A Challenge to the Best and Brightest

Following the great interest of the new USAID Director, Richard Goughnour, today I spent the whole working day on the Dominican American Institute, on an event which is raising high hopes for the development of the country. The event was "Primera Conferencia Anual de Ex-Becarios." I am very happy to report that many frogs (as Carlos Yunén calls them) decided to jump on the development wagon of the Dominican Republic. But, will they really jump?

As DR-CAFTA become effective and tariff become zero, businesses effective protection will desapear to the benefit of customers in the country. However, unless the power system protection is also lifted (not included as electricity is not exported directly), businesses will have a hard time to compete. As usual, power companies will be tempted to lobby the USAID Director to keep their protection as is. Electricity Without Price Controls will lift the inherent protection of the price control system and introduce competition and innovations to the power industry.

I told them of the work I have been developing, and many of them became very interested. The latest update on an introduction to the project is under the article Divorcing Electricity Sales from Profits Creates Win-Win for Utilities and Customers. Please read the message at the top of the page to learn what the GMH intentions are.

I also suggested that we need to develop critical mass of systemic thinkers to bridge Eamonn Kelly suggestion in the book Powerfull Times, as can be seen in the post La Verdad Sobre el Secuestro del Desarrollo. To further understand the need for systemic thinkers, please read the post Una Salida Apolítica a la Gran Depresión Eléctrica.

The Challenge to the best and brightest is to help me organize, fund and develop, an effort to transform the electricity sector of the country, to reap the benefit of the innovations available. I invite them to browse the site and find by themselves if they up to the challenge. Once they do that, they should sent an email to javs@ieee.org with a plan of how he or she may collaborate and contribute on the effort.

After a review of all messages sent by October 31st, I will interview at the most 10 to 12 candidates to select a virtuous team of the 5 or 6 best and brightest consultant collaborators (willing also to become systemic thinkers, unless they already are). I will perform as the system architect. The team is based on the post Constituyamos Equipos Virtuosos para Enfrentar Retos Parte 2. The challenge is not limited to Ex-Becarios, but is wide open to any resident of, or on, the country.