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Guest Post: New Ventures Indonesia Launches IT Training Facility for SMEs
Many organizations have cited the need for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries to adopt IT to create new business opportunities and remain competitive in the global environment. Recognizing the lack of opportunities for IT education, New Ventures Indonesia has opened an IT training center for SMEs in Salatiga, Central Java.
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Guest Post: Clean Development Mechanisms for the Base of the Pyramid?
You?ve probably read many stories of solar, biogas, and wind enterprises bringing clean energy with associated health, dignity and other benefits to the BoP. Underlying this movement is a seemingly simple framework known as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). It has the power to enable clean energy enterprises, but it?s under siege.
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The Need to Fund Social Entrepreneurs
When the financial incentive is discounted for social entrepreneurs, many of the best stay on the sidelines and that’s not where we need them to be. I want to suggest that if we can close the financial gap for social entrepreneurs, perhaps we will see more social entrepreneurship activities unleashed. So, where will this funding come from?
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Guest Post: Observations and Reflections from a TED 2009 Fellow
I attended the TED conference this year as a Fellow, a new program launched to ?help world-changing innovators from around the globe become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.? I quickly realized that TED encompasses much more than what the acronym conveys.
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Who are the Microfinance Borrowers?
Some time ago, the winner for the CGAP Microfinance Photography Contest was announced. These photos are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also (and most importantly) they serve as a gentle reminder of why we, the practitioners, the researchers and the entrepreneurs, love what we do.
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Guest Post: The Development Dialogue Wraps Up
Deshpande Foundation’s Development Dialogue ended a few weeks ago in Hubli, and even though I’ve been pretty busy since then the experiences and takeaways still ring clear, so I thought I’d share and reflect. The lessons shared by Ashoka fellows and others made for a fantastic final day of dialogues around social entrepreneurship.
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Guest Post: Could ?GIM 2.0? Enable Scale through Policy Innovation?
In 2008, UNDP?s Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative released its first report, Creating Value for All. It is now considering its next steps, "GIM 2.0". While awareness and interest in inclusive business seem to be growing, few inclusive business models have actually achieved scale. What is the role of initiatives like GIM in this context?
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Agora Partnerships and Heroes of Development
As I learn more about entrepreneurship and job creation efforts I am increasingly convinced that we need a broader range of tools than either microcredit or social venture funding typically offer.? Recently Agora Partnerships caught my eye when they and their founder Ben Powell were awarded a Draper Richards Fellowship.
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- Education
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- academia, partnerships