By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

Ewa Wojkowska wants to make an Amazon-like online store for technologies for the developing world. After 10 years of working for the UN, Wojkowska was frustrated by the disconnect between the people who invent technologies and getting it to people who need the technology the most.

“One thing that struck us was the lack of innovations in solving developing world problems, “says Kopernik’s co-founder Wojkowska.

Wojkowska’s nonprofit organization, Kopernik, will officially launch this Friday to coincide with the birthday of Nicolaus Copernicus.

She began thinking about connecting the technology to the developing world 3 years ago, but began building the website and connections with local organizations last year. Now, the company has two co-founders, 3 workers, and 20 volunteers.

The self-adjustable lenses were part of a pilot product that launched in Manado, Indonesia. After donations were made, the glasses that were invented in Josh Silver’s lab at Oxford University made their way from a manufacturing plant in China to Indonesia, so people could regain their sight.

Other test products included Life Straw for clean water and N computing for cheap computing. Kopernik has a global reach, but most of the 140 organizations registered are from Sub-Saharan Africa.

The problems these technologies try to solve are universal and deal with solar energy and water purification. “The products have been developed and are not reaching where they are needed,” says Wojkowska.

The model works like this:

A local organization requests a certain product in the store and then Kopernik collects donations. When enough money is raised, Kopernik orders the product from the inventor and distributes it to the local organization.

Kopernik is also building a database of blueprints of DIY items that could help encourage local development.

So if you want to build a solar cooker, you can. Or you can find out about new inventions like this bamboo bike.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Malaria Projects FAQ (intellectualventureslab.com)
• Unshackle Inventors from University Licensing Offices, to Meet President Obama’s Challenge to ‘Encourage American Innovation,’ Says IP Advocate Founder Dr. Renee Kaswan (eon.businesswire.com)
• CharityWater.org – Clean & Drinkable Water For All (killerstartups.com)
• Kerry Trueman: Blueprint For a Better World, Free Toolkit Included! (huffingtonpost.com)
• Managing Disasters With Small Steps (innovationtoronto.com)
• Canada’s CHF Helps Haiti Communities Rebuild Lives (newswire.ca)