks. Take the United States, for example, while many people have an affinity to the country as a result of spending time there, typically, it is with a particular city that people identity as their place of affinity. New Orleans is a great example of this and the power of the affinity diaspora network in connecting with the city. These ‘affinity diaspora’ are people, for whom, as the song goes ‘know what it means to miss New Orleans’ and return to the city for one season, reason or another and ‘let the good times roll.’ The other New Orleans diaspora refers to the population evacuated or forced to flee from New Orleans, Louisiana, by the effects of Hurricane Katrina in the late summer of 2005. Drawing from these two different diasporas (a displaced one within its own country and a large affinity diaspora)

New Orleans is an interesting case study on attracting and engaging diaspora populations. Famous playwright, Tennessee Williams himself could be considered an affinity diaspora member of New Orleans, (Mississippi born, Missouri raised and later lifetime traveler) he considered New Orleans his ‘spiritual home’ and was a resident of the city many times throughout his life. It is here that he is honored by an annual literary festival which brings Williams and literary fans from around the country and world to celebrate. These same ‘friends’ of the city and festival were much of the affinity diaspora who have contributed to a continued festival and its subsequent successes (particularly after 2005). The cultural branding of New Orleans has been responsible in no small part for the success of its rebuilding. Programs geared at drawing the affinity diaspora into the city (whether in support for events or to invest) have been invaluable during the five years of rebuilding and reshaping the city. The New Orleans Football team (The Saints) also provide a diaspora meeting point and especially at games in Atlanta and Houston (where many New Orleaneans resettled) have become a time of both cheering the team but also the city itself. Specific festivals such as Essence, Decadence, VooDoo, French Quarter and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festivals (to name a few) all annually re-engage the affinity diasporas’ interest and economy. Furthermore, people are often extremely proud of the particular area that they are from within a country, and city diaspora networks allow them to connect directly with that area. An example of such a network is the ‘Friends of Belfast City’ network. This is an initiative, started in 1998, which promotes partnerships between Belfast and North America, primarily in the areas of business and investment. With almost 600 members from the areas of business, law, academia and government, including individuals from organizations such as Liberty Mutual Insurance, Lehman Brothers, McKinsey & Company, Harvard University and Columbia University, the Friends of Belfast network offers a range of contacts for Belfast organizations working in the US and Canada.

Women and diaspora networks

Female migrants represent a significant portion of total migration, making up 49 per cent of the total in 2010.47 As a result, women’s diaspora networks are increasingly being created as a way of uniting women from the homeland with other women from the diaspora. ‘All over the world there is an important and wide-spread presence of migrant women’s networks … These networks are very active in supporting women, in promoting their needs, their rights, and in simply bringing women together. These are more formal and institutionalised types of networks.’

An example of a women’s diaspora network is the Turkish Women’s International Network which is a global networking platform for women with family, cultural or professional ties to Turkey. The vision of the network is to build a global community of professional Turkish women to cross-pollinate ideas, inspiration and connections; start a mentorship program to mentor younger Turkish women in university programs across the globe; and launch the Turkish WIN ‘Angels and Advisors’ program to connect entrepreneurs to a capital and advice network. The founder of TurkishWIN,

Melek Pulatkonak, states that the motivation for establishing the network was because, ‘As a professional Turkish woman living abroad, I feel the need to connect to a platform where I can network, celebrate the successes of trailblazers, learn from experts in their fields and tap into the power of a large trust network within my community. I know many strong, successful and amazing Turkish women. I am confident there are hundreds or thousands whom I do not know. As an entrepreneur, I decided to do something about it and launched TurkishWIN.’ Examples of women’s diaspora networks include Swedish Women’s Educational Association, Indus Women Leaders, Diaspora African Women’s Network (DAWN) and the Filipina Women’s Network (FWN).

Next generation diaspora networks Countries and diaspora organizations are increasingly realising how important it is to attract the next generation of disapora leadership. Furthermore, younger members of the diaspora are leveraging networks with their diasporic peers as a way of building professional contacts. As a result,next generation diaspora networks are gaining increasing prominence. Examples of next generation diaspora networks include NEPOMAK (World Organization for Young Overseas Cypriots), The Ireland Funds Global Young Leaders Program and the Young Barbadian Professionals Society (YBPS). Members of the Young Barbadian Professionals Society were either born in Barbados or have Barbadian ancestry. YBPS is comprised of a group of individuals with diverse professional and social interests. Its identity is not only based on the professions and education of its members but is deeply rooted in their respect and love for the Barbadian and Caribbean heritage. The YBPS mission is to garner the intellectual capital of its members to further advance positive transformations in the global Barbadian and Caribbean communities, through the society’s economic development, education, and philanthropic programs.

Alumni diaspora networks

The business of international education, or export education as it is referred to in technical economic parlance, represents a major opportunity for countries to develop a network of affinity scholarly/alumni networks. Demand for education beyond boundaries has increased by 40 per cent over the past decade and is forecast to reach 6 million by 2020.49 In 1995, 90,000 US students went to college overseas; in 2007, 250,000 US students went to college overseas.50 In 2008, there were 300,000 international students in UK universities, paying more than £3.6 billion in fees. Britain attracts more students from abroad than any country outside the US.51 The US State Alumni is an example of a diaspora network seeking to engage international students who pursued studies in the US. Furthermore, scholarly networks are being established by diaspora members from the same home country who are studying abroad. These are important networks for countries to consider developing, as increasing numbers of graduates are emigrating. Through these networks graduates can still engage with the university and indeed the home country. Take for example, the alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology which is a group of 15 autonomous engineering and technology oriented institutes of higher education, established and declared as Institutes of National Importance by the Parliament of India. According to a recent study, the alumni of the seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), now in senior positions in industry and government across the world, have a total budgetary responsibility of $885 billion.

Credit: Diaspora Toolkit

As you stated above, there are more networks on Diaspora Associations, we hope to cover more. We will also review the existing Zimbo networks, key strengths and weaknesses and the way forward.