In very exciting news, microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunas and the Grameen Bank he founded have won this year's Nobel Peace Prize for their work bringing people out of poverty in Bangladesh. This is a great win for everyone who believes that the path to peace is through ending poverty and that technology can help achieve this.

Yunas came up with the concept of microfinance - giving very small loans to very poor people to use to start and run businesses. His concept has made it possible for millions of Bangladeshis to rise out of poverty and is now used in countries all over the world. Yunas has also made great strides in bringing technology to poor areas in Bangladesh by making it a viable business.

The Grameen Phone initiative uses cell phones for economic development. How it works is that banks give loans so people can purchase mobile phones and in turn rent them out to others in their villages. These phones are often the first access entire villages have to a telephone. Not only do these phones make excellent businesses for the people who manage them, but they also make it possible for everyone in the town to work more efficiently through faster communications. And they've brought a lot of money to the country.

And new innovative uses of these phones are popping up in Bangladesh to meet people's needs. One example is the service Cell Bazaar, a kind of mobile Craig's List that people can use to check prices before they buy or sell a product to make sure they are getting the best rate.

Congratulations Yunas and Grameen Bank. Your win is a great achievement for the movement behind using technology for social change, the field of microfinance, and for everyone in Bangladesh.

Andy Carvin has an excellent video about Grameen Bank and Yunas posted on his blog. You can watch it here.