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Dear Big Tech Leaders: Instead of Harvesting Our Data and Launching Yourselves Into Space, How About Making Life Better on Earth?
As Big Tech's data practices come under greater scrutiny and its leaders indulge in an ego-driven space race, Steve Hollingworth of Grameen Foundation says it’s time to have a hard conversation with the industry. It can start with the question of why its core companies are focusing their talents and technologies on accumulating ever-greater amounts of money, while the world struggles with long-standing and quickly escalating challenges that could be greatly improved by the data and other resources the tech industry commands.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
- Tags
- corporations, data, NGOs
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Women Are Paying More for M-Pesa: A Gender Analysis of Mobile Money Fees in Kenya
The cost of using financial services is a key barrier to their adoption and use in low- and middle-income countries — and when it comes to mobile money transactions via M-Pesa in Kenya, those costs are greater for women, according to a recent study. Bryan Pon at Caribou Data shares details about the study's findings, and explains how understanding these gender differences could illuminate some of the obstacles women face when using digital financial services – and help inform policy or system design approaches that could address these challenges.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
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‘Back in the U.S.S.D.’: Most Smartphone Owners—Especially Women—Don’t Use Apps for Financial Services
The global transition from basic mobile phones to smartphones has impacted nearly every sector, including financial services. Bryan Pon from Caribou Data considers whether this shift will help or hinder access to mobile money and digital finance for women in emerging markets — a group already less likely to be using these services. He shares the findings of a comprehensive study on how payment system design could impact gender bias in digital finance, and discusses the ongoing popularity — and under-recognized advantages — of old-fashioned USSD codes in mobile money.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation
- Tags
- data, financial inclusion, fintech
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In the Race for Dominance in African Fintech, Partnerships With Phone Makers Are Transforming the Landscape
Corporate partnerships and acquisitions have proliferated in Africa's fintech sector in recent years, as companies fight for dominance in the growing digital payment space. Digital economy analyst Jill Lagos Shemin highlights an emerging element of this trend: alliances between mobile phone makers and payment providers and telecom operators. She explores how these partnerships can boost customer access to smartphones and digital credit, while expanding Africa's digital finance ecosystem and building tech players' footprint in this sought-after market.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
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Digital Access Matters: The Benefits of Bringing High-Speed Internet To Low-Income Communities During COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has led people around the world to work and shop from home – but as Dirk-Jan Koeman and Kara Ing at Poa Internet point out, this is easier for some than others. For instance, in densely-populated urban areas in Kenya, the lack of high-speed internet makes working from home almost impossible. They discuss how Poa is bringing these households online, and share research on how these newly connected customers are using the internet.
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- Coronavirus, Social Enterprise, Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation
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A Phone Can Only Do So Much: Why Mobile Access Isn’t Leading To Digital Financial Service Usage Among Women in India
India has made significant progress in financial inclusion in recent years. However low-income working women are not benefiting from this momentum, even when they receive their wages digitally. To better understand why, BSR’s HERproject and MSC have researched the financial behaviors of female garment workers in India. Akhand Tiwari at MSC and James Steady at BSR explore the results, and discuss how the financial inclusion sector should respond.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Telecommunications
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An Unlikely Mobile Money Success Story: How Somalia’s Civil War Laid the Foundation for a Cashless Society
Somalia has been ravaged by civil war, and the repercussions of the conflict continue to this day. Yet out of this violence and economic turmoil, a thriving mobile money ecosystem has emerged. According to Ahmed Muhamud Yuusuf at Hormuud Telecoms, the country has become the world’s first truly cashless economy. He explores the many positive impacts this accomplishment has had.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
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Scaling Big Data for Social Good: Weighing the Benefits and the Risks
Each day, the world generates about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data, and the entire digital universe is expected to hit 44 zettabytes this year. According to Hayden Dahmm at SDSN TReNDS, this data can provide major benefits if it's shared between the public and private sectors – but the risks are equally significant, particularly in emerging markets. He explores how to ensure that big data is used safely and ethically.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation
- Tags
- public policy