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Now for some good news:Two books argue that the future is brighter than we think
The lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a small device with a huge potential. It can run dozens of diagnostic tests on human DNA in a few minutes. Give the device a gob of spit or a drop of blood and it will tell you whether or not you are sick without any need to send your DNA to a laboratory. In poor countries LOCs could offer diagnostics to millions who lack access to expensive laboratories. In the rich world they may curb rising medical costs.
- Categories
- Health Care, Impact Assessment, Technology
- Tags
- public health
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Kenya: Total’s Solar Kits Target Poor Households
Total Kenya is banking on portable solar kits for lighting and charging of mobile phones to break into the Kenyan renewable energy market.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Quiet Revolution in Social Impact
There are currently 30 million African migrants who have left their home countries to find work elsewhere. They support more than 300 million people in their home countries, remitting essential food and goods, and in aggregate represent more than $10b in annual economic activity. This is an economy without an infrastructure, however, relying on informal channels and bribes to function.South African entrepreneur Suzana Moreira is working to change that. Her startup moWozauses SMS to help African migrants order, pay for, and select a place for parcel pickup.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Future of mHealth: Mobile Phones Improve Care in Developing World
People in developing nations depend on mobile phones to access health services and prevent disease, as mobile technology creates a platform for improving healthcare in remote, underserved areas.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Tags
- public health
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Mobile Phones Will Not Save the Poorest of the Poor
Entrepreneurs, businesses, NGOs, and governments exalt mobile technology as a game-changing tool to fight global poverty. But what if our eagerness to connect the world is inadvertently exacerbating the global economic divide? The cost of cellphone-based services is hurting huge swaths of the developing world.
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- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Are Mobile Solutions Overhyped?
Are mobiles just another high-tech solution to what are essentially systemic and deeply rooted problems? Are mobile solutions for combating global poverty overhyped?
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- Technology
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Can The iPad Revolutionize Rural Agriculture?
The iPad’s fairly steep price has kept it firmly entrenched in the developed world. That’s starting to change, however, as evidenced by efforts from Exprima Media and coffee importer Sustainable Harvest to bring the iPad to coffee co-ops and farmers in East Africa, Mexico, and South America.
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- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- supply chains
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Citi, OPIC, Bank Danamon Back Indonesia?s Microfinance with USD20 Million Loan
Citi Indonesia, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Bank Danamon will extend a USD20 million term loan to fund the growth of Bank Danamon’s microfinance programme, Danamon Simpan Pinjam (DSP), and to promote the financial inclusion of microentrepreneurs and small businesses in Indonesia. This loan will be the first from Citi and OPIC for the microfinance sector in Indonesia, and is part of Citi’s and OPIC’s USD250 million joint global initiative to support micro...
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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