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Facebook plans to lay almost 500 miles of fiber cable in Africa for better wireless internet
Facebook has a new plan to get more of Africa online: Fiber optic cables. The social giant on Monday announced plans to lay nearly 500 miles of fiber cable in Uganda by the end of the year, infrastructure that Facebook believes will provide internet access for more than three million people.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Tablets + Smartphones = Easier Microloans?: New Accion case study explores use of digital field applications by microfinance banks
Providing micro financial services often involves manual processes which limit the potential for scaling up and expose clients to poor service, errors and fraud. That's why many microfinance banks are increasing the use of tablets, smartphones and other digital tools among loan officers and other staff. Accion has published a case study aiming to provide some clarity on the impact of these devices.
- Categories
- Education, Technology, Telecommunications
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The Power of Texting: How a Simple Text Message Can Make the Difference Between Success and Failure for Social Initiatives
Mobile phones are increasingly prevalent throughout the world, and researchers have found that sending text message reminders can help people follow through with their intentions, significantly increasing the success of development interventions. Roxanne Bauer explores the impact of text reminders on malaria treatment and savings initiatives, and discusses the science behind the approach.
- Categories
- Health Care, Impact Assessment, Technology, Telecommunications
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Weekly Roundup: Sympathy for the Super-Rich: They don’t care much about socially responsible investing – but are the rest of us any better?
Only 20 percent of investors with a net worth of $5 - $25 million factor social responsibility into their investing decisions, according to a recent survey.
You may be rolling your eyes at the obliviousness of these multi-millionaires to the potential impact of their wealth. That was my initial reaction – until I remembered the email I received last January.- Categories
- Investing, Telecommunications
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The Technology Trade-off: Mobile tech boosts financial access but limits engagement. Can it also help build banking relationships?
Financial access is at an all-time high, and it’s growing fast. Yet account dormancy rates for the newly banked range from 60-90 percent. And though mobile technology has made more services scalable, it has also limited banks’ ability to build deeper relationships with their customers. But Juntos Finanzas believes mobile tech may also hold a solution to this problem.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
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The Rise of the Cheap Smartphone : And what it could mean for BoP finance, connectivity
According an estimate from Gartner, by 2018 nine out of ten phones will be smartphones. If this comes to pass, it may require a substantial rethink about the delivery of mobile financial services to consumers in developing markets, where up until now the feature phone has dominated.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
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Weekly Roundup – 12/6/14: Overcoming paywalls, increasing information accessibility in the pursuit of a healthier planet
There’s been a good bit of discussion recently about the accessibility of health care information; specifically, the timely sharing of research on such topics as Ebola.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology, Telecommunications
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3 Ways The Internet Of Things Is Revolutionizing Health Care
If you or a loved one has undergone medical treatment recently, you’re probably aware of some of the cool new devices that help perform diagnosis and treatment. You may not be aware, however, that some of these devices are connected to the Internet and have become an important part of the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care, Telecommunications
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