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From All-Inclusive to Socially Inclusive: Travel and Tourism’s Big Shift is Under Way
Tourism is one of the world's largest industries – but how can it best be leveraged to move nations from poverty to prosperity? That was a key question at the recent "Global Conference on Jobs & Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism," organized in Jamaica by the UN's World Tourism Organization. NextBillion was a media partner at the conference, and we share some major themes (and a few controversial remarks) ranging from the impact of the sharing economy and Airbnb, to the problems with building "five-star hotels in three-star communities."
- Categories
- Social Enterprise, Technology
- Tags
- employment, research, tourism
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The Clear Blue Water on the Other Side of the Digital Divide
Digital financial exclusion represents both a development challenge for poor customers, and a missed opportunity for providers, says MicroSave founder Graham Wright. While providers fight for a share of the most profitable and easiest-to-reach markets, they often overlook the vast commercial potential of lower-income communities – in territory that is largely not competed. Wright explores how to tap into this "fiercely loyal" market.
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- Finance, Technology
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Impact Investing at a Turning Point: Read a Free Chapter of Morgan Simon’s New Book, ‘Real Impact’
Impact investing is at a turning point, says Morgan Simon, managing director of Candide Group and founding CEO of Toniic, in her new book "Real Impact: The New Economics of Social Change." It's preparing for rapid scale, but risks falling short of its ideals and transformative potential. Simon discusses eight pitfalls facing the sector in the book's third chapter – which we’re delighted to offer, for free, to readers of our e-newsletter “NextBillion Notes.”
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- Investing, Social Enterprise
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- impact investing
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Venture Capital is Broken – Here’s How to Fix It: A Q&A with Village Capital President Ross Baird
Venture capital investors are often backing the wrong ideas for the wrong reasons, hoping to strike it rich by dumping billions into frivolous apps that benefit only a wealthy sliver of the world’s population. Meanwhile, innovative solutions to pressing global challenges go underfunded. That's the thesis of Village Capital president Ross Baird, which he expresses in a new book. NextBillion editor Sonya Vann DeLoach discusses the book's message with Baird in this interview.
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- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Water ATMs: How Technology is Improving Water Governance in Tanzania
The lack of accessible, potable water for many of the world's most remote communities is too often due to a water governance issue. But as Madison Lawson is at Catholic Relief Services points out, new enterprises are combining database management, water pumping and business models that can deliver fresh water to places most in need. She highlights one such "water ATM" system in Tanzania.
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- Environment, Social Enterprise, WASH
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Welfare Schemes Don’t Work if Nobody Knows About Them: Fixing India’s Information Deficit
An information drought is causing millions of India's poor to miss out on billions of dollars in vital government assistance. Haqdarshak is a tech platform that addresses this massive problem. Using a combination of technology and a network of people, the social enterprise aims to transform the way people find out about, apply for and benefit from various welfare schemes.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Philanthropy is Changing Fast: 12 Lessons from Three Reports
A slew of reports over the last two years from the more progressive spheres of the social good sector shows that philanthropy cannot continue with “business as usual” if we hope to actually achieve the global SDGs. Mark Horoszowski and Petra Barbu of MovingWorlds pull some nuggets of wisdom from several recent reports, all pointing toward new rules the changemakers of the future are, or soon will be, following.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
- Tags
- philanthropy
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Four Bottom-up Solutions to Strengthen Land Rights in Emerging Markets
On an estimated 70 percent of land in developing countries, people live without formal recognition of their property rights. Despite significant investment, big improvements in protecting the property rights of most citizens have not materialized. But several civil society and private sector organizations are working to address these gaps and ensure land rights for people most in need - and technology solutions are providing a blueprint. BRAC and Landesa explore four innovative approaches.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
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