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Back from the BRINQ
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be doing base of the pyramid work on the ground, you should talk to NextBillion friend and ally Patrick Donohue.? Patrick got his start in the BOP universe as a MBA student of Stuart Hart’s, back when Stu was running the Center for...
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More Rural Wi-Fi Activity
The AirJaldi Summit mentioned here last week brought together a lot of people working with low-cost wireless connectivity in Asia. Discussions on the list serve created to follow up on the Summit indicate activity in parts of Latin America as well. Today the New York Times reports on similar...
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New in the Activity Database: Agora, Streetwires, AmazonLife and More
I’ve been reading through a slew of successful BOP business models and am continually and consistently amazed and inspired by people?s fortitude and creativity. I find myself thinking, “How did they come up with that?” and other times I wonder “Why didn?t I think of...
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Rising Ventures: Bening Big Tree Farms Aims to Reshape Agriculture in Indonesia
It’s a classic example of traditional vs. “modern,” market efficiency vs. sustainability. Agriculture in Indonesia is largely divided between two types of producers - those that practice environmentally friendly, small-scale methods, and those that have adopted the more efficient,...
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Vodafone’s New M-Banking Reports
Of the MNCs with which we have worked, none goes to greater lengths than Vodafone to create opportunities to listen to its “stakeholders” - and the company counts us as one.? I attended such an occasion in New York Wednesday evening, linked to the publication of a new Vodafone report,...
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Paul Braund Interview: The Business of Technology and Development
Paul Braund is Co-Founder of RIOS Institute (Research and Innovation for Organizations and Societies Institute) in Berkeley and Silicon Valley, California. He has worked as an architect and award-winning industrial designer and has developed numerous patents. He has spent 20 years working in...
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Wireless Mesh as a Transforming Tool
Acumen Fund’s Eric Cantor reports on the recent AirJaldi Summit and points to the revolutionary potential of wireless mesh networks to empower communities. Our own work on a new model for rural connectivity points in the same direction. WiFi mesh can be deployed easily, without...
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The Economics of Remittances
Over at Marginal Revolution, Tyler Cowen has written a long and worthwhile piece on the economics of remittances. This is must-read stuff for any of us who have been following the recent debates in the press (and on this site) about remittances and development. The comments are already flying...
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