RightMesh Team Update`
As many of our followers know, the RightMesh project has roots going back over 5 years. Our first off-grid project was sparked by our team in Bangladesh, building a solution to the perennial problems they faced daily: unreliable power supply, poor Internet infrastructure, and expensive data services.
The team was so constrained with their internet connection that whenever they had a Skype call with the Canadian office, the team had to stop any work they were doing in order to preserve enough bandwidth for the call. As technologists, they challenged themselves to find a better way. What they developed was a mobile app that allowed direct peer-to-peer transfer of data between two mobile phones without an internet connection. This was the inspiration behind RightMesh.
In 2016 we decided to follow a dual track strategy by formalising the RightMesh project and building out a dedicated mesh development team in Canada under the technology leadership of Dr Jason Ernst, who became the company’s Chief Networking Scientist. During 2017 and 2018, we recruited some outstanding technologists to work on the project across multiple jurisdictions around the world, including Canada and Singapore. This team was tasked with pushing the platform into new and challenging areas of software-based mesh communications.
During recent months, it has become apparent that the best way to deliver on our stated goals and ensure the long-term success of the RightMesh project is to focus funds and resources on one team, rather than supporting multiple development teams. As a result, we had to say goodbye to some amazing people who were both technically brilliant and high-quality individuals. This was deeply painful for us as an organisation. As of Friday 27th September, Jason Ernst is leaving to take up a new role and a new challenge. We wish him well in his endeavours
Left’s Co-Founder and CTO, Rakib Islam, who was the originator of the company’s initial off-grid connectivity applications, will lead technology efforts in pursuit of the RightMesh vision. Rakib has assembled a team of talented engineers who uniquely understand the pains of this market. We believe that the best solution for serving people in emerging markets will come from those who understand the innate connectivity problems of our customers the best. As such, technical development also needs to be led by the team in Bangladesh. It should also be noted that there have always been more people engaged on the mesh project in Bangladesh than in Canada.
While the technical development side of the company has been restructured, the mission of RightMesh remains the same. We will continue to be a long-term, collaborative, multi-national team that works hard on mission-driven work. We will continue to work towards making an impact on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and we will continue to push the boundaries of technological development in order to connect the next billion and lift 100 million people out of poverty.
With this as our vision, we will not waver.
