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Giving Liberians Shoulders to Stand On
A few years ago, John Etherton, CS 05, MS CS 07, was working on his master's degree and doing his best to avoid getting "a real job" when he noticed a posting on the Georgia Tech website about the work of Michael Best, an associate professor of international affairs who was studying the effects of computers and the internet in developing countries. "That sounded exactly like the kind of not-real-job job I was looking for, so I met Dr. Best and signed up for his class," Etherton said. "The idea of using computers to help people, not just to make U.S. corporations richer, really appealed to me. Plus the idea of getting to travel to exotic places to work sounded great" Etherton was selected to travel to Liberia to work on a pilot project to develop a multi-user cellphone. During his six weeks in the country, Etherton saw a place sorely in need oftechnical skills (he was the only person in the entire country with a master's degree in computer science), and so he knew he could make a 046
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real impact. "Plus, the idea of being in a place where you needed a [four-wheel-drive vehicle] because the road could be washed out by the next rainy season greatly appealed to my boyish need for adventure." After graduating, Etherton signed up to work as project manager on another of Best's projects, a collaboration with Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which lasted until 2009. But Etherton still wasn't ready to leave, so he enlisted a colleague in starting up iLab Liberia, a nonprofit computer lab that's tasked with closing the country's digital divide. The program often collaborates with Georgia Tech faculty, and last summer Allan Martel,