If you’ve ever found yourself wondering what McGuyver would do if he really needed to get his internuttin’ on, look no further.
Normally, many of us fight the urge to take antidepressants before watching the news, and as such we love the do-gooding, geek-o-gasmic, MIT and World Bank sponsored Fab-Fi project that is being developed in Afghanistan. Fab-Fi is an ongoing infrastructure initiative directed by MIT Center for Bits and Atoms colleagues Amy Sun and Keith Berkoben. Despite the challenges of being in a war torn nation, they are deploying amazingly innovative (and mullet free!) Afghan fabrication methods to address the lack of wireless infrastructure you would expect in a conflict prone nation. After several years, the project is already taking root and locals are already designing and building version 2.0 and beyond!
Certainly, a great deal of effort needs to be focused on integrating technology with education and literacy initiatives in order to make a wireless network truly useful for the people of Afghanistan. The illiteracy rate is legendary. Yet, this is definitely a welcome step. We wish them much success in the spirit of iconic American sex symbol physics heroes everywhere.
