July 29th, 2008 by Nils Maier
On Monday morning I came across a highly interesting article in the Financial Times. The title of this article was Peace for Pixels. The article introduced a start-up from the Silicon Wadi. The company provides its clients an operating system which is not tied to a specific Mac or PC but can be used worldwide via browser and with any internet access. For the user, this service is free of charge and it enables him to access his self-made browser desktop from every web-enabled computer. The domain name g.ho.st also is the motto, at which g.ho.st is short for Global Hosting System. By means of the Palestinian browser desktop, it is possible for the user to administer his emails or have access to his previously filed Word documents, for example. The number of offers, which can be integrated into the g.ho.st desktop, increases from day to day. In order to guarantee a secure and comfortable access for the user, g.ho.st resorts to Amazon as web hoster. Below, the CEO of g.ho.st, Zvi Schreiber, provides a bit more insight into the idea behind the web-based operating system:
In addition to the highly promising technical idea behind g.ho.st, the way the Palestinian start-up works is also worth mentioning. Beside commercial success, Schreiber’s concept when founding this company was to encourage peaceful dialogue in the Middle East. The start-up is supposed to serve as a role model for international understanding in Palestine. G.ho.st has two pillars in this region. One office is located in the Israeli city Modi’in, the other in Palestinian Ramallah. Although the two towns are geographically only a one hour’s drive apart, the distance which is the origin of conflicts between Palestine and Israel is not conquerable without further ado. Nevertheless, in order to facilitate an effective cooperation a continuous video hook-up connecting the two offices has been arranged, for example.
Zvi Schreiber demonstrates the fact that the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israeli can also be peacefully solved by cooperating. In its own special way, the project g.ho.st illustrates the positive and highly innovative synergies which can result from such ideas.
