The Business of Changing Lives: How One Company Took the Information Superhighway to the Inner City

Can a company achieve profitable growth, work toward the betterment of society, and offer educational opportunities that bridge the socioeconomic divide? Absolutely. And Advanced Network and Services (ANS) CEO Allan Weis explains how in this unique, inspirational story. An Internet pioneer, Weis describes the unusual business model that enabled ANS to create the backbone of the Internet--the same business model he and similar visionaries have used to help low-income youth find high-tech jobs and give inner-city achievers powerful opportunities.

The Business of Changing Lives will help you balance your socially conscious desire to make a lasting impact on society with smart corporate management. By applying engineering acumen and social consciousness, Weis was able to lead his company to

• design and operate in record time the largest and fastest part of the Internet;
• sponsor an educational Olympics on the World Wide Web to introduce a new generation to the magic of computers, online learning, and the collaborative power of networking;
• close the digital divide between the technologically privileged and the technologically destitute.

With compelling, insightful, and inspirational stories, this book offers inspiration and guidance to help you make the world a better place and your business a stronger organization.

Praise for The Business of Changing Lives:
''The ANS story is a remarkable one: first, the mice outrunning the elephants in driving the explosive early growth of the Internet; then a radical drive to infuse the technology into K 12 education worldwide; then a hand-off of progress made; and finally a graceful exit. In twenty years, the sun shined three different days, and on each, ANS made hay.''
--Jim McGroddy, retired IBM senior vice president of research, and ANS board member

''Allan Weis is one of the unsung pioneers in the development of the Internet. Not surprisingly, he was also a pioneer in thinking about how the first generation of digital natives (our children) could become online users and creators of content. He launched ThinkQuest, innovative in its use of technology and student teamwork and international in scope. The ThinkQuest students produced wonderful content that has been shared all over the world.''
--Linda G. Roberts, director, Office of Educational Technology, Clinton Administration, 1993 2001

''While many individuals played important roles in the formation of ANS, Al Weis deserves special mention for his efforts in leading ANS, and in making it such an essential element in moving the Internet to wider adoption.''
--Robert E. Kahn, chairman, CEO, and president, Corporation for National Research Initiatives