Happy new year contemplation

The arrival of another new year is a time for contemplation.

Or so i've always been told. And some, only partially conscious part of my mind, want to take this opportunity to brood, not on that which passed, for that is not my nature, but instead on that which is expected.

2004, from this vantage point, is but a notion of events yet to come, but the notion and the expectations it brings is slowly crystalising in my mind. And it's an exciting picture being formed. 2004 has the potenital, to be the most exciting year of my career yet. OK, if you really think about it, that goes for every other year as well, but nevertheless, this one feels different.

2004 will be the year where the funding we secured late last year from the Open Society Institute, will result in an actual project. The first time, since I un-rooted myself from the 'traditional' private sector in early 2001 that I have a crystal-clear and funded project I can call my own (well it's ours in fact, but it is also mine). 2004 will see the birth of a danish NGO uniquely focused around our passion for open technology in development. 2004 will see me travel more than any year before it (at least to more countries) and 2004 will give me a chance to speak at the incredibly sexy and geeky Emerging Technologies Conference, in San Diego in early February.

With a march trip to Namibia to facilitate at AfricaSource (arranged by our friends and colleagues at Tactical Technology, and planned trips to 3-5 other countries to get our own wireless roadshow off the ground, 2004 will be a heavy travel year. And with my new-found (thankyou WSIS) contacts at IDRC, InfoDev, danida, Growth Africa and throughout the community, 2004 will also be make or break for my passion to be a part of the community enterprise to improve the use of ICT's in the developing world.

And in my heart I believe it will be make!

Salute 2004