I watch a lot of documentaries, but few leave their mark on me like this one. On 22 August 1962, a 20-year-old German called Heinz Stücke left home with a bicycle and a tent. He was leaving what he described as a ‘life without a future’ to follow what most people would have called an … Continue reading What we leave behind
Category: Personal
Personal posts from Ken Banks: reflections on life, work and travels beyond technology, from the kiwanja.net blog.
Beautifully Borrowed: A book about living
Earlier this summer I turned sixty. I wrote about it here at the time, about how it didn’t feel like a milestone so much as a nudge, a tap on the shoulder from someone leaning over to say you know you don’t have forever, don’t you? I talked about sitting down and asking AI to … Continue reading Beautifully Borrowed: A book about living
Technology. Spirituality. Change.
I’ve spent much of my life working at the intersection of technology and social good, something many of us used to call ICT4D. Over the years I’ve been involved in projects that use mobile phones to improve healthcare, increase access to education and give a voice to people often left unheard. But behind the code … Continue reading Technology. Spirituality. Change.
Sixty
I turned sixty this summer. I’ve been sitting with that short sentence for a while now, not quite sure what to do with it. It doesn’t feel like a milestone so much as a nudge. A tap on the shoulder. Someone leaning over and saying, quietly, you know you don’t have forever, don’t you? I … Continue reading Sixty
Caught between Gaza and a hard place
It’s been a challenging week. Not as challenging, of course, for those who continue to suffer in Gaza, the West Bank, South Lebanon and beyond, but challenging for me in a different kind of way. My LinkedIn posts, whatever the topic, tend to come from a place of genuine curiosity, compassion or concern. Anyone who … Continue reading Caught between Gaza and a hard place
The Little Book of Mindful Social Change
It’s been nearly four years since I wrote my last book. Given I’m not a professional writer who makes a living from the art, that’s fine. But last week a book idea came to me out of nowhere, and in the spirit of not resting on my laurels I got to work on it straight … Continue reading The Little Book of Mindful Social Change
This is fine
“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes or off the street. Families are torn apart. Men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared”. This quote is taken from Anne Frank’s diary in an entry dated January 13th, … Continue reading This is fine
kiwanja Buddhism
I don’t yet have an insightful opinion of AI that warrants a blog post of any kind, but I have found one aspect particularly fascinating. You see, the openness of my approach to work over the past 22 years turns out to be something of a goldmine in our brave new AI-driven world. Since 2003 … Continue reading kiwanja Buddhism
Gaza: Ways to help
In my last post I wrote about how I’d decided to offer my skills completely free of charge to any legitimate Israeli or Palestinian organisation working on Gaza relief, Palestinian humanitarian causes or broader justice initiatives in the region. I’d had enough of standing by and witnessing all the suffering, and doing nothing about it. … Continue reading Gaza: Ways to help
Stepping up. Stepping out.
A while back I took the plunge on LinkedIn and started sharing posts about the war in Gaza, hitting ‘Like’ and ‘Share’ and thinking I might in some way be doing something useful. At the very least I was speaking up, something many people also on LinkedIn seem afraid to do. (Refusing to stay silent … Continue reading Stepping up. Stepping out.
Live Aid @ 40
It’s not often you can pinpoint the precise moment in time that your life moved in an entirely different, and unexpected direction. For me, 13th July 1985 – probably around midday – was that moment. I remember it well. Live Aid that summer has come under intense scrutiny, particularly over recent years, accused of oversimplifying … Continue reading Live Aid @ 40
Time to get my feet dirty?
I’m old enough to remember the euphoric tech-optimism of the mid-2000’s, a time when the Internet and mobile technology were blazing a trail across much of the developing (read: offline) world. Soon, the argument went, everyone would have a voice and that could only be a good thing for human rights, democracy and economic empowerment, … Continue reading Time to get my feet dirty?
One day
If there was ever the time and the place for a book, this is that book and this is that time. It’s no exaggeration to say that I was a different person before I started reading it. Powerful doesn’t come close. Whatever your views on what’s happening in Palestine (and, indeed, in many other parts … Continue reading One day
AI with purpose
One of the most ‘fun’ things about AI is asking it to draw on its knowledge of your work and give an opinion or ideas. It’s easy to sense-check (we all know our own stories) and when you’ve got 20+ years of history online, there’s plenty of material for your AI of choice to be … Continue reading AI with purpose
New beginnings
Today, thousands of children across the UK had their first day at secondary school. My youngest two were among them. Seeing them head off in their shiny new uniforms earlier this morning made for a very proud moment. But today was a very big day for me professionally, too. Our children were born during what … Continue reading New beginnings