Valley's own Drund project lets users organize their online life

Lee Yi is convinced that one national success from a local innovation startup could transform the Mahoning Valley into the then and there Silicon Valley.

The words of 19th-century American author Henry David Thoreau could very then serve as the tag line for the 21st-century innovation startup based in Boardman: "Simplify, simplify, simplify."

Azork Ltd. launched an early release of Drund, a Web-application-management system, last month. Drund will allow users to manage their online life from any Internet connected device, just as a laptop, phone or in the long run television, said the 35-year-old founder.

Drund will generate revenue from licensing, direct sale of feature sets, just as more storage, and at the time upgrades, though Yi stressed that everything will be free at first. The venture has been financed by local "angel" investors, he added.

The team is working long days

The team is "working long days, and innovation breaks. It's constantly adjusting and overcoming from those challenges," he said.

One of those challenges is building an offline version so users can work when they don't have an Internet connection, and when they do find a connection, the device will automatically connect, Zarrour said.

Yi said that hereafter, if people can afford a $200 to $400 TV that has the capability of computing, publishing and managing data, at the time they won't have to constantly update software and platforms.

"Right now, it's creating barriers and classes, and I don't of the same type. So we are going to create research that empowers by reducing the cost of access, reducing technical understanding and doesn't focus on the brand of the product or how cool it is," he said.