총 48페이지

People
Argus
Ju-yeong/The
ⓒOh
1
Pleasetellusabout“SolarCow”briefly.
Chang: It is a social engineering project utilizing solar energy for child laborers in Africa. It enabled parents to
getfreeaccesstotheenergysupplyofsolarpowerinexchangeforsendingtheirchildrentoschool,notaworkplace.
We distributed white, portable batteries called “Power Milk” and docking lamps to kids. Also, we installed a
cow-shapedsolarpowerstationonlyinschoolsthatcanbeusedtochargepowerbanksforfamilies.Byattending
schools, not only can kids charge the battery, but they also receive an education. After the school day, they bring
thefullychargedpowerbankhome,andthentheycanchargecellphonesandpowerthelightsbyusingit.Weare
implementingthisprojectinKenyaandTanzania.
2
Whatmadeyoudecidetogetintothesocialcontributionproject,“SolarCow”?
Chang:Thisisnottheinitialbusinessthatwelaunchedduringtheearlydaysofourcompany.First,wedevised
high-end* solar innovations, such as “Solarade,” and “Solar Paper.” They were credited for astonishing outcomes
of innovative Research and Development(R&D), so plenty of people expressed even greater expectations for the
next high-end product. Contrary to expectations, however, we developed a low-end* technology, which is called
“SolarCow.”Whilepreparingforthefollowing,weapproachedtheword“innovation”differently.Peoplenormally
thinkthatitrequiresnoveltyorhighquality.Therefore,cuttingedgetechnologiesarethoughttoincludethingslike
travelingtothemoonorone-touchpaymentsystems.ButmystaffsandIrealizedthattherearemultipleissuesthat
can be solved well enough by means of “common technologies” by widening our view. We had doubts naturally
about why so many were not still active in these fields. Thus, by starting the Solar Cow project, YOLK hoped to
showanotherdefinitionof“innovation,”whichcausesmorepeopletoenjoypositivechanges.
*high-end:relatingtoproductsorservicesthataremoreexpensiveandofbetterqualitythanotherproductsofthesametype.
*low-end:relatingtoproductsorservicesthatarelessexpensiveandoflowerqualitythanotherproductsofthesametype.
WeknowthisinventionhastheintentiontosolveAfricanproblemsofchildlabor,education,andpower.
3
Whatweretheseproblemsspecifically?
Chang: 150 million kids in the world are still exposed to child labor which deprives them of childhood and
education opportunities. These children cannot go to school because they have to spend too much time doing
household chores, helping with the family business, or sometimes working at dangerous sites. These instances
are scattered mostly around developing countries including Africa. Also, the cell phone distribution rate is over
90percentinAfrica,whichrequireselectricityforchargingthephones,butthepowersupplyispoorthere.Thus,
mostpeopleoftengotothenearestbatterychargingshopwalkingbetweentwotosixhours.Theyhavetopayan
expensivefeeequivalenttoabout10percentto20percentoftheirwages.Tosolvetheseissues,thegovernmentand
lotsofnon-governmentalorganizations(NGO)havemadeprogresswithBottomofthePyramid(BOP)*businesses
there.However,theproblemisthattheyarenotsustainable.Forvariousreasonssuchaslimitationsoftechnologyor
shortageoffunds,mostofthemoperatetemporarilyandstop.
*Bottomofthepyramid(BOP):thelargest,butpoorestsocio-economicgroup.Inglobalterms,thisisthe2.7billionpeoplewholiveon
lessthan$2.50aday.
14
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