Arriving at Stanford in the fall of 2003, Joe McCannon took on a daunting challenge: devising a way to connect the care providers treating millions of HIV/AIDS patients in sub-Saharan Africa.

Undeterred by the region’s limited infrastructure, he started out with an ambitious idea driven by cutting-edge technology. When this proved impractical, however, he stepped back and realized that a relatively low-tech approach might actually address the problem more effectively after all.

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Heather Ford came to the Digital Vision Program with a bold vision of how information technology tools might be employed to help end the recurring conflicts in Africa’s Great Lakes region.

However, not long after beginning the program, she changed tack dramatically and began working on issues of intellectual property and copyright law. Though these fields may seem quite different, Heather maintains that her final project was simply a more effective way of working towards fulfilling her original goal.

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As one of Paypal’s founding employees, Sanjay Bhargava knows how much people appreciate fair, secure transactions. During his 2002-2003 fellowship year with Stanford’s Digital Vision Program, Sanjay tackled trade again. But this time, instead of streamlining payments for online retailers, Sanjay wanted to create a Community Friendly Movement (CFM) that would be as profitable for the developing world’s artisans and their communities as it was for entrepreneurs.

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