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Technology at the Edge: Near-term examples in Health
Three of the eight Millennium Development Goals focus specifically on improving the health of the world’s poor, but improving healthcare is critical if any of the goals are to be achieved. Much of the medical equipment produced for rich countries is too expensive for use in rural developing...
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New Shell Foundation Report: Aid Reform and the Role of Enterprise
Earlier this year, the Shell Foundation released a report - Enterprise Solutions to Poverty - arguing that enterprise and business thinking must be placed at the heart of the war on poverty if we are really going to “Make Poverty History". Backing its words up, the Foundation has...
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Thinking at the Pyramid’s Base
The recent Technology at the Edge posting by Al Hammond reminded me what amazing ideas can come about while re-imaging products and services for the poor. Hearing his descriptions of innovative technologies in Africa is thrilling. It reminded me of another article I had just read which discusses...
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Technology at the Edge: Low-tech, near-term examples
Several new technology innovations developed specifically for BOP markets are already making a noticeable impact. KickStart (formerly ApproTech) has been developing and promoting such technologies since 1991, with the explicit goal of helping entrepreneurs in East Africa establish and run...
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Cheap, but are they marketable?
Two articles about low-cost cell phones were posted to the Newsroom this week. The first talks about plans by the GSM Association’s Emerging Market Handset Program to purchase 6 million of Motorola’s new phones, expected to wholesale below $30. The article mentions several other chip and...
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Technology Innovations at the Edge
BOP markets used to be regarded, if they were regarded by large corporations at all, mostly as a place to unload excess or obsolete product. That has changed, as I will attempt to illustrate in this and following posts. What I am suggesting is that low-income, predominantly rural communities...
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Taxes and the Digital Divide – Serious Problems
As an economist and self-styled BOP researcher, I’ve always been interested in the effect of technology on efficiency, price competition, and cost-of-living at the BOP. WRI, through its now-sunset Digital Dividend project, studied the effect of technology on low-income communities for years,...
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Sachet Marketing – the Best Strategy?
Trendwatching.com recently posted a good piece on Sachet Marketing, a BOP strategy already being used successfully to sell a variety of consumer products ranging from soap to cell phone minutes. The approach involves serving up products, services and loans in affordable portions, sachets or...
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