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The (BoP) Project: Finding Sustainable Water Solutions
The Grundfos LIFELINK system is certainly no robot, but it is about as high-tech as rural water solutions can get. A single-point water supply system with a submersible pump that is powered entirely by solar panels, the water is pumped to an elevated storage tank, then led by gravity to a tap unit in a small, secure concrete housing structure.
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- Agriculture, Environment
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Building Markets for Financial Inclusion … Beyond Micro-credit!
The micro-credit crises under way in Andhra Pradesh will probably affect micro-credit operations globally. Time to take a broader look at financial inclusion ? on how to bring credit, transactions, savings and insurance to those currently excluded formal banking ? through a review of the Global Financial Inclusion report by McKinsey.
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Launching Engineering for Change, A Design Tool Whose Time Has Come
Few tools exist that bridge the knowledge gap between the realities on-the-ground and development professionals. Enter Engineering for Change (E4C). Equal parts catalog, database, research and collaboration tool - with the accessibility of the Internet worldwide - E4C is what the design and development sector has needed for decades.
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Energy for the BoP Made ’Simple’
Simpa Networks manufactures a solar household system that, unlike some others, is off-the-shelf, and easy to install and maintain. Inspired by mobile phone prepayment systems, the big innovation is Simpa’s unique "Progressive Purchase" pricing model, a micropayment system specifically designed to fit the unpredictable incomes of the poor.
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- Energy
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Wrapping Up the Best Ideas of 2010 Series: Redefining How We Collaborate
While the field of business strategies for the Base of the Pyramid is built on the idea of community relevance and empowerment, there has been no standardized method for the development and implementation of approaches that strategically consider positionality and culture. One solution: community-based participatory research, or CBPR.
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Previewing Grassroots: Social Profit
I recently spoke with Amrit Pal at Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership who is leading public relations for: Grassroots:Social Profit in India. The event is set for Jan. 15 in Goa, the picturesque home to "a niche breed of small-time entrepreneurs and a student-demography that has remained largely alienated from the entrepreneurial ecosystem."
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Why You Should Be More Focused on Data Access at the BoP
After the industrial revolution, the global economy shifted from the production of physical goods to the provision of services. However, the digital age has ushered in a new focus: the data economy. It appears as if, once again, developing countries (and especially the poor within those countries) will be left behind.
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NextThought Monday: Gold Stars, the Best of December (and Best Ideas of 2010) on NextBillion
NextBillion ended 2010 by picking our writers’ and editors’ brains on what really made a difference - the best ideas if you will - this year. At the same time, December’s lineup of the top five most-popular posts seemed to reflect the step forward for development through enterprise on numerous fronts.
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- Education, Technology, Transportation
