NEW YORK, April 29–TIME named Matt Berg, ICT director for the Millennium Villages Project and Earth Institute researcher, to the 2010 TIME 100, the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Berg has been instrumental in bringing mobile phone based services, computer access and connectivity to some of the most remote and poorest regions of Africa. His work has significantly impacted many lives in the fields of education, health, infrastructure and business. Specific projects Berg has helped to lead, with his colleagues at MVP, include ChildCount+, a mobile health platform to promote maternal and child health, and the Rural Technology Lab in Mali which is part of a greater effort to build local computer programming capacity in Africa.
“I’m lucky to work at this special time,” said Berg. “We’re now realizing the full potential of using mobile phones for improving people’s lives. I’m fortunate to be part of an amazing community working to change the way we address key development challenges.”
The full list and related tributes appear in the May 10 issue of TIME, available on newsstands on Friday, April 30, and now at time.com/time100.
Rural Technology Lab in Mali
