February 9, 2010 – There's only a few more days until the opening of the Tech4Society event being held Feb. 11-13 in Hyderabad, India.

The event – a celebration of Ashoka-Lemelson Fellows – brings together pioneers on the cutting edge of innovation in solar energy, clean water, mobile technology, science education, agriculture and healthcare. In 2006, Ashoka and The Lemelson Foundation launched a partnership that aimed to find, support, and celebrate social innovators whose inventions and technologies offer fresh, effective approaches to advancing social change. Combining Ashoka’s nearly 30 year track record for finding and supporting the world’s leading social entrepreneurs with The Lemelson Foundation’s renowned expertise in incubating and celebrating invention for social good, the partnership has sought to prove that entrepreneurship and invention can align in powerful ways to improve the world.

Over the course of three years we have supported over 100 Ashoka‑Lemelson Fellows whose individual work fits into one or more of these groups:

• Design and dissemination of a technological innovation for social good
• Education of the next generation of inventor‑entrepreneurs in science, technology, engineering, and math
• Development of new economic models and marketing strategies for disseminating technologies
• Creation of an enabling environment for invention and innovation

Through the partnership, Ashoka and The Lemelson Foundation have provided these inventor‑entrepreneurs with financial support, nominations for prestigious awards, and the opportunity to meet and collaborate with other Ashoka‑Lemelson Fellows. In addition, Ashoka, The Lemelson Foundation, and others around the world have gained valuable insight into how best to support and inspire future generations of innovators.

The Tech4Society celebration is the culmination of this three‑year partnership. It is about celebrating the inspirational work of the Ashoka‑Lemelson Fellows and sharing their vision with the world. During these three days, the Fellows and other guests will have the opportunity to exchange learning, tackle common problems, share solutions and strengthen our community through the various discussions, activities and side‑conversations.

For those of you without an invitation to Tech4Society, or without a magic transport that will get you to India on a few days notice, there are numerous ways to follow along virtually, using your favorite online vehicle:

• Twitter – A common hashtag of #tech4soc has been setup for everyone to post and follow updates. Be sure also to check out the tweets from AshokaTECH and The Lemelson Foundation as well.
• Videos – Many of the Tech4Society sessions will be available for viewing, along with interviews with Tech4Society participants about their work and experiences, on Ashoka's YouTube channel.
• Weblog – Elliot Harmon, blogger for TechSoup, was the winner of Ashoka's Blog Your Way to Hyderabad competition will be live blogging through out the event at http://blog.techsoup.org/ and at http://tech.ashoka.org/. The Lemelson Foundation's news weblog will also be updated daily with thoughts from our staff about their experiences at Tech4Society.
• Photos – Event photos from the various sessions and discussion at Tech4Society will be posted to Ashoka's Flickr page.
• Facebook – You can also visit the Facebook pages for AshokaTECH and Lemelson Foundation for updated information about Tech4Society.
• Changemakers social network – Finally, AshokaTECH has it's own group on the Changemakers social networking community.

Hope to see everyone online or at Tech4Society!

About Ashoka

Ashoka is the global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs—men and women with system changing solutions for the world’s most urgenet social problems.  Since 1981, Ashoka has elected over 2,500 leading social entrepreneurs as Ashoka Fellows, providing them with living stipends, professional support and access to a global network of peers in more than 60 countries.

• For more information about Ashoka, visit http://www.ashoka.org.
• For more information about AshokaTECH, visit http://tech.ashoka.org.
• For more information about the Ashoka-Lemelson partnership and the cohort of Fellows, visit http://www.ashoka.org/lemelson.