The people's technology: Fighting for a share in the future

A widening gap has emerged between rich and poor countries in the penetration of high technology. However, this gap has been uneven, allowing some technologies such as the internet to penetrate deeply while restricting other technologies such as medical devices.

Functionally, this imbalance means the transmission of knowledge is democratized and easy, whereas the knowledge itself remains chained by copyrights, patents and practical limitations.

Tarek Loubani, a Palestinian physician who works in Gaza and Canada, discusses the Palestinian struggle to bring the benefits of modern (and sometimes not so modern) medical devices to the population of Gaza, consequently picking a Free and open model for hardware and software development that facilitates autonomy and collaboration with other disenfranchised populations in the developing and developed worlds.