A little more than a year ago, on a trip to Nairobi, Kenya, TED Curator Chris Anderson and his colleagues met a 12-year-old Masai boy named Richard Turere, who told them a fascinating story. His family raises livestock on the edge of a vast national park, and one of the biggest challenges is protecting the animals from lions—especially at night. Richard had noticed that placing lamps in a field didn’t deter lion attacks, but when he walked the field with a torch, the lions stayed away. From a young age, he’d been interested in electronics, teaching himself by, for example, taking apart his parents’ radio. He used that experience to devise a system of lights that would turn on and off in sequence—using solar panels, a car battery, and a motorcycle indicator box—and thereby create a sense of movement that he hoped would scare off the lions. He installed the lights, and the lions stopped attacking. Soon villages elsewhere in Kenya began installing Richard’s “lion lights.”
Richard’s story was compelling and he was invited for a TED Talk, which was a great success.
Lessons:
1. Innovation can happen anywhere – even in African Jungles
2. Innovation does not require a team of NASA Scientists or PhDs
3. Innovation does not require big budgets and R&D Centre.
4. Innovation need not be complex.
5. Dreams come true !
Watch This !
