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Nebula

Challenges Entered: 

Imagine a global exchange for social entrepreneurs, a combination search engine and social networking tool enabling social change agents from around the world to connect, collaborate and affect change in their communities. Imagine the T.E.D. conference meeting the Burning Man/Cooling Man Project or the Obama campaign meeting the Skoll World Forum.

SuperNova7 Productions (SN7) was created with the vision of building Nebula through open source technology which would allow artists, professionals, students, and social entrepreneurs of all ages to share best and worst practices; access tools, resources, data and research; and seek funding to help execute social impact projects. Social entrepreneurs are segmented into different age groups, expertise, and geographic locations. They are also limited by some of the same issues as individuals, but if social entrepreneurs could unify their fragmented voices then they could organize very much like those who worked on the Obama campaign. Social entrepreneurs by the very nature of their work are involved with interdisciplinary sectors, while attracting diverse skill sets and standing for various social causes. Nebula would allow social entrepreneurs to have all the necessary tools to embark upon some of the daunting problems we face in this world. This user-friendly exchange would be available through the web, handheld devices and in person social networking. Search results would be in real-time which would give users the ability to see projects and ideas in progress around the world. This allows for complete transparency for all stakeholders and the presence of metrics to measure the social impact of initiatives. There would also be a built mechanism to have peer to peer review as seen in Wikipedia to ensure user content for social good.

Nebula is an application that will be used on mobile phones which uses current GPS technology. Nebula would allow social entrepreneurs to track one another around the world while matching Nebula users to other likeminded individuals. Currently, there is no application that allows social entrepreneurs to know of each other existence or the area of work they are involved with. As society's problems become larger and increasingly serious with irreversible outcomes, Nebula's mobile application would allow more collaboration with change agents on a global scale. Blackberries and iPhones would be the first wave of mobile devices to carry Nebula as an application.  

SN7 also advocates youth participation in this movement by providing a linkage between entrepreneurs and those more established. This exchange encourages those entrepreneurs with mutual interests to connect, while supporting young entrepreneurs with a critical network of technical knowledge and advice that they regularly may not have access to. SN7 also plans to partner with or host two to four events next year in order to showcase the work of prominent social entrepreneurs/organizations in different U. S. cities. Through this effort, SN7 will aim to broaden exposure, solidify networks, and help entrepreneurs scale up. In its operation, SN7 is creating a unique one-stop-shop for social entrepreneurs which does not currently exist in the marketplace.

Examples of current advocacy and grassroots collaboration projects include partnerships with organizations such as GrassRoot Hoyas, Shine a Light and the India Peace Initiative.

Project Details
Project Assessment
Financial support: 
No
Sustainability Model: 
SN7 would be structured as a non-profit entity while Nebula will be a for-profit B Corporation. This next wave of organizations are forming a new way to do business in the community using for-profit methodologies in the social sector. Nebula's revenue would come from user subscription fees, advertising (AdWord, AdSense, and Cost per Action), services, products, transaction fees, grants, and investors.
Expertise needed: 
Technical Expertise: Nebula would need programmers that have expertise in following technologies: Java/J2EE, JSP/Servlets, JSR 168&286 portlets, Velocity, JQuery, Liferay, Joomla, mySQL, Tomcat, php, Hibernate, and Spring.
Marketing/Media Expertise: Social media and direct behavioral cross marketing initiatives are needed to create a grassroots new media team for Nebula.
Management Expertise: Management of Nebula would need to understand and practice triple bottom line initiatives for social entrepreneurs.
Project goals: 
Nebula was asked to present at the Pecha Kucha gathering in Washington, DC on January 8, 2009. Pecha Kucha events are in 170 cities around the world.   Nebula was asked to present in the "Pitch It" section of the We Media Game Changer Conference as one of five invitations at the University of Miami on February 24-26, 2009. There was a total 330 entries from 47 countries for the We Media and Game Changer competition.   Nebula was also one of 170 to organizations to complete all three business planning exercises for the Global Social Benefit Incubator scholarship hosted by Santa Clara University on February 26, 2009. Nebula's has submitted a proposal to the Lien i3 Social Innovation Challenge hosted by Singapore Management University.
Identified Obstacles: 
Nebula's foundation rests on open source technology and knowledge sharing.   Any potential prohibition of open source ideology due to contracted proprietary products/services by educational or other institutions  would  pose a serioucs obstacle to Nebula's function.     Another potential challenge would be the lack of access to internet/infrastructure/resources in certain geographies.   International locations vary widely in their availability and stability of internet technology, support, computer literacy, and training.   In order for Nebula to be effective in these areas, it must find solutions to overcome these potential barriers. Lack of information or  miscommunication related to Nebula's function poses another challenge.   Nebula must also establish "buy-in" with locally established knowledge sharing groups as a trusted means of collaboration.

Looks like the projects

Looks like the projects doing great! all the best

I want to see NEBULA happen

 Nebula will be a great tool, community to share and communicate ideas with so many people all over the world for the better future.  Such a place doesn't exist now. Nebula is such a great idea when you think about only people can make changes.  I hope this happens for our better world and better understandings.

 

 

Great Idea! I 100% support

Great Idea! I 100% support this venture.

Why Nebula is needed.

I think that the idea is excellent and should be implemented.  

I have outlined the services that it seems like Nebula can, and hopefully will, provide.  

 1. It would accelerate change through efficiently connecting people with ideas with others, who care about similar issues but possess the requisite tools and experience, to implement those ideas.

2. It adds transparency, accountability, and measurable outcomes to the non-profit sector.   This would level the playing field for non-profits, because it would enable the most effective programs to shine.   These outcomes would be most helpful when evaluating how to distribute one's scarce personal resources.

3. It would enable anyone to contribute in areas that personally effect them.   Also, it would use the current technology, as displayed in services like Netflix that recommend personalized movies, to recommend to someone how they would probably like to contribute. Thus, Nebula would be connecting "the needs" with "the providers."

I Agree

This is a great idea and I cant wait to see it happen

NEBULA

This project is important because it saves time and resources for people across the planet working on various social causes. It also helps mentors and newcomers share and influence each other to expedite lessons learned. It is an invaluable resource to foster communication between various sectors of society that seek to use their skills for the social good.

Great idea

As somone who has done a lot of organizing at all levels, I think Nebula can revolutionize the way people  work with eachother  at the grassroots level. It's taking the whole "e-organizing" mechanism to a whole new, well-conceived, and comprehensive level.

Let's do it! How

Let's do it! How extrardinary to create a one-stop-shop for social entrepreneurs!

 

Would love nothing better for this to work

I've always been sceptical of this world of social entrepreneurship, CSR, and social ventures. I'm not sceptical in the view that people want to make the world better. I do honestly believe people are good. I am sceptical in arrogance many social people have. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth when you talk to people who say they want to help but really come off as "I'm doing this to save the world" and aren't willing to share or collaborate. In my experience, it's worse in the social world than the commercial world. I do believe SN7 and Nebula will prove me wrong or right and I hope this platform can prove the former. Good luck Tegy.

nebula

Any project that promotes social change I feel is important and deserves a chance to get something done and make a difference. Aren't we to believe that in little steps taken...change will come?

I would join Nebula!

If Nebula were fully functioning now, I would want to use it! Working in a highly interconnected nonprofit field (local food production & advocacy), I would love to have more information sharing among my local and nonlocal colleagues! Interactive maps, statistics, updates, articles posted, all in one place (at least this is what I imagine I would use this for).... In business parlance, I needed this tool yesterday....

Very interesting !

Extremely interesting concept ! One of the best ways to leverage the power of social networking. All the best and hope this is a great success.  

Excellent work

Nebula shows real promise for integrating technology, media, and social change, and that's why we're excited to support it.

FUND NEBULA

This is feasable + would love to use it.

I think this project will

I think this project will help catapult social entrepreneurship to new levels!

Kudos

Great idea!   We can get so much more done by better networking the knowledge between us.   Best of luck in making this happen! D.N.A

Social Networking applied to Social Change -- its time!

Social Networking is a powerful tool because it enables relationships - both creating, maintaining and eventually mining them for any giving purpose. Tying it to social change is an incredible idea! The power of online social networking to transcend traditional barriers make it a perfect, timely and low-cost tool to effect social change.

The proposal is well thought out and very comprehensive -- a lot of thought has clearly gone into this, and I wish the team the very best of luck!

Great initiative. A well

Great initiative. A well proposed idea that is the need of the highly fragmented social entrepreneurship space.

Nebula

SuperNova 7 Productions is on the cutting edge and utilizes all the major channels that   young adults are familiar with on a daily basis.   I praise their actions for their sheer drive and focus connect people on a professional and innovative level.

A great and necessary idea

I agree with something like this happening, a more useful and positive way to use the net. Give Nebula the chance to happen.

A good sound idea

Any effort to get like minded people together to make the world a better place, sounds like a good idea to me. :-)

Nebula

I am so excited about this project.   As an entrepreneur myself, it is great to have a platform to be able to connect with others, get support and gain a new perspective on my own venture.   People make things successful.   The more input you get the better your business will be.   This allows people from so many different backgrounds to collaborate-i think its genius!!

Nebula- great concept!

This seems like a great  idea-sharing mechanism  to promote social change- I would be interested in learning more about Nebula/SN7's platform.

This enterprise appears to

This enterprise appears to have great potential in bringing about grassroot development and social awareness. Way to go!

An Exciting Concept

As a soon-to-be college graduate, I among many others my age would benefit greatly from an interface like Nebula.  Its  exciting in that it offers a centralized hub/launch-pad  for limitless  opportunities for collaboration, engagement, promotion, and advocacy.

The world is becoming more linked together and with an idea like this, social  entrepreneurs will be able to both strengthen  ties and build upon shared values, projects, and ideas for good.  The world hurts for Nebula! I give this idea 5 stars.

fantastic

great platform connecting like-minded indivuals/groups to promote social change

On that note...

As the initial programmer for the first build, I was really excited to see the outpouring of ideas and support from the general public.   Obviously coding is important, but being able to produce what is actually desired by numerous people is key.

The creation of Nebula by SuperNova7 is proof that the goal of Nebula is both possible and desirable, in that it was created by individuals across the world, who linked together and developed something bigger than just themselves.  

Once Nebula is up and running, more and more people will see the importance of joining forces with people who were previously unreachable.

It's about time

When someone first turned me onto the TED talks, I found them entertaining.  In the last year, having watched more than 100 of them, I find them to be a resource I constantly draw on and apply in many different situations.

 Something similar for social  entrepreneurship would be fantastic.  That level of information-sharing empowers people to do great things by creating a foundation of knowledge that moves everyone ahead on the innovation curve.

I would love to see people remixing each other's projects.  That's one of the benefits social  entrepreneurs have over others...  they can be totally open about all their secrets and the network effect helps them grow.

Great, great idea my friends.    

Foundation of the Future

Global collaboration is not only possible, but necessary. What's missing is a platform accessible to organizations globally in order to do the type of organizing that was pioneered in the Obama campaign.   This looks like an awesome and viable solution to me.   Let's democratize grassroots initiatives worldwide!

FABULOUS!

I am 100% supportive of this project.     It is absolutely necessary, and the Obama campaign proved that when people pool their resources together, changes CAN be made!   Imagine that on a global level combining ideas and knowledge.   It's amazing!  

On the technological side, with the eventual roll out of the 4G network from Clearwire (formerly Xohm from Sprint) - data exchanges via handheld technology (including phones, Blackberries, cameras, laptops, etc.) will make knowledge sharing in the Now!  

I would also join now too, and would love to be a part of it in any way possible!

A better way to do business...

...than the old competitive model- why not collaborate instead?   Nebula would help every social entrepreneur find out what niche they fill best, and find the resources they need to fill it.

Nebula

Supernova 7's idea is way overdue...it's about time more people tried to inspire others to m ake some social change instead of just blaming politicians!

Nebula

Fantastic project -  a great next step for mankind ......

I love the concept

I'm looking forward to seeing this project grow.

It's about time!

I am so glad to see that someone finally figured this out.  Social  entrepreneurship  is the future, and now we had a format!  Please make this happen.

This is a good opportunity

This is a good opportunity for those with interest of Social Change to connect. Excellent!  

This looks

This looks awesome.

 

People need to ride the wave of activism post-obama.

 

This will be give people the chance to act globally, yet think locally.

Project

Well thought out project. All the best!

This is an amazing idea.  I

This is an amazing idea.   I would definitley like to work on something is extrodinary!   It is one of a kind.

nebula

i totally agree! i think this is an amazing idea and i'd love to work with you on it!!!

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