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Vodafone Americas Foundation Call for Entries for Tenth Annual Wireless Innovation Project
The Vodafone Americas Foundation today, at SOCAP17, announced the opening of its tenth annual Wireless Innovation ProjectTM (WIP) competition, seeking the latest connected innovations designed for social good. The Vodafone Americas Foundation asks all entrepreneurs, startups, non-government organizations (NGOs), nonprofits and university projects to submit technologies that aim to solve critical issues facing the global community.
- Source
- Press release
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- global development, NGOs
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One nation, under code: How India leads the way in the interoperability of QR code for payments
Thanks to Paytm, the use of QR code as a form of mobile payment made an entry and has begun to impact. The black-and-white sign is sported by kirana stores, vegetable carts and tea stalls all over the country. In the aftermath of demonetization, Paytm made it ubiquitous in their attempt to sign up merchants for acceptance of Paytm wallet.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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India’s great leap into services
India’s growth pattern contradicts an iron law of development that has held true for 200 years, since the start of the Industrial Revolution. This law has argued that industrialization is the only route to rapid economic development for developing countries. The potential for explosive growth was seen only in the manufacturing sector.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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It’s about to get cheaper for over 500 million Africans to roam on their phone networks
Even as lower smartphone prices drive a digital revolution in Africa, many Africans still pay a significant amount of their income to make phone calls or surf the internet. According to the World Bank, Africans pay on average 25% of their monthly gross national income per capita in mobile cellular calls, compared to 11% in other developing nations.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Mobile subscriptions hit 40 million mark in Kenya, says Communication Authority
The number of mobile subscriptions in the country have risen to 40.2 million, the Communication Authority of Kenya reported on Friday
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Salesforce launches $50 million Impact Fund to invest in social change startups
Salesforce announced Tuesday that it's launching the Salesforce Impact Fund, a $50 million initiative to accelerate the growth of startups that are using Salesforce technology to address some of the world's biggest problems. Through the fund, Salesforce will invest in these companies, furthering each one's goal of driving positive change.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- impact investing, startups
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CLEAN launches first “State of the Sector” report on last-mile clean energy access in India
The Clean Energy Access Network (CLEAN) (thecleannetwork.org), India’s industry body representing the decentralized renewable energy (DRE) sector, today launched its first annual “State of the Sector” report. The report highlights the significant progress and innovation made by the sector.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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‘Cross-sell Done Well’: How One Finance App Found a Balance Between Digital and Human Touch
Field officers at the Sajida Foundation, a microfinance provider in Bangladesh, knew their clients had rich financial lives, and that some held sizable savings balances to enable their goals. They also knew these clients could earn more by converting their savings to a term deposit account. Yet it was difficult for them to offer complex financial advice, or to answer questions around tiered interest rates and differentiated products. The Foundation worked with BFA to develop an Android-based app to address these issues – Ashirul Amin discusses the lessons learned.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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