{"id":345234,"date":"2019-10-08T15:28:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T13:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=345234"},"modified":"2019-10-08T15:28:45","modified_gmt":"2019-10-08T13:28:45","slug":"there-are-the-top-50-most-influential-projects-of-the-last-50-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/technology\/345234\/there-are-the-top-50-most-influential-projects-of-the-last-50-years\/","title":{"rendered":"These are the top 50 most influential projects of the last 50 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new ranking by the Project Management Institute (PMI) has identified 50 of the most influential projects in the world undertaken in the last five decades – including a host of tech and finance innovations like Google Search, Bitcoin and M-Pesa.<\/p>\n

According to the PMI, which boasts 550,000 members, the Most Influential Projects list recognises projects that have transformed their sectors and the entire business landscape, chosen from among more than 1,000 high-impact items.<\/p>\n

The projects were identified by 400 leaders in the global project management community.<\/p>\n

While technological innovations feature prominently on the list – with the creation of the World Wide Web being the project to top the list for “connecting everyone and everything” – the selected projects are not necessarily all products or services.<\/p>\n

The PMI also highlights social projects, such as the Rwanda National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, as well as literary projects such as the Harry Potter series of books, which the group says “made reading cool” and spurred a generation of book lovers.<\/p>\n

Other projects include architectural and engineering projects like the Sydney Opera House – which shows the power of design to define a city – and the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.<\/p>\n

Ranked high up on the list is African innovation, M-Pesa, the payments platform developed by Safaricom and Vodafone.<\/p>\n

The system ranks as the ninth most influential project for completely revolutionising the banking and finance industry in Kenya and other markets where formal banking is scarce.<\/p>\n

Launched in 2007, M-Pesa allowed customers to use simple text messages to send money, make deposits and withdrawals, and purchase airtime minutes.<\/p>\n

In the first three years of service, users transferred more than US$600 billion, generating about US$100 million in revenue for Safaricom and Vodafone. By 2019, M-Pesa had 31.8 million active users in Kenya alone.<\/p>\n

Kenya has since become a leading tech hub in Africa, with annual GDP growth rates hovering above 5%, while M-Pesa has evolved into a full financial services solution where users can make small payments and exchange cash, and also pay bills, receive paycheques and social grants, and access loans and saving products.<\/p>\n

\n

The Top 50 Most Influential Projects<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. World Wide Web<\/strong> \u2013 For connecting everyone and everything.<\/li>\n
  2. Apollo 11<\/strong> \u2013 For proving risk management and out-of-this-world ambitions can make the impossible possible.<\/li>\n
  3. Intel 4004 Microprocessor<\/strong> \u2013 For democratising the power of computing.<\/li>\n
  4. The Euro<\/strong> \u2013 For flawlessly executing the largest monetary changeover in history.<\/li>\n
  5. Human Genome Project<\/strong> \u2013 For rising above usual silos to unlock the building block of humanity and enable unparalleled innovations in medicine, biotech and life sciences.<\/li>\n
  6. Alibaba Singles Day<\/strong> \u2013 For creating the largest e-commerce day in the world and fundamentally shifting how people shop.<\/li>\n
  7. Prius Car<\/strong> \u2013 For driving the auto industry toward a more sustainable future.<\/li>\n
  8. Live Aid Concert<\/strong> \u2013 For reimagining the magnitude and model of philanthropy with a major dose of celebrity.<\/li>\n
  9. M-Pesa Mobile Microfinancing Platform<\/strong>\u2013 For delivering cutting-edge mobile technology that allowed Kenya to leapfrog past more advanced economies and start a banking revolution.<\/li>\n
  10. Svalbard Global Seed Vault<\/strong> \u2013 For building the ultimate insurance policy for the world\u2019s food supply.<\/li>\n
  11. Netflix Streaming<\/strong> \u2013 For proving a single project can pivot a company, an industry and viewing habits of the entire world.<\/li>\n
  12. DynaTAC 8000x Mobile Phone<\/strong> \u2013 For connecting phones to people, not places.<\/li>\n
  13. Alexa Voice Service<\/strong> \u2013 For making voice-activated computer interface a part of everyday life.<\/li>\n
  14. Paris Fashion Week<\/strong> \u2013 For transforming a ho-hum industry showcase into an all-eyes-are-watching global event.<\/li>\n
  15. Burj Khalifa <\/strong>\u2013 For standing tall as a symbol of economic diversification in the Middle East.<\/li>\n
  16. Walt Disney World Resort<\/strong> \u2013 For setting the bar on immersive entertainment \u2013 and then raising it again and again.<\/li>\n
  17. Google Search<\/strong> \u2013 For transforming the way we think about and identify information.<\/li>\n
  18. Belt and Road Initiative<\/strong> \u2013 For launching the largest infrastructure blitz the world has ever seen \u20131,814 projects and counting.<\/li>\n
  19. Bitcoin<\/strong> \u2013 For putting cryptocurrency on the map and giving birth to blockchain.<\/li>\n
  20. MRI<\/strong> \u2013 For revolutionising medicine in a noninvasive way.<\/li>\n
  21. Harry Potter Books<\/strong> \u2013 For making reading cool \u2013 and that\u2019s just the beginning of the magic.<\/li>\n
  22. Boeing 747 Airplane<\/strong> \u2013 For making the world smaller with the first jumbo jet.<\/li>\n
  23. iPod Player<\/strong> \u2013 For being the gateway gadget to the iUniverse.<\/li>\n
  24. Hornsdale Power Reserve<\/strong> \u2013 For showing how one big battery could revolutionise renewable energy.<\/li>\n
  25. Rwanda National Unity and Reconciliation Commission<\/strong> \u2013 For forging a path to recovery and redemption amid severe trauma.<\/li>\n
  26. International Space Station<\/strong> \u2013 For showing that space exploration transcends global politics.<\/li>\n
  27. Panama Canal Expansion<\/strong> \u2013 For supersizing a century-old waterway to meet modern shipping demands.<\/li>\n
  28. Global Polio Eradication Initiative<\/strong> \u2013 For leading the world\u2019s largest public health initiative and bringing a deadly disease to the brink of elimination.<\/li>\n
  29. Atari 2600 Video Game Player<\/strong> \u2013 For bringing arcade games into homes around the world.<\/li>\n
  30. Ground Zero Master Plan<\/strong> \u2013 For helping a city and nation heal, remember and rise again.<\/li>\n
  31. Aadhaar<\/strong> \u2013 For using biometrics to recalibrate how Indians interact with their government and beyond.<\/li>\n
  32. Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm<\/strong> \u2013 For demonstrating the viability of offshore wind as a clean energy powerhouse.<\/li>\n
  33. Curitiba BRT<\/strong> \u2013 For sparking a transportation revolution in cities around the world.<\/li>\n
  34. COSMOS Package Tracking System<\/strong> \u2013 For opening the e-commerce floodgates with real-time package tracking for express courier service.<\/li>\n
  35. Swat Valley Project<\/strong> \u2013 For championing girls\u2019 education and empowerment in a country where its founder was once attacked for exercising those rights.<\/li>\n
  36. Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia<\/strong> \u2013 For tapping into the world\u2019s collective knowledge with a radically collaborative, multilingual online encyclopedia.<\/li>\n
  37. Star Wars Motion Pictures<\/strong> \u2013 For reinventing special effects and cementing the concept of a movie blockbuster series, all while taking viewers to a galaxy far, far away.<\/li>\n
  38. Project Tiger<\/strong> \u2013 For rescuing the majestic big cat from the brink of extinction in the wild.<\/li>\n
  39. Sorek Desalination Plant<\/strong> \u2013 For relieving devastating drought with a sustainable solution.<\/li>\n
  40. First IVF Baby<\/strong> \u2013 For delivering a modern medical miracle.<\/li>\n
  41. Chernobyl Cleanup<\/strong> \u2013 For mitigating the world\u2019s worst nuclear plant disaster \u2013 twice.<\/li>\n
  42. E-Estonia<\/strong> \u2013 For building the world\u2019s first digital country.<\/li>\n
  43. World of Warcraft Interactive Game<\/strong> \u2013 For taking video game play to a whole new level.<\/li>\n
  44. Large Hadron Collider<\/strong> \u2013 For enabling mind-blowing scientific discoveries that are helping physicists decode the universe.<\/li>\n
  45. TGV<\/strong> \u2013 For igniting Europe\u2019s ultra-fast bullet train \u2013 safely.<\/li>\n
  46. Khan Academy Education Services<\/strong> \u2013 For demonstrating the vast promise of online learning.<\/li>\n
  47. Watson Computer Software<\/strong> \u2013 For ushering artificial intelligence and machine learning into the mainstream.<\/li>\n
  48. Tengger Desert Solar Park<\/strong> \u2013 For building the Great Wall of Solar.<\/li>\n
  49. Operation Flood<\/strong> \u2013 For transforming India into the world\u2019s largest milk producer and helping to kick-start the country\u2019s nascent economy.<\/li>\n
  50. Sydney Opera House<\/strong> \u2013 For demonstrating architecture\u2019s power to redefine a city.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Read: Vodacom and Safaricom to purchase M-Pesa rights from Vodafone<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A new ranking by the Project Management Institute (PMI) has identified 50 of the most influential projects in the world undertaken in the last five decades – including a host of tech and finance innovations like Google Search, Bitcoin and M-Pesa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":345258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9878],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-345234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345234"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345262,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345234\/revisions\/345262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}