-
The Development Tool Nobody’s Using: Why it’s Time for the Women’s Empowerment Sector to Leverage Media and Advertising
In women’s economic empowerment circles, there’s no shortage of initiatives involving corporate partnerships with NGOs - often focused on agriculture or garment supply chains. But as Mara Bolis at Oxfam points out, this focus has led the sector to overlook other potential areas of impact – including media and advertising. Sharing some compelling examples, she argues that media could have as much – or even more – influence in shaping women’s economic opportunities as changes to global value chains.
- Categories
- Technology
-
How the Digital Economy is Transforming Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union
While there's a lot of discussion of the thriving digital economy in countries like China, the potential for growth in one vast region remains woefully unrecognized — Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Aleksandr Gevorkyan and Norean Sharpe at St. John’s University discuss the region's emerging digital powerhouses, and argue that – despite some key remaining challenges – these post-socialist countries are very much open for business.
- Categories
- Technology
-
The Rise (and Rise) of the Gig Economy in Kenya – And How to Take It to the Next Level
The gig economy is growing fast in East Africa, fueled by a young population and burgeoning mobile and smartphone penetration. Countries like Kenya now have gig platforms offering everything from taxi rides to cleaners and handymen, and analysts say this is only the beginning. Gituku Ngene at Google.org Youth Impact Labs explores the gig economy's growing impact, the barriers it faces – and solutions that could unlock its full potential.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise, Technology
- Tags
- employment, gig economy, youth
-
Designing for Social Good, Not ‘Feel Good’
Designing products for multinational corporations and their affluent target markets is very different from designing products for low-income, rural consumers. Jordan Westerberg, industrial designer with social venture development firm Factor[e], has worked in both of these worlds. He discusses a recent project that redesigned a solar conduction dryer for Indian farmers, and cautions against being drawn to simplistic, feel-good products when designing for social impact.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Social Enterprise, Technology
-
Is Your Data Collection Program Ready to Go Mobile? Four Steps (And a Free Guide) to Help You Get Started
From decision support to enhanced communication with beneficiaries, mobile data collection can be an incredibly useful tool for impact-based organizations. But for all its benefits, it's no silver bullet, cautions Sam Farnham at Dimagi. Farnham stresses the importance of doing due diligence on collection methods before moving onto digital tools, and offers a free guide for determining mobile data collection's relevance for your organization in this constructive post.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- data, digital inclusion
-
Unlocking the Medical Equipment Donation Ecosystem: Is a Blockchain Marketplace the Solution?
Every year hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical equipment is donated to hospitals in emerging markets, only to remain unused due to lack of knowledge, parts or maintenance. According to Vikas Meka, a blockchain-based donation platform could help – but it would be difficult to entice stakeholders to use it. He explores a solution: A token-driven marketplace that could unlock new social and economic value in the medical equipment donation ecosystem.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
-
Surviving the ‘Valley of Death’: A New Funding Database Aims to Help Agtech Companies Avoid Early-Stage Failure
Population growth and climate change are bringing extraordinary challenges to the agriculture sector in emerging markets. But though small- and medium-sized enterprises are essential to addressing these issues, they remain underfunded – particularly in the period before they become profitable (often referred to as the ‘‘Valley of Death’’). Aarno Keijzer at NpM explores these challenges, and presents a free database that NpM has compiled, highlighting funds that can help early-stage agriculture companies bridge this financial gap.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Tags
- agtech, business development, data, failure
-
Clean vs. ‘Clean Enough’: How the Clean Cooking Industry Can Overcome its Struggles to Scale
Access to clean cookstoves and fuels has only increased by 0.5% per year, well below all global development goals. To turn this trajectory around, Jessica Alderman at Envirofit International argues that the industry needs to resolve a high-stakes debate: Should it focus only on the cleanest solutions that have the greatest health and environmental impacts? Or should it fund and promote technologies that have lesser impacts - but that are more affordable and likelier to reach the people who need them most?
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care, Technology
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter, "NextBillion Notes"
Published each Wednesday, our e-newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with a selection of news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage — and regular conference ticket giveaways.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.