Articles by Al Hammond
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Thursday
February 1
2007Convergence of the Corporate Sector and Civil Society?
C.K. Prahalad has done it again. He?s come up with an idea as radical as his and Stuart Hart’s suggestion 5 years ago that there was significant value to be found in business engagement at the base of the pyramid. With apologies to the musical Oklahoma, what he and co-author Jeb...
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Tuesday
December 5
2006Battle for the Cheap Education Computer Heats Up
This article is re-produced with the kind permission of Russell Southwood, Chief Executive of Balancing Act. Browse this week’s edition of their excellent newsletter, or consider subscribing. The holy grail of cheap computers for emerging markets is producing a sub-$100 laptop for...
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Monday
November 13
2006More Rural Wi-Fi Activity
The AirJaldi Summit mentioned here last week brought together a lot of people working with low-cost wireless connectivity in Asia. Discussions on the list serve created to follow up on the Summit indicate activity in parts of Latin America as well. Today the New York Times reports on similar...
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Wednesday
November 8
2006Wireless Mesh as a Transforming Tool
Acumen Fund’s Eric Cantor reports on the recent AirJaldi Summit and points to the revolutionary potential of wireless mesh networks to empower communities. Our own work on a new model for rural connectivity points in the same direction. WiFi mesh can be deployed easily, without...
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Monday
November 6
2006Welcome, WSJ – A Next Billion Retrospective
As a site dedicated for the past year and a half to the “next billion” and the business strategies that can empower them as micro-consumers and micro-producers, its good to see the Wall Street Journal using that headline in a mainstream business story about tech firms and their...
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Wednesday
October 25
2006Pakistan Ready for Mobile Banking
Last week, I reported on a conference in Pakistan organized by the Asian Development Bank (and in which I played a small role) to catalyze mobile phone banking in that country. The major banks all showed up, and heard the banking regulator tell them to get with the program. Later that same...
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Wednesday
October 25
2006T-Mobile Launches BOP Phone Service in US
The announcement yesterday morning was buried deep inside most newspapers: a WiFi capable cell phone that, for $20/month extra, enables T-Mobile subscribers to access the company’s 7000 HotSpots across the US. The Mobile Gadgeteer has a good description of how the whole thing works. It...
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Tuesday
October 24
2006BOP Circle Gains Momentum
I was also in Mexico City to help with the launch of the BOP Circle, a group of companies who gather to share experience and learn from one another. What was impressive is the degree of commitment by some of the companies. Microsoft now has two separate divisions focused on new BOP products. AC...
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