Thank you very much.
13 months ago my son's classmate, Robyn Higgins,
was diagnosed with something called Neuroblastoma,
which is a rare form of aggressive childhood cancer.
And all my son could think of was, how can my dad and mum help her?
So, we rallied together and we created a little blog, we created a Facebook group.
I know Facebook is popular here.
And we tweeted about things, and the problem was that we had
to raise 300,000 pounds within about 8 weeks so that Robyn could fly to America,
which is the only place where she could actually be treated.
As the person in charge of -- well, self volunteered in charge of
trying to coordinate the diligent efforts here and rallying support.
I just did what I'd normally do and collaborated with as many people as possible,
and it got about 10,000 people involved, actually.
So I was just one small cog of a very large wheel.
And a few months ago, Robyn had her tests back from the operation.
We did raise the 300,000 pounds and she's now all clear.
And she is gonna live.
(Applause)
And that was when this presentation started in my head.
Because I'm a geek, I don't know if you can tell.
I'm a nerd. I'm geek and I'm proud.
I even have glasses as well because apparently all geeks
have to wear glasses it's some strange stereotype.
So as a technologist, which I prefer the term of,
I have been looking back at what happened and thinking,
"Was this only possible, raising a third of a million pounds, by and large,
was it possible because of technology?"
You know, we were able to tweet information that was retweeted and retweeted
and retweeted to such an extend that even the BBC picked it up.
It was on the home page of the BBC, the Evening Standard,
it went worldwide, because of technology.
So it got me thinking, what else is possible if we can do this?
We raised 300,000 pounds in 8 weeks, 9 weeks,
using the tools that we have in our hands.
Surely we can do so much more than just that.
And to cut a short story long, I eventually ended up with these ridiculous philosophical questions
such as "What about if Mandela had tweeted?"
And that's how we get to where we are today.
It's not to do with Twitter that I'm fascinated with.
It's not necessarily to do with Nelson Mandela,
who I have a private passion for, but that's not really the point.
The point is if the people
who have changed the world and had a massive difference,
actually had the tools and technologies in their hands
that we do today, what else could have had taken place?
You know, some people who've changed the world for millions of people rather than just for one person.
Of course through the eyes of Robyn, her world has fundamentally changed.
She had a life or death, and she has a life.
Which is as much of a change of world as anyone could possibly have.
So, then I started thinking "Well what about if da Vinci had Photoshop?"
(Laughter)
Bear with me.
It's just starting to wonder how the tools that we have now, so readily available,
would actually impact the people that have made fundamental difference.
What about if Einstein had Google?
What would that mean? How would that actually have changed the work that he did?
What if Ernesto "Che" Guevara had had mobile?
All he had was 'Radio Rebelde', Radio Rebel.
What about if all of his troops in his guerrilla war that took down Batista with Fidel Castro,
had actually been armed
with weapons of mass communication rather than mass destruction?
And believe me, the more you start thinking about this,
the more you get caught up in this kind of thing,
it's produced many sleepness nights as anyone who knows me will tell.
But maybe it's actually the fact that the Vitruvian man
is geometrically perfect anyway,
so therefore, it doesn't matter that da Vinci didn't have Photoshop.
It's arguable E=mc^2 is actually the ultimate answer,
therefore, what would Google have done for him?
Computers are only as good as the data that we put into them after all.
And finally, with someone like "Che" Guevara, who knows?
All we can go is as far as who cares but there's a limited amount of time
that you think about these things until you brain starts hurting.
Well, in my case anyway, because it's not much to hurt.
But it's something which I've been amazed by
when you start thinking about the tools
that we have today, what can we actually do.
So to answer this question, is it the tools? Is it what's in our hands?
Or is it what's in our hearts that actually makes those differences?
With Robyn Higgins, the tools for sure helped.
But looking at the seven characteristics of the people that changed the world,
and by the way, the more you read up about people who've changed the world and how,
there's writing all over the place, you can find 11 characteristics, 20 characteristics.
You've got Covey's "7 Habits Of Highly Effective People",
there's lots of writing, etc.
But actually the ones that I have found the most resonant, is that, sometimes,
to change the world, you just have to be genius.
That's quite handy.
I wouldn't know of course.
The second one is the absolute conviction of belief as shown by MLK [Martin Luther King Jr.]
The third, shown by someone like Tim Berners-Lee.
The imagination of seeing something that any sane person
would've found absolutely improbable or arguably impossible.
The passion of the Wright brothers.
The Wright brothers who were in competition
with a certain gentleman from the Smithsonian Institute
to be the first people to have a flying machine.
He was funded -- the guy from the Smithsonian Institute,
was funded with grants from Kings and Princes and he very much wanted to win.
He very much wanted to be the first person.
The Wright brothers who actually, eventually, became the first,
the day afterwards the guy from the Smithsonian cancelled his project.
You'd think why would he cancel his project?
The thing was that he didn't want to fly, he wanted to win.
The Wright brothers wanted to fly.
The persistence of someone like Churchill. Especially on this day of awe.
And for those watching us on video this is Remembrance Day, hence the poppies.
The compassion of someone like Ghandi.
How many tools did he have? How many Facebook accounts,
How many Facebook likes did he receive?
So when I start looking at these things, I start thinking to myself,
"Hold on a minute, these guys didn't have any tools."
They had an old radio station here and there, and a chalk board and some chalk.
And finally I have my 7 anyway, with no disrespect to Neal and Buzz,
the first people we've ever put on the moon.
This guy here, the stones of someone like Yuri Gagarin, the first man into space.
Of course, landing on the moon was when all the awards were handed out.
But the bravery that's needed to act in these ways of changing the world,
is something which isn't related in any way, to necessarily using the modern tools of technologies.
So looking at what we have today, these tools, are they actually irrelevant?
We look at something like Barack Obama's first campaign,
not reflecting his most recent results, but the initial campaign,
that got him into the White House,
is an arguably way of using modern technology
to connect multiple hearts, his case across the middle America.
People who have never necessarily felt represented before, using common tools and technologies
for donations and for news bulletins, etc.,
for urging people on to go and actually vote.
So in this instance here, the tools really did help.
The tools also can increase the speed of emotion with the Haiti earthquake appeal.
Ushahidi.com is a site where people can pledge support.
And it's very sad to hear the most recent events in Haiti,
but Ushahidi's efforts, or their tools, their technologies
that actually sped up the ability for people to emote and support is unarguable.
The tools helped that unendingly.
And finally, the magnification of feeling.
Like we see from how the world's AIDS day,
is actually able to use the emotions, not just as a physical manifestation as the bow,
but also throughout the tools, platforms and channels,
the Facebooks, the Twitters.
This is something which is magnifying the feeling, not just from the transmitter,
i.e. the World's AIDS day and the Foundation,
but the receptors as well. Which is us.
Who then become transmitters onto other receptors
who become more transmitters onto other receptors.
So the technologies aren't so vitally important.
But from the 7 characteristics that I showed, not one of them
was called Facebook or Google.
So I went round, and round and round
and I spoke with lots of people about it and got myself in a bit of a pickle.
And eventually you end up back with the question, "So what if Mandela had tweeted?"
What if he was able to smuggle a phone into his cell?
And somehow mobilize his group?
What if that had happened?
Would it be the case that he had been released earlier
because of the pressure from the crowds?
If you look into how the Berlin Wall fell, it started with one person protesting.
The tipping point with that was actually
when there were more people protesting than it was possibly able to police.
It's the power of citizens, [it] is immense if mobilized.
Maybe what would've happened with Mandela is that the messaging from inside his cell,
which could only really be transported by writings, at much later days
would actually have changed the minds of people
around the world to stop apartheid much earlier.
So the question, is it more to do with what's in our hands
or is it more to do with what's in our hearts?
How important is what is in our hands in relation to the importance to what's in our hearts?
And this has confused the hell out of me for a year.
And I think I have the answer and it's a really simple one.
And I think the answer is this
it doesn't really matter what's in your hands unless it's in your heart.
I don't believe that you can use the tools in the most effective powerful way,
unless it's in your heart.
The people that submitted fundraising ideas on the RobynHiggins.com website,
were offering to give away their entire salaries.
Children saying I don't want any presents, please use the money to donate.
It wasn't the technology that did it, it was what was people's hearts that did it.
We just had the technology to transfer that emotion, to magnify that feeling,
to connect to the multiple hearts in the best way
and as we move forward, you guys are half my age. Lucky group.
(Laughter)
When you're my age, think about the stuff you're going to have.
We've just started with augmented reality, virtualization of all physical.
Think about what you can do.
Think about how if it's in you hearts, actually, things that are absolutely outrageous,
raising a third of a million quid in 8 weeks
for some girl in a school in the middle of nowhere, where I live.
How all of this is it possible?
Somebody in your family is ill, something needs to be changed on the roads,
new road system, a law needs to be changed.
We can do this now. We have the tools.
But we need to have first what's in our hearts and that is the end of, I must admit,
a very long story, in my heart, that I finally feel as if I've resolved on this stage.
I'd like to thank you for your patience.
And I'd like to wish you all the best in changing the world
in whichever way you see fit.
Namaste! Thank you.
(Applause)