Now in its fourth year, World Challenge 08 is a global competition aimed at finding projects or small businesses from around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grass roots level. The competition seeks social entrepreneurs who are making a difference without costing the earth. It could be you or someone you know.

World Challenge 08 is organized by BBC World and Newsweek, in association with Shell, and is about championing and rewarding projects and business which really make a difference. The winner will receive a grant of USD $20,000 to put back into their project/business, and two runners up will each receive USD $10 000.

One representative from each of the three finalists will be flown to The Hague, The Netherlands to attend the award ceremony in December.

Nominations will be accepted online until May 31st. Click here to learn more about the rules for entering the competition, read profiles and watch videos of the winners and finalists from the last three years.

All of us at NextBillion.net were both humbled and thrilled to see the New York Times Sunday Magazine draw on our work - and the work of many colleagues - to write an extended piece on the impact of cell phone usage in emerging economies.

Sara Corbett's article follows Nokia researcher Jan Chipchase as he navigates the human terrain of countries like Ghana, Brazil and Uzbekistan, trying to figure out why a farmer in Kenya or a prostitute in Brazil is finding unique value in their cell phone. The article uses Jan's experience as a device for sparking a broader discussion on the potential for the booming cell phone market to increase incomes and quality of life among the BoP.

What was most interesting about the piece is that the author poses her central theme as a question, not an assertion: "Can the Cellphone Help End Global Poverty?" In her narrative, while laying out the case that cell phones increase productivity, she does not present this technology as a silver bullet development solution.

Rather, we get a very rich, on-the-ground account of how technology is changing people's lives in BoP markets everywhere.

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