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Serving Refugee Communities with Tech, Energy Access, Entrepreneurship: Mastercard and USAID’s Collective Approach
Last year, USAID and Mastercard established the Smart Communities Coalition (SCC), a network of 35+ public and private organizations. The group is developing new ways companies, NGOs, governments and UN agencies can co-design and co-implement programs that empower people and enable growth in energy access, connectivity and digital tools. Katrina Pielli with USAID and Sasha Kapadia with Mastercard explain why the group chose to focus on Uganda and Kenya as pilot countries, which collectively host over 1.5 million refugees.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
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Ethiopia’s Tech Startups Are Ready to Run the World, but the Internet Keeps Getting Blocked
As a heavily regulated market with low internet penetration, young techies in the Horn of Africa nation, he says, already suffer from the negative perception that they couldn’t be where Africa’s next high-tech workforce is nurtured.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Nigeria and South Africa’s Economic Struggles Are Starting to Hurt African Phone Sales
Mobile phone shipments to Africa’s two largest economies for the first quarter of 2019 do not make good reading for phone makers and it’s not looking great for the current quarter.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
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Singaporeans Can Now Pay for Their Ride With Go-Jek Using DBS Bank’s E-Wallet
Go-Jek has integrated DBS Bank's e-wallet into its platform to drive cashless mobile payments for consumers in Singapore.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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Viewpoint: As the Continent Digitizes Rapidly, Africans Need a Bill of Data Rights to Protect Them Online
It’s high time Africans viewed privacy and protection of the data that pertains to us, as critical to our security, success and progress both individually and collectively.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- human rights
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China Leads World in Digital Health Adoption, Philips Survey Finds
The Chinese healthcare sector's embrace of self-monitoring has contributed to the country becoming the biggest wearables market. Similar trends in other countries Philips classes as digital forerunners, such as India and Saudi Arabia, are supporting above-average growth.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Uber Is Pivoting to Fintech, Something Asian Startups Have Been Doing for Years
The fintech pivot has been important part of the playbook for Asian ride-hailing companies for years. India’s Ola made fintech a priority in 2015 after spinning out its payment service, Ola Money, into a standalone app, according to Tech Crunch. Indonesia’s Go-Jek started its Go-Pay service in 2016, while Malaysia’s Grab made a major push into fintech two years ago.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- fintech, startups, transportation
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Viewpoint: Taming the Wild West of Digital Health Innovation
Digital innovations in health hold significant promise – and imply serious risks. Only with a clear-eyed assessment of a new technology – including who is responsible for it and who could be left behind if it is deployed – can we ensure that the digital revolution delivers on its promise to improve global health.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
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