My Networked Life: Using Connected Technologies in the Real World

Posted by KBZ Blogging Team

We hear a lot about how Unified Communications can benefit businesses both big and small, across all industries and around the globe. These solutions can increase productivity, save time and improve return on investment. But if the technology is about connecting people, what about the individuals who are working with these solutions? How are people using the technology to improve their daily work life?

To answer this question, Cisco has launched?My Networked Life, a documentary-style video series that takes viewers around the world for a look at how real people are using connected technology every day ? from entrepreneurs to young professionals, artists and students. In the words of Cisco, ?These stories are personal, they are real, and they are powerful.?

Here are two of the stories.

Shilo Shiv Suleman, Bangalore, India

Shilo Shiv Suleman is an Indian illustrator, animator and visual artist. She is also a contemporary storyteller who is bringing her stories to life through the use of mobile technology, creating interactive narratives for children on the iPad.

Shilo started a blog when she was sixteen, first posting her writing, then photographs. Her next step was sharing the illustrations she had done as she traveled around India.

?Suddenly I have an entire community that?s grown around my blog,? she says. ?It?s really amazing because every single job that I have done has happened just through my blog. Just by having some kind of presence in the digital world.?

Her blog was discovered by the ink conference where she was invited to give a talk ?- and that talk was posted on ted.com. ?It was insane; it was like a wave of love from across the digital world?.?

Her mother is an artist as well, and together they use technology in interesting ways to teach kids in their own home. They post on Pinterest, find ideas on Google, and learn about artists from around the world.

Shilo considers herself to be a digital gypsy, traveling across India, taking her work with her and setting up an office anywhere, even under a giant banyan tree. ??It makes me really, really happy that I can inspire people across the world just by being myself and traveling and doodling in my notebooks, and I think that?s really, really amazing.?

For Shilo?s full story and to view the video, visit Shilo Shiv Suleman, Bangalore, India.?http://newsroom.cisco.com/feature-content?type=webcontent&articleId=972587

Craig Charnock, Cape Town, South Africa

Craig Charnock from Cape Town, South Africa, is the founding director of Ubuntu Bridge. For the past eight years he has been teaching the Xhosa language and cultural courses. He recently burst onto the South African music scene with one goal in mind: to promote multiculturalism.

?In Mandela?s inauguration speech in 1994, he said that one of the greatest ways to contribute to nation building in South Africa would be for people to learn each other?s languages,? says Craig. ?I think you?re acknowledging a culture and acknowledging a people when you speak to them in their own language.?

For Craig, technology is a teaching tool. He uses his laptop to create audio clips of phrases in Xhosa which he then posts on his website. He also uses his video camera to create video clips for teaching. He appreciates that the technology allows him to quickly reach a larger community.

Craig also uses music videos as an educational tool that entertains at the same time ? people don?t even realize they?re learning the language while enjoying the song! If he thinks of lyrics while he is out and about, he records it on the go and sends the file straight to his friend Fletcher who provides the music. They get together at the studio to finish the song.

Craig?s laptop is his office and he bought his first iPhone so he could work from the local villages. ?Work for me is a way in which to balance passion and creativity,? he says.

For Craig?s full story and to view the video, visit Craig Charnock, Cape Town, South Africa.?http://newsroom.cisco.com/feature-content?type=webcontent&articleId=970446

What?s your favorite technology for staying connected? Post your comment below or visit our Facebook page,?http://www.facebook.com/KBZCommunications

Source: http://blog.kbz.com/2012/08/my-networked-life-using-connected-technologies-in-the-real-world/

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